Publisher's Synopsis
Alexander Hamilton rose from a humble background, after being often described as "the bastard brat of a Scottish peddler" to becoming one of the founding fathers of America. Today, he is best known for featuring on the $10 bill in the United States. The political and economic greatness of today's America is the result of Hamilton's countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time.This book recounts Hamilton's turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington's aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.Hamilton was also a central figure in what is commonly referred to as 'America's first political sex scandal', after he was blackmailed by his mistress, Maria Reynolds. Hamilton's famous and mysterious death was in a duel with Aaron Burr in July of 1804 which he begrudgingly accepted, believing that in doing so he would assure his "ability to be in [the] future useful." Unfortunately he was badly injured; he died on the 12th of July 1804 in New York City. In addition to a number of statues, place names and memorials dedicated to Hamilton throughout the United States, he has been immortalized in the hit Broadway show Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
