“Alexander Hamilton,” by Ron Chernow
“Given the success of the Broadway musical, I am rereading the source material. It’s a combination of biography and history, focused on the earliest years of the nation and one of its key, but under-recognized, founders. Was Washington’s aide-de-camp—and the first treasury secretary—motivated by the hardships from his illegitimate birth, or by self-interest, or by passionate patriotism? The book considers turbulent times in forming America and one American’s life, from his Caribbean childhood to his death by duel.”