Founding Brothers ~ My Review

American history is very young in comparison to the rest of the world, yet it is no less interesting. After 200 plus years, the American government is still the "great experiment" that was fueled by a group of great men; men often seen as stoic and extraordinary.

The author of Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Joseph J. Ellis, is widely respected as the foremost authority on the American Revolution, and in this book he delivered a wonderfully comfortable look at the seven most influential men who shaped the destiny of a nation. Not only did he show how gifted these seven men were, but he points out how flawed they were. Ellis exposes for us the personality traits that motivated the men to interact with each other the way they did.

This book was a terrific read. I was glued to every page because it is the type of history reading I really enjoy. Not laden with chronological timetables or maps as content filler, the book was extremely well written in a voice that was casual, yet confident. The telling of this time in American history was the kind of "meat" I love. The behind the scenes, why did certain events take place and what were the motives of the men and/or women who were behind these events?, kind of "meat" I really enjoy. The fact is; this was the best reading on the American revolution that has ever passed my eyes. Bar none.

Several emotions ran through me in the three days I digested the book. The emotions included Awe of Washington's outgoing speech, disgust at the snake like political characters of Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson, and hope as the account of the legendary correspondence between John Adams and Jefferson unfolds to heal a decades wide rift in their friendship.

Not only do I highly recommend Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, but I am in the process of gathering other writings by Ellis on the subject in an effort to finish out the year's reading list.

Synopsis
Ellis puts the seven men, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, and James Madison to work in six episodes of history, as characters in a great stage play. Ellis believes these six episodes to be the most crucial, of all episodes, in our young country's experiment:

* Hamilton and Burr's deadly duel
* Washington's timeless Farewell Address
* Adam's presidency and his partnership with his wife, Abigail
* The dinner party that sealed the deal where the nation's capital would be located
* Franklin's attempt to force Congress to confront the slavery issue, and Madison' run at blocking him
* The legendary correspondence between Adams and Jefferson