Alexander Hamilton; the subject of Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash hit Broadway musical; comes to life in his own words in this critically acclaimed collection; which also includes conflicting eyewitness accounts of the duel with Aaron Burr that led to his death. One of the most vivid; influential; and controversial figures of the founding of America; Hamilton was an unusually prolific and vigorous writer. As a military aide to George Washington; critic of the Articles of Confederation; proponent of ratification of the Constitution; first Secretary of the Treasury; and leader of the Federalist Party; Hamilton devoted himself to the creation of a militarily and economically powerful American nation guided by a strong; energetic republican government. His public and private writings demonstrate the perceptive intelligence; confident advocacy; driving ambition; and profound concern for honor and reputation that contributed both to his astonishing rise to fame and to his tragic early death.Arranged chronologically; this volume contains more than 170 letters; speeches; pamphlets; essays; reports; and memoranda written between 1769 and 1804. Included are all fifty-one of Hamilton’s contributions to The Federalist; as well as subsequent writings calling for a broad construction of federal power; his famous speech to the Constitutional Convention; which gave rise to accusations that he favored monarchy; and early writings supporting the Revolutionary cause and a stronger central government. His detailed reports as Secretary of the Treasury on the public credit; a national bank; and the encouragement of manufactures present a forward-looking vision of a country transformed by the power of financial markets; centralized banking; and industrial development.Hamilton’s sometimes flawed political judgment is revealed in the “Reynolds Pamphlet;†in which he confessed to adultery in order to defend himself against accusations of corrupt conduct; as well as in his self-destructive pamphlet attack on John Adams during the 1800 presidential campaign. An extensive selection of private letters illuminates Hamilton’s complex relationship with George Washington; his deep affection for his wife and children; his mounting fears during the 1790s regarding the Jeffersonian opposition and the French Revolution; and his profound distrust of Aaron Burr.
#7093453 in Books 2016-09-20Original language:English 8.50 x .74 x 5.50l; #File Name: 1910670871296 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Many ports in a stormBy John PlowrightAlthough the 1942 Dieppe Raid was a massive failure it did teach the Allies some valuable lessons; foremost of which was that attempting to capturing a Channel port on D-Day was best avoided; if at all possible. Necessity being the mother of invention; Churchill came up with the inspired idea of building a port rather than capturing one. Hence supplies and reinforcements for the Normandy operation were primarily delivered at two Mulberries: a Mulberry being an artificial harbour made up of 600-ton prefabricated concrete caissons; which were towed into place and sunk as breakwaters.More than 500;000 troops and 80;000 vehicles were landed at the two Mulberry harbours before a storm destroyed the Omaha Beach one and severely damaged the other at Gold Beach. This development; and the exponential increase in men and supplies as the Normandy bridgehead expanded; meant that it became increasingly urgent for ground troops to capture one or more working ports and this is the interesting story examined in Patrick Delaforce’s ‘Smashing Hitler’s Atlantic Wall’; a book first published in 2001; which has now been reprinted by Thistle Publishing.Bizarrely the front cover is illustrated by a picture of a depth charge exploding; which bears no obvious relation to the book’s contents but then neither; really; does the title; as Hitler’s Atlantic Wall had already been breached on D-Day. The book’s subtitle – ‘The Destruction of the Nazi Coastal Fortresses’ – is a bit better; although the Allied ideal was actually to persuade garrisons to surrender so that port facilities could be captured intact and put into Allied service as quickly as possible.The next problem is the book’s first sentence - “The five years of global warfare during World War Two can be likened to a three-dimensional deadly game of chess†- although I guess that most people approaching this book will be aware that the Second World War actually ran for six years.The author is on much firmer ground as the book proceeds and has the advantage of having been a participant of some of the events he chronicles; insofar as he was part of the armoured division that captured Antwerp. He therefore has a personal stake in highlighting this important series of operations which tend to be downplayed in relation to D-Day or the breakout from Normandy.Delaforce’s bibliography has no place for more recent publications; such as Mark Zuehlke’s ‘Terrible Victory’ or ‘Attack on the Scheldt’ by Graham A. Thomas but is not a completely reliable guide even to earlier publications (‘Battle of the Scheldt’ by W. Denis Whitaker and Shelagh Whitaker is represented as Denis Whitaker’s ‘Battle for the Scheldt’). Nevertheless; for all its not inconsiderable faults this book; if only through lack of competition; still represents the best single volume for the non-specialist on this particular aspect of World War Two.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A good military history text bookBy Mr. PM CoxallA detailed and factual account of a number of key attacks on the German Atlantic fortifications; following the D-Day invasion; The author clearly understands the very complex and daunting prospect of attacking German defences-in-depth in the German held fortified ports. along the Atlantic coastSadly the book could have been improved by including more eye witness accounts from both the defenders and attackers. Some of the combat must have been truly horrific; but it was glossed over by using statistics and dry facts. I fully understand the immense difficulty of locating surviving veterans. even in 2001. I would have loved to have had one of the battles described in a more personal manner; detailing the individual events that had taken place.From a military history reference perspective; the books ticks all the boxes.
