Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation
By Joseph J. EllisAn illuminating study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic--John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. During the 1790s, which Ellis calls the most decisive decade in our nation's history, the greatest statesmen of their generation--and perhaps any--came together to define the new republic and direct its course for the coming centuries. Ellis focuses on six discrete moments that exemplify the most crucial issues facing the fragile new nation: Burr and Hamilton's deadly duel, and what may have really happened; Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison's secret dinner, during which the seat of the permanent capital was determined in exchange for passage of Hamilton's financial plan; Franklin's petition to end the "peculiar institution" of slavery--his last public act--and Madison's efforts to quash it; Washington's precedent-setting Farewell Address, announcing his retirement from public office and offering his country some final advice; Adams's difficult term as Washington's successor and his alleged scheme to pass the presidency on to his son; and finally, Adams and Jefferson's renewed correspondence at the end of their lives, in which they compared their different views of the Revolution and its legacy. In a lively and engaging narrative, Ellis recounts the sometimes collaborative, sometimes archly antagonistic interactions between these men, and shows us the private characters behind the public personas: Adams, the ever-combative iconoclast, whose closest political collaborator was his wife, Abigail; Burr, crafty, smooth, and one of the most despised public figures of his time; Hamilton, whose audacious manner and deep economic savvy masked his humble origins; Jefferson, renowned for his eloquence, but so reclusive and taciturn that he rarely spoke more than a few sentences in public; Madison, small, sickly, and paralyzingly shy, yet one of the most effective debaters of his generation; and the stiffly formal Washington, the ultimate realist, larger-than-life, and America's only truly indispensable figure. Ellis argues that the checks and balances that permitted the infant American republic to endure were not primarily legal, constitutional, or institutional, but intensely personal, rooted in the dynamic interaction of leaders with quite different visions and values. Revisiting the old-fashioned idea that character matters, Founding Brothers informs our understanding of American politics--then and now--and gives us a new perspective on the unpredictable forces that shape history.
Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation||Founding BrothersFounding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation Book by Joseph J. Ellis||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation price in nairobi kenya||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation price at attic books||Buy Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation at attic books||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation official book||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation discounted price||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation book summary||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation book review||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation book overview||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation pdf||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation free pdf download||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation edition||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation quotes||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation themes||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation paperback||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation hardcover||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation audiobook||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation ebook||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation original book||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation online hardcopy||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation study guide||what is the Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation in nairobi||Founding Brothers : The Revolutionary Generation
Book details
- Hardcover
- 304 pages
- English
- 0375405445
- 9780375405440
About Joseph J. Ellis
joseph john-michael ellis iii was born july 18, 1943. he is an american historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the founders of the united s Read More about Joseph J. Ellis
More Books By Joseph J. Ellis
People who bought this also bought
What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew : From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England
Used Book
Forbes Richest People: The Forbes Annual Profile of the World's Wealthiest Men and Women
Used Book
Unbelievably Good Deal and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can't Get Unless You're Over 50
Used Book
How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly- and the Stark Choices Ahead by Dambisa Moyo
New Book
The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting book by Gina Ford
New Book
Mavericks of the Sky: The First Daring Pilots of the U.S. Air Mail
Used Book
The Joy of Healthy Grilling: Keeping the Fat Low and the Flavor High
Used Book
The Fox That Got away : The Last Days of the Zanuck Dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox
Used Book