Alexander Hamilton: America's Bold Lion

by John Rosenburg

From his earliest days as a poor child on the island of Nevis to a student at Princeton to the President of the United States, this biography presents the triumphs and struggles of an American legend.

192 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the historical nonfiction novel “Alexander Hamilton America's Bold Lion” by John Rosenburg. This novel tells the story of the young orphan Alexander Hamilton and his struggles through life.
Born into a poor family Alexander’s dad left when he was just 10 years of age leaving him and his mother. Two years later when he was just 12 years old, him and his mother both got sick. Hamilton thankfully got better but his mother died shortly. He was forced to move in with his cousin only for his cousin to commit suicide shortly after. He then was put into an orphanage where he studied hard, he was recognized for his studies and was moved to the United States or at the time known as “New World”. He attended public school and soon attended King's College now known as Columbia University. He was recognized for his knowledge again by George Washington and fought by his side in the war. After the war Hamilton finished his studies and became a lawyer next to his friend Aaron Burr, he attended the Constitutional Convention stating that he had an idea for their new form of government. Many people were appalled to hear this, thinking it was just another way for someone to rule and have overall power. He soon proved his form of government worthy although he had local debates with Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. He went on to be treasured secretary of state next to the president, George Washington. Soon it was time for Washington to step down from president when he did so Jefferson and Burr ran against each other. Burr was winning on a landslide until the people heard that Hamilton was voting for Jefferson. Burr became offended that Hamilton wouldn’t vote for his own friend and challenged Ham in a duel. While Hamilton shot to the sky Burr aimed at Hamilton striking him right between his ribs. Burr didn’t regret it one bit saying if he had died his daughter, Theodosia, would become an orphan.
That was the story of Alexander Hamilton. We owe a lot to our government, a government that wouldn’t exists without Alexander Hamilton. Even though when he was a child he didn’t seem very promising, considering his mother’s death and cousins suicide, he grew up to be an amazing American who we couldn’t live without. I really recommend this book if you are a fan of History and or the broadway musical “Hamilton”, even though there aren’t people breaking out into song every second of the day, it’s an amazing book that I recommend.

[Bradley Hinegardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Alexander Hamilton: America’s Bold Lion” written by John Rosenburg, tells the life story of Alexander Hamilton. Recounting the moments from his birth to his death, this novel describes the important and controversial points of Alexander Hamilton’s life and political career. Based upon a nickname of Hamilton’s, the title of this story does a fine job summarizing who he was, a man who was rather courageous when it came to sharing his opinion. This story is written to do as a biography would and give an accurate description of the key points of Hamilton’s life. The novel fulfills this role quite well. If you take a look at other books written by John Rosenburg, you can see he has written other books that are biographies or about history. Considering he has experience with writing about history, he likely knows what he is doing. This story also includes several illustrations from history which complement the events written in the story rather nicely. There were of course, elements of the story that I did not enjoy. For example, in order to tell most of Hamilton’s story, the writing is commonly faced with needing to explain the history behind the events. I can, however, understand why this was included. Without it we would be lost and the actions Hamilton take would not make sense or may seem disconnected from the story. The reason I view this point as a negative is because the background given is seldom brief enough to not be distracting. In other words, this can make it difficult to stay focused because the story is cutting away from discussing Hamilton needing to explain the history. At times the story even gets too focused on the history causing you to lose track of Alexander Hamilton for a moment. While I am not quite sure how I would fix this problem, I will say that if the story was briefer with the times where the history needed explaining, it would make the book feel more focused. Even with my complaints, I would still call “Alexander Hamilton: America’s Bold Lion” a good read. I would recommend this novel to anyone who has an interest in history because as I previously stated, this book does summarize a lot of the events involving early America. I would also recommend it to anyone with interest in the foundation of America and its government because Hamilton played a significant role in it. Most importantly, if you are in need of a book about the life of Alexander Hamilton I would certainly recommend this novel to you.

[Rosemary · Rating 2 out of 5]

not very deep - outline of his life

[John Conway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just the facts. That's all I really wanted and this book delivers.