Alexander Hamilton: The Graphic History of an American Founding Father

by Jonathan Hennessey, Justin Greenwood (Illustrator)

A graphic novel biography of the American legend who inspired the hit Broadway musical Hamilton.   Alexander Hamilton was one of the most influential figures in United States history—he fought in the Revolutionary War, helped develop the Constitution, and as the first Secretary of the Treasury established landmark economic policy that we still use today. Cut down by a bullet from political rival Aaron Burr, Hamilton has since been immortalized alongside other Founding Fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson—his likeness even appears on the ten-dollar bill. In this fully-illustrated and impeccably researched graphic novel-style history, author Jonathan Hennessey and comic book illustrator Justin Greenwood bring Alexander Hamilton’s world to life, telling the story of this improbable hero who helped shape the United States of America.

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, Biography, Nonfiction, Comics, Historical, American History

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 8, 2017

About the author

Can’t imagine your life without fiction? Can’t imagine your life without nonfiction? Then you’re a lot like me. I often find nothing more entertaining than some scrupulously researched historical account; and no better learning experience than a thoroughly made-up-from-whole-cloth story.

So I read (and write) both — often in deep dives into the fascinating backgrounds of everyday people and everyday things. And I marvel constantly at the many ways how writing efforts in one genre inspire, sharpen, and elevate the quality of work in the other. Whatever knack for storytelling I might be said to have makes my books on history like The U.S. Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation more captivating, engaging, and accessible. And at the same time, I plow the best of the best of my research discoveries into the characters, settings, themes, and scenarios of my narrative material. If you check out my time-travel-turned-inside-out epic, Epochalypse, I hope you’ll agree you would have to look pretty hard for a more fully realized and diverse milieu in the time travel story universe.

I was born to a military family on a U.S. Army base in New England and raised, like many, in a town steeped in American history. This I only came to fully appreciate as an adult when I came boomeranging back to an interest in politics, actual people, and the real world after an extended, hazy interregnum of fantasy novels, gaming, comic books, video games, and anime. When not writing or reading I’m heavily into cycling (preferably for transportation or travel rather than speed), films, hunting for seasonal waterfalls in the nearby California foothills (with or without a pocket full of podcasts), chasing down hard to find craft sodas, or swooning over vintage graphic design in some slightly downtrodden but capacious Midwestern antique mall.

Find out more at jonathanhennessey.com, where you can join an email list for respectfully infrequent and non-invasive updates about new projects and releases.

Reviews

[Taryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alexander Hamilton was once forgotten, but he's returned to the spotlight thanks to a popular Broadway musical. Embarrassingly enough, there was a time when I mostly associated him with a 1993 Got Milk? commercial! If you are looking for an accessible account of Hamilton's life and his role in the American Revolution, this graphic history might perfect for you. Hamilton is one of America's Founding Fathers and the first secretary of the Treasury. He played an integral role in shaping the United States' political, financial, and legal institutions. This graphic history takes us from his childhood in the West Indies to his death by duel on July 12, 1804. It discusses the assets that made him invaluable to the war effort and building a new nation, as well as his contradictions and fatal flaws. However, this story is just as much about the birth of the United States as it is about a singular man. The author takes a broad view, placing Hamilton into the context of the era and American history. It outlines the beliefs that drove these revolutionaries, but also the fears, doubts, hopes, and writings that influenced their ideas. It also provides important context for activities and attitudes that seem quaint now, like duels and the thirst for war.

The tendency to see the founding fathers as invaluable statesmen and sages who capably delivered up a nation to flourish for hundreds of years obscures the fact that, in many very real ways, they were white-knuckling it through completely uncharted waters. … There was no script to follow on how to be an effective American leader.

I'm a big fan of both Hamilton: An American Musical and graphic nonfiction, so I had to give this book a try. Reading it confirmed that I'll never be able to read a book about Alexander Hamilton’s life without the relevant lines from the musical instantly popping into my head! (And I'll never be able to say "Hercules Mulligan" in my indoor voice!) This book is only 176 fully-illustrated pages, but it's jam-packed with information. I usually look to the graphic format to inject a little heart into a subject, but this one is more academic in style. There's an unavoidably large cast of characters, so it's impossible to get too attached to anyone! It's heavy on the text and light on the dialogue. Much of the content would have been easier for me to read in paragraphs rather than comic book style, but the graphic format makes the content easier to digest. The illustration style is perfect for the time period being discussed. If you'd like to get a feel for the artwork, there are some excerpts online: Six-Page Preview | More Pages from the Illustrator Justin Greenwood. I could see this book being an excellent educational resource for older students or a precursor to a more in-depth text. Longer texts are usually more enjoyable to me if I’ve read a broad overview first. I was actually glad that I had listened to the musical before reading this book, because I was better able to appreciate the broader themes and was less overwhelmed by all the new information.

"Give all power to the many and they will oppress the few. Give all power to the few, they will oppress the many. Both therefore ought to have power, that each may defend itself against the other." - Alexander Hamilton

One thing this book really excels at is showing the fragility of the new republic. Conflict was not only with outside forces, but with each other. Tensions were further aggravated by post-war problems, like crippling debt and dealing with Loyalists. The book opens with an excerpt from Sir Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha (1680): "The desire of liberty was the first cause of the fall of Adam. ... The greatest liberty in the world (if it be duly considered) is for the people to live under a monarch. ... All other shows or pretexts of liberty are but several degrees of slavery, and a liberty only to destroy liberty." It's accompanied by gorgeous "Fall of Adam" illustrations that continue to reappear throughout the story as the author lines out the deep divisions over what path the new nation should take. Many people, Alexander Hamilton included, felt that "pure, unchecked democracy" was "mob rule." They worried that liberty "made men slaves to the worst aspects their own nature" and that the "high-minded, experimental republic might end in dictatorship." Hamilton believed in the revolution, but didn't want it to go "too far"; he didn't want "revolution, rebellion, and fragmentation" to become the new American way-of-life. Others were repulsed by that line of thinking. They risked their lives fighting a strong, centralized power. Why would they want to set up a government that looked remarkably similar to what they just fought against? With so many strong feelings on both sides, how would they ever strike a balance between states’ rights and a strong central government?

Shades of the early conflicts continued to rage on through the decades, and even today: rural vs. urban, "North and South, different economic interests, factions in Congress, schools of constitutional thought." The Founding Fathers are often idealized and viewed as a monolithic entity, but a balanced portrait of these complex people makes the story of the United States' birth even more remarkable. This book reveals how uncertain and risky their undertaking was. Despite the incredible odds they faced, their grand experiment continues on 241 years later.

LINKS
• If you enjoy this book, you might be interested in seeking out author's other graphic nonfiction titles: The United States Constitution and The Gettysburg Address.
• How Old Were the Leaders of the American Revolution on July 4, 1776? - Many of them were so young! Fun fact: Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president, was only 13 years old when he was captured by the British during the American Revolution. He's the only prisoner of war to become president. (Source, 2)
• Thomas Jefferson vs. Alexander Hamilton - a concise table of viewpoints. (PDF) "Hamilton and myself were daily pitted in the cabinet like two fighting cocks." - Thomas Jefferson
• A quote from Condoleezza Rice came back to me as I was reading: "One of the great things about representing this country is that it continues to surprise. It continues to renew itself. It continues to beat all odds and expectations. You just know that Americans are not going to be satisfied until they really do form that perfect union. And while the perfect union may never be in sight, we just keep working at it and trying." (November 5, 2008)

___________
I received this book for free from Netgalley and Ten Speed Press. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. It's available August 8, 2017!

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a long read. It is very detailed and in-depth. It wasn't really fun either. It was a slough in some ways. Then again, the information was interesting.

I'm not sure if the is about Ron Chernov's Hamilton or not. Hamilton was quite a figure. It goes into details about his life from beginning to end. He made our banking system and he helped hold our country together. He started some poor practices with corporations that only got worse too. He is a very grey figure. He did good things and not good things. It is no doubt that he helped found this country more than most at the time. He was a force in our country for better or worse.

I'm glad I read this, it's just there is a ton of dialogue. I know more now than I did before reading it.

[Ashley Owens · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

To be quite honest, I wasn't impressed with the dramatics, pacing, or what parts of the story the author chose to tell. I do not think that this story needed to be in graphic novel format, I really did not see the point of including images for this story. For one thing, there was so much text to read that why even bother drawing pictures too? I mean you've basically already written a novel with words at that point. Also, the illustrations that were there just were not captivating and were oddly chosen. Just poor execution in many ways.

As far as some other aspects of the story-telling in this novel; firstly the pacing was poorly done. It jumps around in the plot in weird places, for example the beginning is some great entity (I assume that's supposed to be God) speaking about like the nature of man and freedom and liberty in general, and how liberty means obeying our fathers the way Adam's sons were taught by him in the beginning... wtf why?

And why was everything so dang dramatic? The stakes were so high and the tone so serious throughout the whole thing! I think it was supposed to make me riveted and invested in the story, but that soooo did not happen. Instead I ended up rolling my eyes at everything.

I was very disappointed by this graphic novel - since the musical I have become very interested in all things Hamilton (like the rest of the population) and could not wait to get my hands on this. But this was just a waste of my time in my opinion.

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the life of Alexander Hamilton presented in graphic novel form. The art is attractive and it's a good way to get kids interested in American history. However, the writing needs a bit of polish. Sometimes it is difficult to tell when one scene ends and another begins. Sometimes when I turned a page it seemed to jump to another story, so I kept turning back in the book to check if I skipped a page. Also, this story relies a lot of exposition, which might lose some readers who were looking for a more action packed story. I enjoyed it overall. It just needed more editing.

[Amy Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this was a really nice biography that kind of expanded into the political content from the musical while not quite going into all of the details of the 800 page Chernow biography. Like the book, this biography focuses more on the American Revolution and Continental Congress proceedings which I really like. I love the musical, but if you’re looking for less about Hamilton’s personal affairs and more about his existence in the grand scheme of the creation of our country, then this is definitely a great read.

Positives and Negatives:
+ I love how they used actual quotes from pamphlets and letters to piece together dialogue.
+ The information in this was great! At times it felt like they had copied word for word from Chernow…. But I think that could be a good thing? Assuming they had permission.
+ I really liked how information was given about the state of affairs in the world. Even though this was a biography on Hamilton, I learned a lot about the other countries fighting in the Revolution.
+ The focus on the political negotiations after the war was very detailed. That is one of the most fascinating time periods to me, so I loved getting to revisit all of the strategy behind the conventions.


- The art was kind of awful. The scenery, backdrops, layouts, and coloring were all very nicely done, but the actual illustrations were sloppy and many times characters didn’t look the same from frame to frame. At one point I felt like a detective - “Well, Laurens had a ponytail in the last frame so I guess this is a close up of a potato Laurens?”.

- The pacing at the end was a bit abrupt.

I was given an ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really understand the hubbub over Alexander Hamilton. He was kind of elitist and pompous, he was a jackass to a lot of people, and isn't more exciting than, say, George Washington or Andrew Jackson. I don't even understand why the play Hamilton is about Hamilton specifically; he created the first bank, sure, but again--there's a TON of founding fathers who made significant impacts but don't get much love (John Jay, anyone?)

With that being said, I appreciate the effort to try and bring history to the forefront again for the general population. We have a very young country and we've already forgotten so much of our history. This graphic novel is about Hamilton, yes, but it's a broad view of everything happening around that time. What influenced the British to fight so hard and tax so hard. What influenced the French to back the colonists against a powerhouse. What influenced a man like Hamilton to get involved in an astronomical way. What influenced these men to infighting and butting heads.

I don't necessarily think there's anything to be gained from the "graphic" part, though. The pictures are bland and don't really show much besides close-ups of the men speaking, and that's not even helpful because they all look pretty much the same. If anything, my guess is that their purpose is just to trick youngsters into reading a history book.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Alexander Hamilton: The Graphic History of an American Founding Father' by Jonathan Hennessey with art by Justin Greenwood, takes an historical figure that is currently fashionable and tells his story in a decent way.

Thanks to the musical "Hamilton," Alexander Hamilton's life has become a trendy property. You can read pretty extensive biography that the musical uses as source material, or you can try this graphic novel, which provides more detail than the musical does.

Starting with his humble beginnings and moving on through the Revolutionary War and his role in shaping the government, this graphic novel covers a lot of ground in less than 200 pages. The writing is pretty dense and includes quotes from the players. The art gives the story color and movement and feeling. Perhaps if the graphic novel suffers anything, it's that events are sometimes overwrought. Perhaps they were at the times, but the book has the feel of one emotional battle after another. Perhaps that is just a result of the medium used to tell the story.

I liked the approach this graphic novel took by giving weight to the story and providing enough context of events surrounding things. I'm glad I got a chance to read this.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Ten Speed Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this graphic novel! For a history nerd like myself, this book was fantastic, and hard to put down. I don’t recommend picking this up when you’re in the middle of several assignments that are all due this week, because this book will take over your life. (This may or may not have happened to me….)

I loved the artwork (and everything about the book, to be honest) because it brought to life the story of Hamilton. There was never a moment that I was bored while reading this, and found that the book highlighted the important parts of Hamilton’s life without sounding too much like a textbook.

This book has put in me an appreciation for Hamilton and all that he’s done for the United States, and for his ambition and drive. It never failed to amaze me throughout the book that Hamilton had such incredible work ethic, and literally went from a nobody to establishing a name for himself. His life is an inspiration, and I loved reading about how he frequently educated himself through books when he didn’t have the proper knowledge or information about something.

Check out my full review here!

[Emilija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publishers for providing an ARC of the book through NetGalley.

This felt like a middle step between the Ron Chernow biography and the Broadway musical. It gave detailed historical background for around the first 1/3 of the novel and then started delving into Hamilton's life and role as an American Founding Father. It was brilliant in how it used simple prose and mostly good illustrations (I did have a few issues with the illustrations as some characters were not recognizable within a couple of pages) to illustrate Hamilton's life and influences.
What I really loved was that it went in depth in regards to those who influenced Hamilton, and it even showed his faults and flaws. Many biographers and historians downplay his faults and flaws which makes their writings much more bias than many realise, but this was a brilliant example of balance.

This was brilliant as it allows for children and adults to enjoy the book and the wider topic.

[Zedsdead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light overview of the life and works of a Founding Father. Hamilton was a pretty badass guy.

Corroborates and fills in the gaps of my Hamilton-the-Musical historical education. Fascinating stuff.

There's no actual purpose to the graphic format. The text reads like a college textbook and the illustrations, while perfectly fine, are incidental and non-critical.

[Cinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not an expert on graphic novels, but as a history, it includes details of Hamilton's life that have been omitted in longer, more comprehensive works (e.g. Chernow.) I wasn't quite on board with the graphics, but that is likely because I already had strong pre-conceived notions of how some of the players may have looked. Highly recommend for students of history for whom this format might make this biography more accessible.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a lover of Hamilton, the Broadway musical (because, hello, who doesn't love it??) I was completely on board with this book from the moment I laid eyes on it! And boy, did I enjoy it! Whether you're a fellow Hamiltrash member or you just love history, I'm sure you'll enjoy this book!

The visuals were very well done and the story of Alexander Hamilton was told very creatively on these colorful pages. Sometimes, all of the pictures became just a tad overwhelming; there are a lot of images jammed on to one page. But if you want to spruce up your reading and go for a bit of comic book style, this is the book for you.

Would recommend to: people who enjoy history, illustrations, and comics.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I found this at my local library, I jumped on it. I came late to the Alexander Hamilton craze drummed up by the musical, but like everyone else, I've been inspired to learn as much as possible about Hamilton himself, his family, and the times he lived in. I've been reading biographies, articles, anything I can get my hands on. So when I saw a graphic novel depicting his life, I was thrilled to add that to the pile of AH-materials I was assembling.

In the end, though, I didn't find it one of the better pieces that I've read. Though only 169 pages, it was far too densely packed with background information, and not enough dialogue. As a result, it was rather mind-numbing trying to read it all, and by the latter half, I was pretty much just thumbing through the book. It really just felt like this should have been a short biography, and that the artwork illustrating it was completely unnecessary.

What's more, I was disappointed that Hennessey seems to fall back on the old, outdated treatment of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, that she was essentially just an incubator for Hamilton's children and played no part at all in his public life. Many of his treatises are at least partially in her handwriting! She supported his ambitions, and played a huge part in the social whirl of the early days of the American government, which was no small thing! She conversed with and entertained the wives, daughters, and sisters of the men Hamilton had to work with, thereby helping to enlist their support for the measures he was trying to get through Congress. She witnessed his writing of Washington's Farewell Address (and even years later had to sue some of Hamilton's fellow Federalists for the return of his notes on the Address, as they had literally stolen them from her husband's papers in order to preserve the myth that Washington himself had written it)!

And I disliked the implication that Eliza was "often ill" (um, where did that assertion come from, exactly?), and how that implication was used to excuse or justify Hamilton's affair with Maria Reynolds. His wife is sick all the time so he's perfectly justified in getting some nookie on the side? WTF?

(Oh, and don't even get me started on the fact that we're still on the rumors that Hamilton had an affair with Angelica Schuyler Church. The woman was almost constantly in Europe (hence the rumors that she might also have had an affair with Thomas Jefferson during his time as Minister to France), and the fact that they wrote flirty letters to one another does not denote an affair.)

Overall, the pacing of the book left a lot to be desired. The American Revolution alone takes up almost half of the book, and there's very little in the way of transitioning from one aspect of the story to the other. More than once I had to go back to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped a page.

In the end, I just couldn't really get into the story, which was a shame.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up from the library to give to my son to read as part of his history studies. I flipped through it and wasn't sure if it would be too over his head, but gave it to him to see. He loved this book. It took him several days to read it, but he read the entire thing, and he told me that he loved it, "except for that part at then where he dies."

I'm a huge fan of the Hamilton musical, and with my doctorate in political science, I've spent a lot of time with Hamilton's thoughts and writings, so I sat down to read it for myself. I was surprised to learn things I hadn't known about the man, the Revolutionary War, the Constitutional Convention, and other Founders, like Washington and Jefferson. If you're a fan of the musical, I highly recommend reading this to get a more nuanced view of the man, as well as learning where Miranda took artistic liberties with the historical record.

This isn't a fluff comic book. There is a lot of information. It starts with a discussion of primogeniture and the divine right of kings, and then works from there. I don't think Hennessey wrote this specifically to point out where Miranda varied, but as I have the entire Broadway cast recording memorized, it was evident where the stories differed. Hennessey made good use of primary sources to tell his history, letting the men and women speak for themselves. The Reynolds affair is handled in a manner that is appropriate for middle school readers, but I think this book would be well used in high school level American history courses. It really is a graphic history, rather than a graphic novel, with lots of text and not as much dialog as one would expect in a graphic novel.

My son wants his own copy of this since this has to go back to the library. Based on how well this was done, I'll definitely be reading Jonathan Hennessey's The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve ever watched Hamilton and found yourself curious about everything that wasn’t covered on stage, this graphic novel is an informative next step. While Lin-Manuel Miranda brilliantly tells Alexander Hamilton’s story through music, this book dives into the larger forces shaping the young nation during and after the Revolutionary War.

Hamilton’s knack for always being “in the room where it happened” comes through clearly here, particularly his close relationship with George Washington. His life story remains extraordinary: the destitute son of a woman scorned by society, orphaned young, and stripped of any inheritance—he fought his way up through intelligence, grit, and relentless reading.

The graphic novel fills in those historical gaps with depth and clarity, making complex early American politics tangible. It’s not a breezy read—the text is substantive and you have to focus. The classic comic-book art style suits the subject, though heavily verbose. But the storytelling offers plenty of threads to explore further if y’all wish to do so.

History students and anyone intrigued by the founding era may find this a rewarding read. It lays a timeline and suitable foundation for deeper dives into this fascinating period of American history.

[⠀annie. ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

this would’ve been a lot better if it was longer, less informative and had more dialogue. the illustrations were fantastic, but there was so much information. it was very info—dumpy in comparison to the amount of dialogue and and page count.

[Serena · Rating 1 out of 5]

After listening to the soundtrack of Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit Broadway musical Hamilton: An American Musical, I was addicted to the music, the history, and the Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton, himself. I know it's not entirely accurate, but it was more than enough to enticed me on the rocky journey of an orphan-turned-national sensation, and I've wanted to know more ever since. I wanted to know about Hamilton himself, the Schuyler Sisters (Angelica, Elizabeth/Eliza, and Margaret/Peggy), Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton's death, his children, his life before he arrived in America, the list could go on.

However, this book was a big let down, and it could be because I had a little too much excitement or too many expectations going into it. The book itself isn't bad and Jonathan Hennessey certain knew what he was talking about and going into, and with all of the information given to us, the reader, it's as clear as day that he did his research. In fact, the cover art is well done, though it's nothing special. There's a lot of detail and the colors in it can be symbolic, such as the red, white, and blue color scheme can be a jab at the colors of the American Flag.

However, the problem is that there is too much given at once and it's overall incredibly boring. I'm not saying Hamilton's life was boring, there was a lot to it that was interesting, but the way that it was executed made the book feel like it was dragging on. One hundred and sixty-eight pages felt like a thousand, it took me a few days to finish this and I remember nothing of what I read, only what had been showcased in Hamilton. It's possible that because of the multitude of text on each page that it took so long for me, which brings me to my next point.

There was so much text that it became overloading and it went through one ear and out the other. Eventually, I was barely skimming the text and flipping to the next page, eager to complete it. Admittedly, I was excited to read about the Burr-Hamilton duel, but that was a let down. As an informational piece of literature, the details themselves are excellent and most likely the best thing about this graphic novel. Yet details seem to be crammed together and there's no natural flow between points, which made it difficult to read about Hamilton battling to suddenly getting a little bit about Elizabeth Schuyler. This book mostly focuses so much on the battles Hamilton was in and political affairs that it takes up most of the book. Text boxes are on almost every page that it's suffocating and you as the reader can't catch a break.

Despite focusing on Alexander Hamilton, it was more like his life. Hennessey didn't make me feel for him when he was going through a rough time at some point in time, which it didn't touch upon. When Philip Hamilton was shot, I expected the book to focus on how this impacted him or Eliza, but instead it briefly mentioned Angelica Hamilton, who hadn't been mentioned prior to this or ever again. It barely touched upon how he or anyone felt about anything, which made it hard to empathize with the people in it. It was also hard to tell who was speaking due to the awkwardly drawn lines becoming so thin that I couldn't see which direction it was going.

There's so much text that the art has become irrelevant. While it's not bad, Justin Greenwood could certainly improve and done a little better if he was given more time. A small nitpick of mine is when lines surrounding the face don't connect. Think of a perfectly drawn circle, but with random gaps in the solid black lines. The anatomy, shading, and facial expressions are fine, but most look identical to one another. A tall man with puffy white hair in an identical outfit as everyone else, with an almost matching facial structure. I am NOT going to memorize the shape of someone's face I don't care or know the name of so I can recognize them.

If Jonathan Hennessey worked more on fining his storytelling skills, learned not to cramp information together, and found a solid flow between Point A to Point B, this would be an excellent graphic novel for those interested in Alexander Hamilton and or history. It's certainly an acceptable informational/historical piece for those who need it for a project, but it would not be recommended as a good read to spend in your free time.

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both dramatic and engaging in its presentation, this graphic novel allows us to explore the life of Alexander Hamilton and pays attention to his origins and ambitions in a simple but powerful way. Graphic novels have a way of telling stories to both young and old, and this one does so and manages to capture both the history and the drama behind the story.

As 'Hamilton' the musical begins to take the world by storm, this graphic novel provides both the depth and the insight into the story of Hamilton in a way that the musical can't. It is an excellent telling of the Hamilton story and provides a detailed perspective of the life of Alexander Hamilton through the medium of dramatically illustrated artwork and a fascinating and informative narrative.

It is also just a great bridge between the musical and the popular biography by Ron Chernow on which the musical is based. In this way a younger audience can learn more about the story behind the musical through the captivating illustrations and those of us adults who want something to ease the way into more academic writing will find this novel to be very helpful as an introduction.

The most fascinating aspect of this book is the way it conveys a complex and dramatic story through clearly illustrated pictures and simple prose. The balance between artwork and narrative is just right and provides a rich telling of the Hamilton story.

I really appreciated the way this volume pays attention to Hamilton's childhood and the societal expectations and norms of the time. It helps the reader understand who he was and the ways in which his childhood helped shape his ambition and his life. It is a very empowering and encouraging story because it is a story of hope, ambition, courage and drive.

This novel also helps the reader understand some of the other people who influenced and shaped the life of Hamilton such as his wider family, and his friends and relatives. He was also a man who took time to understand the nature of the society he lived in and this novel portrays this in a very clear way. We can see the many issues of his time that helped make Hamilton who he was; his religious beliefs, the role of the church in education and wider society, the concept of a gentleman and what that meant in the societal context, and the economics behind the transatlantic slave trade and the impact of all of this on Hamilton's life and politics.

We are also able to see the beginnings of the complex economic forces and the politics that led to the civil war and for adults this may lead to deeper reflection about our economies today.

But beyond all of this is the extraordinary and inspirational tale of a young man who rose from obscurity to become a United States founding father through his intelligence, hard work and by being able to both recognise opportunities and grasp them. Hamilton was indeed a man of considerable talents and ability.

The story also illustrates Hamilton's shortcomings and shows how his childhood may also have influenced some of his decisions and actions as an adult, particularly as he strived to find his place in post-revolutionary America.

I really enjoyed reading this. As someone who is a great fan of the musical I think this story is a welcome addition to all the different Hamilton publications that are beginning to emerge. This is of course very different and somewhat unique because of the medium used and by telling this story through art, the story of Alexander Hamilton becomes one that can be enjoyed by everyone.

This is also a great teaching aid for both parents and schools.

Copy provided by Ten Speed Press via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I want to say this is a good book because of the subject and the information, I think 3.5 stars in execution is more appropriate. The book on it's own has some pacing issues. There are stretches where it's very good and then there are stretches where it randomly starts talking about something for no apparent reason in a single panel, but it was to mention something prior to mentioning it again a few panels later. Some sections just felt like bullet points with dates, which is always what I hated about history class back in school.

Some of the language is hard to grasp. It's not something I could easily read with a bunch of noisy kids around me. It did require some concentration to get through some of the slightly antiquated formal language. This wasn't always the case.

The illustration was decent. I couldn't always tell who was who, though. For a historical biography of actual people, it seems like the illustrations were a little loose. In other words, they didn't seem to fit well with the actual historical images of those people. The women in particular just seemed kind of generic comic girl imagery. The colors were nice and I don't want to say it was bad illustration at all, but I feel that a historical work should be pretty accurate.

As for the content, it was interesting. I am saddened by either 1) my lack of historical education from such an important time [gah American public school system..] or 2) my memory of my historical education. I learned a lot from this book. I will say it seemed heavily in favor of Alexander Hamilton. Showing him as a misunderstood hero that was attacked for no good reason. I guess I'd expect a biography of him to be somewhat biased, but it really made his bad points turn to good points, whether they were or not. It would now be interesting to see him from a perspective of a different biography (or maybe from a different author). It also made Washington look like he was just pushed in directions by Hamilton and others, and Jefferson made out to be terrible in a lot of ways in this book.

It was interesting to see just how shaky ground the US was in the early days. It's amazing it made it through at all. There were so many little rebellions and almost-revolutions. Multiple times groups wanted to secede. George Washington, who is elevated to basically God status now, was accused of breaking the constitution and people were calling for his removal of President. Now I just feel like I should read a bunch more biographies and history books of the era.

[Chanel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to read this graphic novel. Of course I was swept up in the frenzied obsession of Lin Manuel Miranda's hit Hamilton, and have since wanted to devour anything remotely related, this title being one of the many I have since picked up.

It was much different than what I think I anticipated. As the other review says, if you are looking for the Broadway musical here, you will find it lacking. However, there was quite a bit of background and other details that I had no yet heard anywhere else which was exciting to read. It was slow going at first, though, as a majority of the first 1/3 of the read is mostly historical background with a little bit of Hamilton's life sprinkled throughout. It wasn't until the latter portions of the text that the concentration was mostly on Hamilton's life.

The dialogue itself did a great job of incorporating language, diction, and quotes from the time period that helped with the world and character authenticity. Plus, the illustrations were superb. Loved the artistic style.

The narrative voice itself was somewhat dry, though. I was hoping that there would be more character dialogue as in most graphic novels and comic books, but a majority of the story is told in narration that resembles that of historical text. Typically I like to think of a graphic novel as being a more accessible form of literature, though at times the narration here was just as dense as a school textbook. This did not detract from the quality of the information, only from my own personal preferences for reading graphic novels.

Overall, I would only recommend this to older readers who want a deeper historical understanding of the time period and the leading up to of events rather than a more biographical, personality sketch.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not seen the Hamilton musical but have heard good things about it. It seems like half the country is talking about Hamilton. When I saw this graphic history of his life, I figured it was time to learn about Hamilton.

I enjoy reading graphic novels and nonfiction. I find that the drawings usually add to the text. I enjoyed the artwork here, although at times I felt that all the people in the book looked angry. Several times they seemed to be glaring at me from the page.

My favorite part of the book was Alexander's childhood. Very interesting, and my heart broke for the way he was treated by his relatives. He really pulled himself out of a bad situation. I was very impressed by his dedication to getting an education and bettering himself.

I learned a lot about history that I didn't know before. Getting the story behind the facts is really interesting and makes history come alive. Towards the end of the book, the facts were flying fast and furious, and it was hard to keep up with all of them. I would have liked more explanations and more of a "storyline." I think the reason I was so drawn to the first half was there was more of a narrative, and I felt for the people. The last half of the book was presented so matter of factly that it was hard to feel anything for them. Some of the humanity was lost.

I received a free review copy from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for the Hamilton musical in this, you won't it here. That is not a bad thing. Just a caveat. This graphic novel is a very well researched story of what we know about Alexander Hamilton, as well as what we don't know. Because he was ashamed of his past, there is very little reference to what came before he came to the American colonies. If he wrote about it later, or if others did, or if there was a court case, then we have the documentation, otherwise, we can only speculate, and speculate is what this story does. And it explains that it is doing it. If something is not know, the author states that as well.

A lot of Hamilton's life, was of course, wrapped around the American revolution, as well as the building of American that took place after that. If you get bored with battles and theory's and politics, then this graphic history might not interest you, but if you want to know about his life, there are some interesting bits, such as how he had an extra-marital affair, was blackmailed by the husband of the woman, and then had to defend himself because he was bieng accused of graft.

Interesting, though heavy reading. But well written. Would recommend it to people who want, if not the lighter version of history, perhaps a more accessible version.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Jilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel is a great "in between" read for people who want to learn more about Alexander Hamilton beyond the very popular musical, but are not ready to dive into the giant Chernow biography. It covers a ton of information (at times maybe a little too much given how short the graphic novel is), and provides a deeper look into Hamilton's character, politics and beliefs. It's a great resources for high school history classrooms and libraries. It's a dense work so it would be appropriate from strong middle school readers as well, but they might find the pieces taken from historical documents a bit of a challenging.

My only complaint is the unevenness of the artwork & narrative at times. At some points it's great and really adds to the story, at other times it borders on terrible (ex: there's one panel where Elizabeth Hamilton is practically unrecognizable as the character from just pages before). Additionally, in just one part of the story, the novel pulls out and features a modern day historian giving information about the text. It only happens once in the novel, and seems really unusual because of it. I don't know if the graphic novel has been rushed because of the Hamilton craze, but that unevenness of it really distracts from quality of the story overall.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Erikka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty fantastic. I'm a massive Hamilton fan and a massive graphic novel fan, so this was the best of both worlds. While the art left something to be desired (in a book full of bewigged white men, can you maybe make them look slightly different for the benefit of the reader?), the story was solid and chock full of original quotes and text. I found it amusing that so many pages resulted in a song from the musical popping into my head. This was a book with a soundtrack, and that is a rare treat. I also enjoyed the additional information that gave more detail to some of my favorite songs--fleshing out the story and giving more credence to the words of the characters. That's the beauty of a historic or biographical musical--lots of written stories that perfectly supplement because the information is true. I do feel this would be a significant challenge for any student younger than high school, and late high school at that, as the language is pretty high level and challenging. But any that can get through it will learn a lot about the ten dollar founding father without a father.

[Misty's Book Space · Rating 2 out of 5]

I requested this graphic novel because I loved the musical so much. I know those two things have nothing to do with each other but in my mind a musical was a fun way to learn about History and I thought reading about it in graphic novel form would be fun too but boy was I wrong.

Because I watched the musical I was able to follow along pretty well and know what was going on. It was slow going and there was so much text that I found myself getting bored. The more and more I read the less invested I became.

If you like reading about History then this is definitely for you. For me however, I have come to the conclusion that History just isn't for me.

** Thanks to Blogging for Books for providing me with an ARC of this in exchange for my honest review. **

[T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, there really isn't much to say about this one. The pacing is a bit suspect, with what aspects of Hamilton's life the author decided to focus on not feeling as if they got their due. The art is good and a good fit for the writing, there but not too engaging. I would say, skip this and go straight to the Chernow book. Yes, it's 800+ pages, but it's a very satisfying read in every way this fails to be.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely easier to read than the popular 800+ page text by Ron Chernow. Simplified, yet still informative enough to give readers a good grasp of the time period and the subject.

Illustrations were also good, though I'll admit it took me a while to get a real grasp on who was who, since so many of them looked alike. But that's partially a sign of the times - hair styles and dress were strict.

[ZaczytAga · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5⭐️
Miałam nadzieję, że więcej się dowiem z tej powieści graficznej o Hamiltonie, a mam wrażenie, że żaden temat nie został pogłębiony i dobrze przedstawiony. Ale nie ukrywam też, że mam małe doświadczenie z komiksami. Niemniej, cieszę się, że przeczytałam.
EDIT po niecałym roku: absolutnie nic nie pamiętam z tego komiksu, równie dobrze mogłam go nie czytać, więc obniżam ocenę do 2 gwiazdek, bo nie dostałam tego, czego oczekiwałam.

[Thomas Jancis · Rating 4 out of 5]

(An ARC from Net Gallery)
As a fan of the hit musical I found it interesting to see more details about the ten dollar founding father.
Many of the details of Hamilton's life have to be rushed past and major players relegated to mere one panel cameos.
That said, I found the use of dialogue drawn from historical documents to be a clever way of telling the story.

[matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a whole lot of info to try to stuff into one volume, and it begins to feel a little overcrowded for my taste. There is little room for artistry when it’s just one fact after another - but the format definitely helped hold my interest