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Alexander Hamilton's Guide to Life
Two centuries after his death Alexander Hamilton is headline news again.
He is one of the most compelling of America’s Founding Fathers, an orphan who came to America with little but ambition. He went on to become a General in the Revolutionary War, created the US’s financial system and is immortalised on the $10 bill.
Hamilton’s life is fascinating, and it can serve as an example to us all. For anyone interested in success, romance, money, honour or duelling Hamilton has worthwhile advice.
Combining biography and history with humour, this is advice that has survived for over three hundred years:
Seduce with your strengths
Go to war for your promotion
Being right trumps being popular
Learn from your enemies
Alexander Hamilton is the subject of one of Broadway’s most popular musical ‘Hamilton’, which is opening in London’s Victoria Palace theatre on December 7th. ‘Hamilton’ has received rave reviews all over the world:
“It’s brilliant”, Barack Obama
He is one of the most compelling of America’s Founding Fathers, an orphan who came to America with little but ambition. He went on to become a General in the Revolutionary War, created the US’s financial system and is immortalised on the $10 bill.
Hamilton’s life is fascinating, and it can serve as an example to us all. For anyone interested in success, romance, money, honour or duelling Hamilton has worthwhile advice.
Combining biography and history with humour, this is advice that has survived for over three hundred years:
Seduce with your strengths
Go to war for your promotion
Being right trumps being popular
Learn from your enemies
Alexander Hamilton is the subject of one of Broadway’s most popular musical ‘Hamilton’, which is opening in London’s Victoria Palace theatre on December 7th. ‘Hamilton’ has received rave reviews all over the world:
“It’s brilliant”, Barack Obama
317 pages, Paperback
First published November 2, 2017
86 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Wilser
13 books79 followersJeff Wilser is the author of Alexander Hamilton's Guide to Life.
He's also the author of four other books, including The Good News About What’s Bad For You… and The Bad News About What’s Good For You, which was named an Amazon Best Book of the Month.
His writing has appeared in print or online in GQ, New York magazine, Time, Glamour, Cosmo, VH1, Esquire, mental_floss, MTV, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Comstock’s, The Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, Detroit Free Press, and The Huffington Post.
The topics? It varies. He has written about health, relationships, film, travel, the folly of juice cleanses, hashtags, monks, architecture, books, fashion (not that he’s fashionable), sneak attacks of World War II, how to pick champagne, the intersection of math and magic, Finland’s school system, and the shortcomings of General Custer. He also collaborated with Marc Ecko, the fashion designer and founder of Complex media, on the book Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out.
Jeff is likely the only person alive to have written for both GQ and The Knot. His TV appearances, where he occasionally pops up as the token male, have ranged from BBC News to The View. Business and marketing stuff? Sure, he does that too, providing customer-segmentation insights to a +$1 billion publishing company. He’s also the founding editor of ThePlunge.com, the primary website for grooms. (Jeff has never been a groom.)
He can’t tan.
He's also the author of four other books, including The Good News About What’s Bad For You… and The Bad News About What’s Good For You, which was named an Amazon Best Book of the Month.
His writing has appeared in print or online in GQ, New York magazine, Time, Glamour, Cosmo, VH1, Esquire, mental_floss, MTV, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Comstock’s, The Miami Herald, The Baltimore Sun, Detroit Free Press, and The Huffington Post.
The topics? It varies. He has written about health, relationships, film, travel, the folly of juice cleanses, hashtags, monks, architecture, books, fashion (not that he’s fashionable), sneak attacks of World War II, how to pick champagne, the intersection of math and magic, Finland’s school system, and the shortcomings of General Custer. He also collaborated with Marc Ecko, the fashion designer and founder of Complex media, on the book Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out.
Jeff is likely the only person alive to have written for both GQ and The Knot. His TV appearances, where he occasionally pops up as the token male, have ranged from BBC News to The View. Business and marketing stuff? Sure, he does that too, providing customer-segmentation insights to a +$1 billion publishing company. He’s also the founding editor of ThePlunge.com, the primary website for grooms. (Jeff has never been a groom.)
He can’t tan.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 2, 2019
Definitely worth a read, Jeff Wilser has definitely put together an amazing biography for Alexander Hamilton's Guide to Life, putting together aspects that people will be familiar with from the musical and combining it with history from other biographies. The author has made this an interesting and funny read, great for readers who don't always want to go through some of the heavier biographies.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book.
September 14, 2020
Alexander Hamilton is a very inspiring man.
I must admit that I knew little about him before reading this book. Wilser does a good job of explaining his life and actions to readers who know little to nothing about civil-war era America (being British, I didn't learn much about it in school). He makes an effort to put actions into the contedt of the time.
The book is well written, with a easy to follow narrative and purpose. I appreciated that the majority of the events recounted took place in chronological order, which makes it easier to follow. Wilser puts some humour into the book, whole still keeping a sensible tone for a non-fiction. This was a very comfortable read for someone who primarily reads fiction, and inspired me to start learning French (going strong as off writing this review two months after finishing the book).
I must admit that I knew little about him before reading this book. Wilser does a good job of explaining his life and actions to readers who know little to nothing about civil-war era America (being British, I didn't learn much about it in school). He makes an effort to put actions into the contedt of the time.
The book is well written, with a easy to follow narrative and purpose. I appreciated that the majority of the events recounted took place in chronological order, which makes it easier to follow. Wilser puts some humour into the book, whole still keeping a sensible tone for a non-fiction. This was a very comfortable read for someone who primarily reads fiction, and inspired me to start learning French (going strong as off writing this review two months after finishing the book).
June 4, 2020
This book is beyond excellent.
I don't actually know how to express how much I enjoyed it. Jeff Wilser analyses the life of Hamilton and draws out logical lessons that can be applied or at least thought about. He writes extremely well - using humour and info dumps to great effect.
Definitely one I will be rereading and referring to often.
I don't actually know how to express how much I enjoyed it. Jeff Wilser analyses the life of Hamilton and draws out logical lessons that can be applied or at least thought about. He writes extremely well - using humour and info dumps to great effect.
Definitely one I will be rereading and referring to often.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews