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Books : Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation |
Amazon.com's Price: $25.70 Prices subject to change.
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Binding: School & Library Binding
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.40922
EAN: 9780613501293
ISBN: 0613501292
Label: Topeka Bindery
Manufacturer: Topeka Bindery
Number Of Items: 1
Publication Date: 2000-08
Publisher: Topeka Bindery
Reading Level: Young Adult
Studio: Topeka Bindery
Sales Rank: 1357169
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
An 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.
Amazon.com Review:
In retrospect, it seems as if the American Revolution was inevitable. But was it? In Founding Brothers, Joseph J. Ellis reveals that many of those truths we hold to be self-evident were actually fiercely contested in the early days of the republic.
Ellis focuses on six crucial moments in the life of the new nation, including a secret dinner at which the seat of the nation's capital was determined--in exchange for support of Hamilton's financial plan; Washington's precedent-setting Farewell Address; and the Hamilton and Burr duel. Most interesting, perhaps, is the debate (still dividing scholars today) over the meaning of the Revolution. In a fascinating chapter on the renewed friendship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson at the end of their lives, Ellis points out the fundamental differences between the Republicans, who saw the Revolution as a liberating act and hold the Declaration of Independence most sacred, and the Federalists, who saw the revolution as a step in the building of American nationhood and hold the Constitution most dear. Throughout the text, Ellis explains the personal, face-to-face nature of early American politics--and notes that the members of the revolutionary generation were conscious of the fact that they were establishing precedents on which future generations would rely.
In Founding Brothers, Ellis (whose American Sphinx won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 1997) has written an elegant and engaging narrative, sure to become a classic. Highly recommended. --Sunny Delaney
Average Rating: 
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Simply constructed, well researched and delightfully written, Founding Brothers reads like a news anchor's report on what went through the minds of USA's first leaders while they were making policy. Like a fly on the wall, Ellis relates the events from each participant's innermost subconscious all the way out to their recorded historical actions. Vigniettes drawn from the subjects' letters are like biographies woven together to provide an understanding greater than the sum of its parts. I really ... Read More
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In this book author Joseph J. Ellis takes a look at the founding fathers which makes you see them as men who were a collection of men from different backgrounds that never could have existed in an old world country with it's established aristocracy.
The title `Founding Brothers' reflects the outlook he brings to this book which is to change our perception of manifest destiny to one of intelligent men doing their best to keep a fragile union together creating the largest and longest lasting ... Read More
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This was a birthday present for my hubby who is a history nut. By the 2nd chapter he was hooked. He says great writing, keeps your interest and hasn't been able to put it down.
Rating:  -
It looked a lot prettier in those Gilbert Stuart and John Trumbull paintings. If there's an overall theme to Joseph Ellis's 2000 book "Founding Brothers", it's that the United States was tempered as much by internal conflict as by war with Great Britain.
Ellis's approach deals with the aftermath of the American Revolution, post-Constitution, in six drawn-out narratives exploring various facets of the often-feuding Founding Fathers. He begins with the most famous and deadly of them, when Aaron ... Read More
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Joseph Ellis has written another book which is completely different than all his other historical efforts. He has taken a rather different look at America in its infancy.
In this effort, Ellis focus is on a half a dozen political personages. The six people in this study are John Adams, George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
This rather eclectic group helped to form the precedents and the very foundation of our government.
Ellis ... Read More
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