220 years ago today Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr fought their famous duel. You might want to screen “Hamilton” on Disney+ today to celebrate!
I recently read a great book about the duel – oddly enough titled “Duel” by Thomas Fleming. Cannot recommend reading this book enough! It does an amazing job of diving into the political atmosphere of the time and the roles that both Hamilton and Burr played in it. In school we’re just taught that they dueled – not a lot about the circumstances so this book really gives you a detailed picture of who the two men really were and why they ended up facing each other over pistols. Give it a read – you won’t regret it because it’s a real soap opera!
My throwback today is about learning more American History. So many of the things we learned in American History when we were in grade school or high school are REALLY abbreviated versions of the story. Lately, I’ve put aside reading fiction in favor of reading history books.
I’ve been fascinated by a book called “Duel” by Thomas Flemming about the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. I’m just about to the day of the duel – 294 pages in. The author does a really great job of setting the political scene of the day and diving into the relationship between Burr and Hamilton. It took years and years of friendship, political intrigue and rivalry to get to the dueling field in New Jersey. I cannot recommend this book highly enough – it’s available for Kindle so I’ve been reading it on my phone in spare moments and cannot wait to get to the aftermath of the duel!
I’m also reading a book called “Founding Brothers” by Joseph Ellis – a real live paperback book! This book takes closer looks at particular episodes in history involving George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The author does an amazing job of diving into the personalities of these history book characters and giving you a better sense of the actual men. The episode I’m currently up to is regarding why Washington DC is our nation’s capital.
After I’m done with these two books, I’m going to dig into biographies of some of our founding fathers. I’ve read the Ron Chernow books on Hamilton and Grant so maybe his book on Washington would be a good next read. But I also want to read “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I think she’s really interesting when I see her interviewed but I’ve never read her!
I’m loving the perspective reading deeper into history is giving me about the ways of the world today. It really is true that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
I’d love your recommendations for books on history – please leave them in the comments!
Learn Or Do 