Founding Brothers

Book #30 of my 2005 50 book challenge was the 2001 Pulitzer Prize winning Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis.

Founding Brothers examines six different stories that shed light on who our Founding Fathers really were and how the helped shape our country in its infancy. The six stories discussed in the book include the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, the debate about where to put our nation's capital, the decision to avoid the topic of slavery that would eventually result in the Civil War, the writing of George Washington's farewell address, John Adams' Presidency and his close partnership with his wife Abigail, and the correspondence between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in the waning years of their lives.

The book is written for a general audience, so it's very accessible and surprisingly entertaining. My favorite part was the wonderful first chapter about the duel between Hamilton and Burr. Although the rest of the book doesn't quite live up to the start, it's still very well done and would have to rank as one of the better history books I've read.

If you're interested in learning more about the book I'd recommend checking out the New York Times review or reading an excerpt from the the preface.