Discovering Hamilton

Book excerpt: For over two centuries, Alexander Hamilton’s birth, youth, and family background have been shrouded in mystery. For the first time ever, Michael E. Newton has conducted a systematic examination of the primary source material to discover the truth about Alexander Hamilton’s early life. In the greatest and most significant collection of original Hamilton discoveries to be made in decades, Newton separates fact from fiction to create a new portrait of the tempestuous early years of America’s most remarkable and enigmatic Founding Father and the people that comprised his world. An icon in life and a legend in death, Alexander Hamilton continues to fascinate. Discovering Hamilton answers some of the most important and intriguing questions about Hamilton’s biography and introduces abundant new material about the lives of Alexander Hamilton, his family, friends, and colleagues.