The Patriots: Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the… (utgåvan 2020)

This book was so good – it’s non fiction that reads so easy. The author does an excellent job of bringing the history alive so that the reader feels like they are there with the Revolutionaries as they fight for what will become the United States of America.

The book focuses on three of our founding fathers; Jefferson, Hamilton, and John Adams. We learn a little of their early lives but while the book is about the men there is a fourth and greater character – the country. It is the separation from England and the formation of a government that seeks to unite the people as citizes of the United States rather than as colonists of England. It was not a smooth or easy process and truth be told it’s rather miraculous that it worked.

It’s been a very long time since I had any American History classes in high school and my college studies were all European history because that is were my passion lies but as I get older I find myself wanting to learn more of the truth of my own country’s history and therefore I read.

The founding of this country was an extraordinary event. The men who built it were intelligent and determined to create a new government – one without a king. They were not perfect and the country was founded on the backs of slaves – that cannot be ignored. Many of the Founders were conflicted about slavery but still owned slaves; Hamilton and Jefferson included. That is not ignored in this book but neither is it overplayed – it is what it is. They were men of their times and we cannot interject today’s mores on yesterday’s men.

I found that once I started this book I had a really hard time putting it down. It was as fascinating and easy to read as any historical fiction book. Mr. Groom brings the founding of our country alive and presents three of its Founders in well rounded ways. We revere these men as the Founders but they were just men with the temperments and foibles that go along with being human. They did not always get along and they did not always agree but they did manage to bring their diverse backgrounds together to form this great country. ( )