A review by lakecake
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis

4.0

I really enjoyed Ellis's style on this book. He made all of these stories really flow seamlessly together and it felt less like reading history (dry, boring) as living history--really getting inside the heads of those involved. I have two small quibbles--the first is that Aaron Burr really gets shafted in basically Revolutionary history book I've ever read, including this one. People always try to make him out as being somehow more immoral or less gentlemanly than the other Founders, but in actuality, he's the one we should relate to most! He wasn't worried about his place in history, he was living his life...no wonder everyone thinks he stank, he didn't write flowery letters about his own part in the Revolution for us to find after his death! My other small complaint is that Ben Franklin gets really glossed over in this too, mentioned only in passing in reference to other Founders. I understand that this is the sacrifice you make in putting a book like this together, you can't tell every story thoroughly, but I thought Franklin would feature more prominently since he's on the cover and everything.

Ellis is a really phenomenal history writer though, and I'm really looking forward to checking out his Jefferson bio. Ellis might get a ranking up there with David McCullough as "favorite history writer guy."