A review by rlse
Duel with the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America's First Sensational Murder Mystery by Paul Collins

2.0

More of a two and a half for me. The focus of this book is never quite where you'd expect. It opens with people speculating where yellow fever comes from (21st century hindsight: it's the mosquitos). Then it moves to the victim and the defendant, and crime. Hamilton and Burr are much later on (after a regaling of New York's mourning for George Washington's death). Then, once the trial concludes, there's still a whole section now on Hamilton and Burr, but now with little tie in to the trial. It feels a little pastiched. However, if you like history and true crime, the narrative style is engaging and will draw you in to the courtroom drama.