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An Excellent Biography, An Enjoyable Read "Alexander Hamilton" by Ron Chernow is a fascinating, gripping biography of one of the most interesting and overlooked Founding Fathers. Hollywood could have scripted Hamilton's life. His life began with his out of wedlock birth in the West Indies to a French mother and Scottish father; it ended forty-nine years later in a duel with Aaron Burr, then the Vice President of the United States. In between, he rose to prominence in the annals of American politics. He founded America's first bank, served as the country's first secretary of the treasury, and authored some of the most profound political treatises of his time or any other. Oh, and he became involved in this country's first really steamy sex scandal. At times, Chernow is a bit too much of an apologist for Hamilton. He creates near-cartoonish figure of Jefferson, Madison, Adams and Aaron Burr, when they challenge Hamilton. All of these founding fathers were brilliant and brilliantly flawed men. I wish Chernow could have showed better how somehow these individuals manage to rise above their weaknesses and merge their strengths to design the architecture of the US government. Still, this is a great read. I highly recommend it to lovers of US history everywhere.