Okay, so you've watched the #HamiltonFilm, and want to celebrate #FourthofJuly by digging deeper into America's founding. Here are some recommendations for books that not only cover key themes and topics from the play, but are also very engaging and approachable. /1
First, there's an excellent collection of essays by historians on the play itself, including its many meanings and misreadings, edited by @TenuredRadical. I especially like @jlpasley's essay on the modern uses of federalists like Hamilton. /2 rutgersuniversitypress.org/historians_on_…
For the American Revolution in general, there are legions of books that provide solid overviews. My favorite is Alan Taylor's, which balances military, indigenous, political, and social sides of the era. It is a comprehensive continental history. /3 wwnorton.com/books/American…
That Hamilton came from the Caribbean hints that there is a much broader geographic context for this era. @KathleenADuVal's INDEPENDENCE LOST shows that when you cast your gaze South, you find a new--and equally fascinating--cast of characters. /4 penguinrandomhouse.com/books/199754/i…
The Hamilton play spends quite a bit of time on the experiences of war itself. I often assign Robert Gross's MINUTEMEN AND THEIR WORLD as a great social history of the conflict, as it show the parochial and intimate experiences of soldiers. /5 us.macmillan.com/books/97808090…
George Washington looms large over the play. But I think it's important to peel away from his public persona and see what his domestic sphere was like. @ericaadunbar's story of his enslaved young woman, Ona Judge, is as compelling as it is relevant. /6 simonandschuster.com/books/Never-Ca…
By the way, you can get a young reader's edition of @ericaadunbar's book, which my 11yo daughter absolutely *devoured*, and it prompted some important conversations at the Park household. /7 simonandschuster.com/books/Never-Ca…
Similarly, as fascinating as the afro'd Thomas Jefferson is--I can't get over how great Daveed Diggs was--Jefferson's real history & context is equally captivating. @agordonreed's biography of the Hemings family, including Sally, is history at its best. /8 wwnorton.com/books/97803930…
Speaking of slavery, the topic "in the room" but rarely mentioned in the play, we still need to grapple with its embeddedness in the Constitution. David Waldstricher's sober book does just that. /9 us.macmillan.com/books/97808090…
Everyone loves the "Cabinet Battles." The history behind those disputes is just as riveting. @lmchervinsky's new book is an excellent origins story for how a national traditional came to be. /10 amazon.com/Cabinet-Washin…
A key theme of the play is the financial empire that Hamilton sought to create. I've found few more insightful and digestible overviews of this topic than Thomas McCraw's. /11 hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?is…
And the duels! Who doesn't love the duels?!? Well, Miranda drew heavily from @jbf1755's great work on honor culture, including the "rules" of dueling. It captures the politics of early American perfectly. /12 yalebooks.yale.edu/book/978030009…
What of those ladies who shaped the play, but also shaped history? Catherine Allgor's PARLOR POLITICS showed how the women who surrounded America's first politicians did not sit idly, but shaped the new institution. /13 upress.virginia.edu/title/2224
And finally, @intersectionist wrote what I believe to be the best work on the issues raised by the play itself: does the cast's race-bending overcome the fact it's another tale that centers white founders over all others? Is this the history we need? /14 online.ucpress.edu/tph/article/38…
Anyways, these are all important topics, and I'm sure I could list over a hundred books. I might have missed your favorites. (Sorry!) But I hope some of you might find your next bedside reading in this thread--which might in turn lead to the next Broadway play! /fin
