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A review by clairealex
The Hamilton Scheme: An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding by William Hogeland
5.0
Who knew a book about finance could be interesting (to non-economists)? This one sure was. At times, even a page turner.
A portion of US constitutional history that in my student days was covered in probably a page at most, from the declaration to the constitution, is told in 150+ pages revealing ins and outs and other finagling. And the moneyed men winning. It was fascinating to get this behind the scenes look. A history of the revolutionary that I learned in terms of battles lost and won is told in costs and how to pay for it, as much of a crisis as the war itself. Herman Husband, who I had never heard of, plays a major role in striving for a more egalitarian approach. Another long portion tells of the successor to Hamilton's attempt to reverse the trend.
But what appealed to me most was the epilogue where there is a quick survey of successive actions and successive versions of our founding myths that was juxtaposed with the data we had read in the rest of the book.
A portion of US constitutional history that in my student days was covered in probably a page at most, from the declaration to the constitution, is told in 150+ pages revealing ins and outs and other finagling. And the moneyed men winning. It was fascinating to get this behind the scenes look. A history of the revolutionary that I learned in terms of battles lost and won is told in costs and how to pay for it, as much of a crisis as the war itself. Herman Husband, who I had never heard of, plays a major role in striving for a more egalitarian approach. Another long portion tells of the successor to Hamilton's attempt to reverse the trend.
But what appealed to me most was the epilogue where there is a quick survey of successive actions and successive versions of our founding myths that was juxtaposed with the data we had read in the rest of the book.