Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis

I loved this book.  Rarely has a book so succinctly provided deep insight to such a broad and far reaching topic as the American Revolution.

Ellis took seemingly minute events of the cause and the war, spelled them out quickly, then proceeded to show vast contextual background that led to each particular episode.  His research was thorough and intelligent, his storytelling both entertaining and insightful.

The quote mentioned in my preceding post underscores his rarefied approach to history and the value derived from it.

Rather than mini biographies of the "founding brothers" Ellis focuses on deceivingly important events.  For example, a dinner meeting that Thomas Jefferson allegedly arranged for Alexander Hamilton and his political adversary James Madison in 1790.  The two had collaborated on the passage of the Constitution, but once its consequent Executive Branch came into existence, the divisions between Hamilton and Madison were revealed.

At issue was a deal for the Federal government to assume the States' debts that were incurred during the War.  A cornerstone of Hamilton's far reaching plan to stabilize the nation's economy, the assumption was opposed by most of the southern states based partly on their fear of the growing power of the new central government.

The deal was in gridlock until Jefferson arranged the infamous meeting during a dinner party.  The story goes that Hamilton and Madison hammered out an arrangement that involved a southward movement of the planned federal capital, from Philadelphia to a southern location "on the Potomac" (interestingly, it's believed that the address of the presidential residence - on the forthcoming Pennsylvania Avenue - was a measure of appeasement to Philadelphians as part of the same negotiation).

Without this deal the future of the nation was uncertain; the United States might actually cease to exist, and the pivotal moment of a simple dinner had major ramifications on the world as it exists today.

Its these type of "fulcrum" moments which Ellis brings to light brilliantly in the book.  Rarely have I enjoyed 300 pages of history as well as I did this important book.