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skitch41's review against another edition
4.0
A comprehensive, chronological collection of the writings of one of, if not the most, brilliant Founding Fathers, this collection gives you Alexander Hamilton in all of his facets with zero editorial interpretation. And that is one of the things that make this book so great. If you have already read a biography of Alexander Hamilton (Ron Chernow's is a great, comprehensive one to start with), this book will give the reader a closer, "over-the-shoulder" look at him that is incredibly enlightening. Not only will one appreciate Hamilton's mind and dedication, but also the passions of the Early Republic era (c. 1789-1804) that threatened to destroy the country before it could even take off. However, the reason I give this four stars instead of five is because the most important works of his (his contributions to the Federalist Papers, his reports on national finance and manufactures, etc.) are very long and difficult to get through. It is not that they are bad, quite the opposite in fact. The problem is that the length of many of these works are daunting and the nearly archaic language of the late 18th century is a chore to unpack. This is definitely not a work for casual readers. But, for those who love U.S. history and want to learn about this enigmatic Founding Father in his own words, there is no better one-volume collection than this edition presented by the Library of America.
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