Founding Brothers

Joseph J. Ellis is the author of several books of American history, among them Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams and American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, which won the 1997 National Book Award. He was educated at the College of William and Mary and Yale University and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife, Ellen, and three sons.

出版者:Knopf

作者:Joseph J. Ellis

页数:304

出版时间:2000-10-17

价格:USD 32.50

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9780375405440

图书标签:美国历史学历史人物历史history

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An illuminating study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic--John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.

During the 1790s, which Ellis calls the most decisive decade in our nation's history, the greatest statesmen of their generation--and perhaps any--came together to define the new republic and direct its course for the coming centuries. Ellis focuses on six discrete moments that exemplify the most crucial issues facing the fragile new nation: Burr and Hamilton's deadly duel, and what may have really happened; Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison's secret dinner, during which the seat of the permanent capital was determined in exchange for passage of Hamilton's financial plan; Franklin's petition to end the "peculiar institution" of slavery--his last public act--and Madison's efforts to quash it; Washington's precedent-setting Farewell Address, announcing his retirement from public office and offering his country some final advice; Adams's difficult term as Washington's successor and his alleged scheme to pass the presidency on to his son; and finally, Adams and Jefferson's renewed correspondence at the end of their lives, in which they compared their different views of the Revolution and its legacy.

In a lively and engaging narrative, Ellis recounts the sometimes collaborative, sometimes archly antagonistic interactions between these men, and shows us the private characters behind the public personas: Adams, the ever-combative iconoclast, whose closest political collaborator was his wife, Abigail; Burr, crafty, smooth, and one of the most despised public figures of his time; Hamilton, whose audacious manner and deep economic savvy masked his humble origins; Jefferson, renowned for his eloquence, but so reclusive and taciturn that he rarely spoke more than a few sentences in public; Madison, small, sickly, and paralyzingly shy, yet one of the most effective debaters of his generation; and the stiffly formal Washington, the ultimate realist, larger-than-life, and America's only truly indispensable figure.

Ellis argues that the checks and balances that permitted the infant American republic to endure were not primarily legal, constitutional, or institutional, but intensely personal, rooted in the dynamic interaction of leaders with quite different visions and values. Revisiting the old-fashioned idea that character matters, Founding Brothers informs our understanding of American politics--then and now--and gives us a new perspective on the unpredictable forces that shape history.

读后感

作者Joseph J. Ellis是历史教授，这本书拿了2000年的普利策奖(历史类)，他更早的一本书American Sphinx拿了国家图书奖(NonFiction类)。 虽然是一本畅销书，但作者写作的态度很严谨，书后列了他不完整的参考资料，足足三十页，好几百条……然而作者并没有将其写成一部学术著作...  

正如查建英说的“美国是人类的试验”（大意如此），这些开国者们确实在怀着对乌托邦的追求小心翼翼的写下每一篇奠基后世的文件。此书刚开始看很费力，越到后来越清晰，不过我还是没有一气读完，中间断断续续，还好书不厚，能把握个总体印象。也许美国人写书都是这样的，他们没...  

通过六个故事——亚历山大·汉密尔顿和亚伦·伯尔的决斗，托马斯·杰斐逊在纽约市新寓所的私人晚宴，议员们对待奴隶制的分歧，乔治·华盛顿的告别信，约翰·亚当斯和托马斯·杰斐逊的总统竞选等故事，分别叙述了美国的几位开国元勋的的个人风采以及美国开国之初面临的挑战。  

这可能是我第一本读起来有些艰难、却又坚持读完的书（兴趣范围之内，否则，早撇啦），购买的初衷：一是对美国建国人物的浓厚兴趣，再是被封面精致的绘图所吸引。 那是大几啊，记不清啦，自负饱读诗书的我，被这样一本薄薄的小册子，弄得理解艰难晦涩，却又感觉妙趣...  

通过六个故事——亚历山大·汉密尔顿和亚伦·伯尔的决斗，托马斯·杰斐逊在纽约市新寓所的私人晚宴，议员们对待奴隶制的分歧，乔治·华盛顿的告别信，约翰·亚当斯和托马斯·杰斐逊的总统竞选等故事，分别叙述了美国的几位开国元勋的的个人风采以及美国开国之初面临的挑战。  

用户评价

我怕我看着看着看着就睡着了。。。。

我怕我看着看着看着就睡着了。。。。

我怕我看着看着看着就睡着了。。。。

我怕我看着看着看着就睡着了。。。。

我怕我看着看着看着就睡着了。。。。