Due to health issues cannot write a proper review now, a proper review will follow. Well researched and informative
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

In this complex and technical historical biography, Hogeland joins the band of academics and writers focusing on Broadway’s favorite Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Bringing various elements of early American banking, public debt, manufacturing, and other facets of Hamiltonian economics into context, Hogeland explores how Hamilton’s financial plan could succeed at a time when ideas of wealth, democracy, and America were malleable. Exploring the growth of the Treasury department and the ideas and people behind his master plan for American economics, Hogeland has done a serious amount of historical research to create a more complete and complex picture of early American economic policy. Giving other figures more credit and spotlighting Hamilton’s economic influences, this book is a fascinating insight into eighteenth century economic theory and the historical situation in which Hamilton developed his ground-breaking plans. A technical read, this book is perhaps better suited to academics and historians, though an experienced lay history reader or Hamilton fan might be able to understand the technical nuances of this book. Disproving and clarifying some of the simplified history present in various pop culture interpretations of the Early Republic period, this is a fantastic companion piece to other history books about this period, especially for those interested in economics.

Although this paints an interesting story of greed, corruption and power in early America and it certainly gives a different picture of Hamilton, I found it difficult to read on my Kindle. I think that a paperback would be easier because it is so thoroughly researched and detailed. Hamilton’s vision was a scheme, intended to drive the country forward based on a strong economic system. His enemies regarded his scheme as favouring the elites and the wealthy. In fact, most of the deep monetary and economic divisions today originated in the fierce battle over Hamilton’s scheme.

It’s a book that needs to be read in a slow and considered way.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. No review was required in return for an advance reading copy and no review was promised.

I just finished The Hamilton Scheme: An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding, by William Hogeland.

The book started off with very high hopes. The author peaked my interest when he described what the book was going to be about. But, then hopes once I got into the body of the book.

This was not a well written book and for most of it, the book struggled to keep my interest. What should have been interesting material in the hands of another author just failed.

I was hoping that things would have turned around with the chapter on the Constitutional Convention. That was really the only high point of the book. My hopes that it would be the turning point were quickly dashed.

It took me a while to figure out why this Herman Husband character gets so much attention to the book. To those who are already familiar with Hamilton and are wondering who is this guy, I have to say you’re right. There’s a reason why, in his long masterpiece on Hamilton, Ron Chernow devoted a grand total of zero words to Herman Husband. The only explanation that I could come up with was Husband’s inclusion allowed the author to get gratuitous religious imagery included a few times.

There were a bunch of times throughout the book when I was tempted to give up and stop reading. But, I kept plowing through, hoping it would improve. Unfortunately, the author was unable to make the material as interesting as it should have been.

I’m going to give this one a C. I’m open to the critique that I was too generous, but I’ve read worse and don’t think it was so deficient that it should fall below that. Amazon, Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a C equates to 2 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews. It will also be posted at Amazon, as soon as the book is released to the public on May 28.

I originally finished reading this on May 27, 2024.

The above blurb promises a less propagandistic American history than most. The introductory chapter does not continue this intense truth-telling, as it is mostly digressive, discussing all periods of American history, and even barely explaining what Hamilton actual policies were as it attempts to summarize the contents of the chapters. Then, “Chapter 1” is again very digressive as it describes some sort of an effort “to get rich quick” in 1741 by Hamilton, referring generally to some “British colonials in the Caribbean… making more and more money exporting more and more sugar…” One of the rare interesting specific details is the mention that as part of his success in New York came his “changing his birthdate to 1757” to appear to be a “wunderkind” as he began studying at Kings College in 1773. In other words, he started his studies with fraud, and so much have basically purchased a paper-degree, without doing real intellectual work, or such a forgery would have been noticed by administrators. Then, there are general references to some kind of business speculation, most of which tend to claim Hamilton succeeded by fooling socialites to give him money and power, as his “father-in-law” curated “friendly connections with the right people.” With barely a degree, and with wealthy corrupt connections or nepotism, Hamilton ended up in charge of directing American financial policy by 1781. Most of this book is hot air, where the writer appears to be imagining what people felt or believed, instead of researching the “history” of what happened. The next chapter includes a few rare specifics such as that Morris, Hamilton’s affiliate, “sorted out empires’ and companies’ various exchange rates for paper currencies and notes against real money… gold and silver coins”. The author digresses into the definition of “real” and “silver”, without quoting any source or simply explaining just what Morris’ job was, why it was significant, and why the narrative has digressed into such abstractions instead of attempting to support the ambitious promised thesis of being an anti-propaganda about just what Hamilton’s economic plan for America was.
This is a horrid book. It might eventually get to a point, and it might include scandalous details, instead of standard puffing propaganda, but these details are enclosed in pages and pages of unresearched nonsense. Nobody should read this book unless they want to be frustrated and confused.

sorry i'm just not vibing with this one right now, will try again later though. also like. i'm all hamilton'd out right now so.

It's trite to reference Hamilton now, but I feel like it's unavoidable. Hamilton was a scrappy orphaned young man who worked his way up to become a friend of the moneyed and elite classes. Hogeland covers this in his book book about the Whiskey Rebellion and this is the trhust of his work. He created the framework for the modern financial institutions of the United States, but those only benefited some of the people. We live with his legacy today, and this book does a great job of showing how we got to where we are. Thanks Hamilton! (I'll leave you to determine whether it was sarcasm or not. I'm not quite sure myself).

Finally, a general audience book about the making of the Constitutional system that seamlessly merges the experiences of elites with the general public. This feels like a capstone on Hogeland's writing career. Will eagerly recommend this one to my friends interested in American history as well as history writing in general.