Book Review: "Fatal Friendship - Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr" by Arnold A. Rogow

I like reading biographies of famous people.  I learn about the history of the time and how different personalities shaped our world.

Hamilton is experiencing a new popularity due to the Broadway play.  He wouldn't be half as well known for his important accomplishments had he not been killed by Aaron Burr in the infamous duel.

Their lives and careers intertwined each other.  Why Hamilton hated Burr was never discovered--nor was the specific reason for the duel.

The book did a lovely job of comparing and contrasting the 2 men.  Hamilton was brilliant and amazing as a young man, but as he aged, things started to deteriorate.  Burr, unlike Hamilton, was not a self-made man.  He was successfully, politically, but wasn't motivated and didn't accomplish much during his career. 

I learned a lot from the book.  I liked how the author showed that different sources had different points of view that shaped how we view the two men.  In reality, Hamilton wasn't always the hero and Burr wasn't always the villain.