'' Alexander Hamilton '' is a 2004 biography of American statesman Alexander Hamilton , written by historian and biographer Ron Chernow . Hamilton , one of the Founding Fathers of the United States , was an instrumental promoter of the U.S. Constitution , founder of the nation 's financial system , and its first Secretary of the Treasury . The book , which was met with mostly positive acclaim , went on to win the inaugural George Washington Book Prize and was a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography . In 2015 , the book was adapted to the stage by playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda where it went on to win many accolades and awards . Chernow had previously written multiple books on the topic of business and finance – notably a biography covering the life of J.P. Morgan which went on to win the National Book Award for Nonfiction , and a biography about John D. Rockefeller which remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 16 weeks . In 1999 , he shifted his focus to start a biography in a new topic ; American politics . Chernow began the writing process by going through more than 22,000 pages of Hamilton 's papers and archival research around the world . He described Hamilton 's extensive writing by calling him , " the human word machine " , saying he " must have produced the maximum number of words that a human being can scratch out in 49 years " . Over the course of his writing and research , Chernow also took the time to dive more into Hamilton 's history . He held the dueling pistols used in the famous Burr – Hamilton duel , visited the jail cell on Saint Croix where Hamilton 's mother was imprisoned , went to the island of Bequia where Hamilton 's father disappeared to after abandoning his illegitimate son , and had a lock of Alexander 's hair genetically tested for his racial makeup . Chernow explained Hamilton in his book by stating , " If Washington is the father of the country and Madison the father of the Constitution , then Alexander Hamilton was surely the father of the American government . " Following its release in 2004 , '' Alexander Hamilton '' was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography . In 2005 , it won the inaugural $ 50,000 George Washington Book Prize for early American history . The book spent three months on The New York Times Best Seller list after its release , and then returned to the list in 2015 after the release of '' Hamilton : An American Musical ''
Burr – Hamilton duel
Burr–Hamilton duel
Alexander Hamilton (book)