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Summary: awesome!
Review: Hardly knowing anything about American history, this book taught me in an easy, smooth and story-like fashion. I love it and I came to appreciate American history even more. This book is for everybody, even someone who gets bored easily. You will not put it out of your hands! Buy it!!!
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Summary: A great look at the original "band of brothers"
Review: This is a good look at the "band of brothers"-- the men who composed the revolutionary movement. It focuses on seven main players: James Madison, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. Burr is actually the odd man here, and I think he could have been omitted, since he was less revolutionary and more annoying in his influence. It seems his most significant (though not productive) contribution was that he killed Hamilton.This book takes on a different approach than most history books do--it focuses on six main events, each of which was very significant in that it shaped the way the revolution played out and formed the nation into what we know today. These events, in the order presented, are: THE DUEL--This focuses on the duel between Hamilton and Burr in which Hamilton purposely wasted his shot and was, in turn, mortally wounded. This is mostly significant in that it effectively ended the political careers of both. THE DINNER-- This is about a dinner that included Hamilton, Madison, and Jefferson, in which the location of the nation's capital was decided on what is now Washington, DC. THE SILENCE focuses on a petition to Congress to end slavery, headed by Benjamin Franklin. It is significant in that, with this petition, Congress adopted a stance of silence on the issue of slavery, which was to continue for twenty years and would eventually culminate into the issues that would bring on the civil war. THE FAREWELL deals primarily with Washington's farewell address, and details the significance of his leaving office. As the true American hero, his retirement threatened to dissolve the already precarious unity of the infant nation. THE COLLABORATORS speaks of the Presidential races (there were two) between Jefferson, who was backed by Madison, and Adams, who was backed by his wife Abigail. THE FRIENDSHIP is about the reconciliation of Adams and Jefferson, which came about after many years of silence which followed Jefferson's appointment as Adams vice-President and his subsequent failure to support the latter's administration. The reconciliation of these two stalwart friends is one of the great accomplishments of the revolutionary generation. This book is very good in its historical examination of these events. It's weakness is that it's sometimes a little too technical, and for that reason often borders on dull. Overall, though, this is a good book about the Revolution and the men who brought it about.
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Summary: Making the Founders Come Alive
Review: I am no expert in American history, so I have no particular ax to grind about Ellis. I will say that his book did something for me that all my years of schooling did not: it made these men (and Abigail Adams) come alive for me as flesh-and-blood three-dimensional human beings. That said, it increased rather than decreased my admiration for their accomplishment in founding this American republic. Ellis made me see that the political mess of our current day is not really unique; in fact, it seems to be the norm. Helped me kill off my need to have the Founders either as idols or (in moralizing lefty academic fashion) as villains. I have been so fascinated that I have since read Ellis' American Sphinx (on Jefferson) and McCollough's (sp?) John Adams. For the first time in my life, I found myself thinking how great it would have been to live in their times, not because they were "better" but because they were so full of life, passion, and thinking. The portrayal of their gifts and their shadows was very moving to me. When people read of our time in 200 years, I wonder if we --for all our vaunted enlightenment-- will come off as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Good overview of the revolutionary personalities
Review: I liked the John Adams book better, but this was a good overview of the people and issues of the time, and how they related to each other. I tend to like more depth than breadth, and this was a broad brush. But competently done and interestingly told.
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Summary: intersting, exciting and educational
Review: It is a great book for learning about the founding fathers of the country. Fascinating and well written.
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Summary: Euck!
Review: This book was boring as anything. The writer goes off on meaningless tangents that are incredibly off topic. No only is this book dull and uninteresting, there are huge amounts of unneeded information that just serves to make this book an even longer torture.
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Summary: Talkin' 'bout my revolutionary g-g-generation
Review: Well, at least Ellis didn't tell his history students he served under General Washington...
But enough righteous sarcasm.
The good stuff is Ellis delivers the goods on 6 "behind the scenes" stories of the American Revolution, the most fascinating being how Washington DC became the site of our nation's capital. Reading this book you realize how much politics hasn't changed since John Adams ran for President (Washington had it easy; no one was going to run against him). There's name calling, scandals, partisan politics; it's amazing we've gotten anything done as a country in 200+ years.
Jefferson appears in almost each of these stories, and he comes off as the Clinton of his day; he'll say anything to anyone to make them happy, and then has to decide which version of the truth is appropriate in any given situation.
Ellis's writing style is maddening in one area; the man loves to turn proper nouns into adjectives: thus, you get something like "It was the Jeffersonian style" as opposed to "It was Jefferson's style". This also happens with Washington, Hamilton, and Madison... but not Adams or Franklin (guess it only works with names ending in "on"!).
Also, I think Franklin on the cover is deceiving. Granted he makes an appearance during the slavery debate story, but that's it. He's written as a walk-on, rather than a central, figure.
I bought my copy used from Amazon.com, and I suggest the same for anyone reading this.
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Summary: The Author
Review: I cannot recommend this book. Too much of it is opinion, and it is the opinion of one of the most flawed characters in academia, a man who has proved himself unworthy of trust. He has been much overhonored for mediocre, highly flawed works, like this one. History does not need to be written from such a political point of view, omitting that which disagrees, gleefully recounting that which agrees, but, mostly, exaggerating the both extremes.
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Summary: Overrated, but a good read
Review: Founding Brothers might be one of the most controversial Pulitzer Prize winners in recent years. It's author, Joseph Ellis, lied to his students about his Vietnam War service, and his involvement in the Civil Rights movement. I probably would not have read this book had it not been for the controversy, as I do not generally read about the Revolutionary War period. That being said, I did not glean as much from this work as someone with interest in this period might have. I found the introduction intelligent yet wordy, and the premise of the book was clear.
The portraits themselves were much the same. I thought that the chapter on the Hamilton- Burr duel was the best, and the author was correct in his conclusions to place it first in the line up. The other portraits left something to be desired, however. It was not the absence of action that bothered me; one can have an exciting story without violence. It was the Adams- Jefferson subplot, which the author tried, without success, to conceal. Now I have nothing wrong with Adams or Jefferson, but they were not the only 'Founding Brothers.' This is not a bad book, however, and it would probably be a great follow up to a general history of the Revolution and the Constitutional Convention.
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Summary: Best Book I Heave Read On Revolutionary Era
Review: This book gives an intimate insight into the key players of our revolution. I have found that there are two primary styles in describing people: 1) Facts and Statistics. By giving a chronology of their birth, upbringing, education, and accomplishments, you gain a 3rd-person understanding of a person's life. 2) Key Stories. By telling one or two stories about someone, you may not know where they went to school, who they married, etc., but done well, you can capture the essence of a person. Although a good biography mixes both facts and stories, biographies usually focus on a specific person. By profiling a group of people and telling stories about their interactions, you gain an added dimension -- you understand how their mix of personalities shaped history, and how history shaped them. Using different historical backdrops, including Hamilton and Burr's duel, the silence over slavery, the dinner in which the Potomac was picked to be our capitol, etc., you gain not only an in-depth understanding of these issues, but you come to truly understand what made each person tick. You come to see them as humans with great strengths as well as great weaknesses. I came away with a better understanding about how each personality of our founding fathers manifested itself into our current system of governance. Each brilliant, left to their own devises, this country may not have survived. Yet in this volatile period, the best of each person bubbled to the top, and allowed a nation to be formed that has thrived for over 200 years.
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