Joseph J. Ellis and Runger Nelson - Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

Pros: Beautifully written in a lively, entertaining style; fair, impartial and judicious.
Cons: None

Whenever I walk into a bookstore, I always head first to the history and biography sections in the hopes of discovering something new and intriguing... and the larger the better! I have predilection for "fat" books; consequently, I whenever I leave a...

Pros: intriguing information, in-depth characterization, different viewpoints of issues are explained
Cons: no written connection to modern society, some dull parts

As an American history buff, passing Founding Brothers in my local Barnes & Noble would surely yield my purchase of the book. The history of the United States is fascinating; for a country under 250 years old, it’s amazing to think that only a few ...

Pros: Tightly written lay account is perfect read for history novice
Cons: None

Joseph J. Ellis, author of the National Book Award Winning Jefferson biography American Sphinx has hit another home run with Founding Brothers, a history of America in the 1790's, which picked up the Pulitzer Prize in 2001.

The...

Pros: Engaging, decent length, informative
Cons: None for me

This particular book was quite short in comparison to the vast amount that could be articulated from this period of time in Americas infancy by someone as familiarized with it as Ellis. However packed into this book, quite nicely and precisely, are 6 ...

Pros: Page-turning narrative, eloquent prose, rigorous scholarship: That's hard to beat!
Cons: It's only 248 pages; not all the figures fit into Ellis's historical scheme

Joseph Ellis has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons. A prestigious historian and professor at Mount Holyoke College, he won the National Book Award for his 1996 biography of Thomas Jefferson, American Sphinx, and the...

Pros: Summarizes the politics of our founding brothers with great ease of reading.
Cons: A founding father that you might have held as a hero may be tarnished.

August 6th, 2001 – A good friend of mine referred this book to me. By the end of 2001 I had purchase ...

Pros: Solid and unique analysis.
Cons: Uneven in parts.

Written as a series of vignettes with an underlying theme, Founding Brothers offers insight into the tenuous nature of the new nation springing from the American Revolution. While there is no real groundbreaking research here, what this work does offer ...

Pros: quite funny, tells about person lives
Cons: confusing at some points, often repeats information

Last year, in 9th grade pre-IB American History, my teacher required his class to read this book. A ...

Pros: Vivid. Varied. Well written.
Cons: Too short. No sequel. No illustrations.

I like this book for several reasons.

It's history writing seen in a little different perspective, as the author puts a lot of emphasize on the individual characters and thus avoids a verbose lengthy style.

The chapters subjects...

Pros: Vastly entertaining
Cons: Wish it were a bit more in depth.

While a fairly lightweight by history standards, this book is well worth the read. It is history the way you wish it had been taught in high school, succinct, fast paced and tremendously entertaining. Being short, it doesn't have the depth of the lengthy tomes. But as an overview and as a sometimes acerbic commentary, the book is likely to whet the reader's appetite for other books about the period.