Nine Books for Hamilton Fans

If Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ron Chernow, and Alexander Hamilton have sparked your interest in the history of the United States' founding and its early days, you're not alone. The Tony Award-winning musical has inspired enthusiasm and curiosity among many, which is why we've invited Dr. Eugene Tesdahl to give a presentation on the life and times of Alexander Hamilton. Dr. Tesdahl, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, will be presenting at Carnegie-Stout Public Library on Monday, July 11 at 6 p.m. (the 212th anniversary of Hamilton and Burr's duel).

Dozens of books have been written about our nation's earliest days, but we've narrowed the list down to nine suggestions below (we assume you've already checked out Hamilton: The Revolution and Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow).

You might also enjoy reading some of the same books that our Founding Fathers borrowed from the New York Society Library, which included such notable members as George Washington, Aaron Burr, and Hamilton himself. You can browse their ledgers of borrower records online!

The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 by Joseph Ellis
(973.3 ELL) The triumph of the American Revolution was neither an ideological nor political guarantee that the colonies would relinquish their independence and accept the creation of a federal government with power over their individual autonomy. The Quartet is the story of this second American founding and of the men responsible, men who shaped the contours of American history by drafting the Bill of Rights.

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell

(973.33 VOW) On August 16, 1824, an elderly French gentlemen sailed into New York Harbor and giddy Americans were there to welcome him. Or, rather, to welcome him back. It had been 30 years since the Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette had last set foot in the United States, and he was so beloved that 80,000 people showed up to cheer for him.

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
(Biog Jefferson) Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era. Philosophers think; politicians maneuver. Jefferson's genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously. Such is the art of power.

Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America by Stephen Knott & Tony Williams
(973.41 KNO) From the rumblings of the American Revolution through the fractious Constitutional Convention and America's turbulent first years, this captivating history reveals the stunning impact of this unlikely duo that set the United States on the path to becoming a superpower.

The Struggle for Sea Power: A Naval History of the American Revolution by Sam Willis
(973.35 WIL) Sam Willis traces every key military event in the path to American independence from a naval perspective, and he also brings this important viewpoint to bear on economic, political, and social developments that were fundamental to the success of the Revolution. In doing so Willis offers valuable new insights into American, British, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Russian history.

Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick
(973.3 PHI) The focus is on loyalty and personal integrity, evoking a Shakespearean tragedy that unfolds in the key relationship of Washington and Arnold, who is an impulsive but sympathetic hero whose misfortunes at the hands of self-serving politicians fatally destroy his faith in the legitimacy of the rebellion. As a country wary of tyrants suddenly must figure out how it should be led, Washington's unmatched ability to rise above the petty politics of his time enables him to win the war that really matters.

The Washingtons: George and Martha, "Join'd by Friendship, Crown'd by Love" by Flora Fraser
(Biog Washington) This is a remarkable story of a remarkable pair as well as a gripping narrative of the birth of a nation--a major, and vastly appealing, contribution to the literature of our founding fathers . . . and founding mother.

Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick O'Donnell
(973.33 ODO) In August 1776, General George Washington's army faced off against over 20,000 British and Hessian soldiers at the Battle of Brooklyn. It was almost the end of the war. But thanks to a series of desperate bayonet charges by a single heroic regiment from Maryland, known as the "Immortal 400," Washington was able to retreat and regroup.

Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence by Carol Berkin
(973.3 BER) The American Revolution was a home-front war that brought scarcity, bloodshed, and danger into the life of every American, and Carol Berkin shows us that women played a vital role throughout the struggle. Berkin takes us into the ordinary moments of extraordinary lives.

Our Favorite Books of 2013, part one

It's time once again for the staff of Carnegie-Stout Public Library to pick our favorite books of 2013. It's a mix of books new in 2013, and books new to us in 2013. And if you just can't get enough of librarian reading suggestions, check out the Twitter hashtag #libfaves13 for the favorite reads of librarians across the nation and around the world. We'd love it if you'd share your favorite books from this past year in the comments!

You can browse our favorite books from past years here:
Staff Picks 2011, new books
Staff Picks 2011
Staff Picks 2012, part one
Staff Picks 2012, part two

 

Andrew, Adult Services: I’d love this book even if it was just a chunk of paper bound together as an excuse to print the clever title, but it quickly becomes apparent that Ryan North knows Hamlet very well and is quite aware of the bizarre genius of making a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book out of what may be the most famous example of literary indecision. North’s humor is gleeful and smart, alternating between Dungeons & Dragons references and insightful critique of the play. His wry commentary on the treatment of Ophelia is particularly enjoyable. I’ll be playing around in these 600+ pages for some time to come!

Jackie, Circulation: Drinking and Tweeting by Brandi Glanville is exactly what I expected it to be and more! It is an honest, sad, hysterical, sarcastic account of Brandi's life. This book shares her ups, downs, and everywhere (and I do mean everywhere) in between! It is a candid account of her life before Real Housewives of Orange County and her separation from her cheating husband (Eddie Cibrian). She speaks openly about dealing with the loss of her relationship, having a woman move in on her life and children (LeAnn Rimes), reinventing herself, and getting back into the dating world. She briefly discusses her spot on the Real Housewives show but it is not the driving force of the book by any means. This is a great, funny, quick read! If you have ever had relationship blunders you will surely relate to Brandi!

Mary, Youth Services: My favorite read in 2013 was The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Kelsey Moore. Excellent book with touching stories and a big splash of humor. It's about the enduring bond of three high school friends though the ups and downs of life. Reminded me of the nostalgia settings in the Fannie Flagg's books.

Laura, Circulation: The Legend of Broken by Caleb Carr. This is a truly unique historical novel with the feel of a fantasy even without any supernatural elements.  Although mostly speculative, it feels natural and believable, mysteriously set . . . somewhere . . . in a post-Roman Europe, in a dangerous culture that has maybe sown the seeds of its own destruction.  Precise, flowing prose and a jaw-dropping plot twist made this my favorite book of the year.  I've never read anything else like it!

Mike, Adult Services: A book I enjoyed this year was Mississippi Solo: A River Quest by Eddy L. Harris. It was published in 1988 and is out of print, so I bought a used paperback copy on eBay. When he was 30, Harris canoed the length of the Mississippi River by himself, and his book takes readers along on the three-month journey, from camping on sandbars to locking through dams to exploring quirky river towns like Dubuque, where Harris ate Yen Cheng egg rolls under the Town Clock. Harris's bubbliness is weird, and he goes overboard with his anthropomorphic descriptions of the river, but his book reminded me of my younger days when I lived three blocks from Ol' Man River in Savanna, Illinois, especially the days I spent with friends in flat-bottom boats. Now at 60, Harris is raising money to paddle the river again, this time with documentary filmmakers in tow: www.eddyharris.com. If Harris makes it back to Yen Cheng, his crew is bound to shoot some interesting footage. If not, he has at the very least inspired one aging river-rat wannabe to save up for a canoe.

Allison, Adult Services: I picked up Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block expecting a standard YA end-of-the-world survival story, with some teenage love drama thrown in. While there is a world-ending catastrophe and romance, the book was anything but standard. Drawing on Homer's "Odyssey" (which, I'll be honest, I only skimmed in high school. It isn't necessary to be familiar with the tales, but, I appreciated Block's book more after a little review) the story begins when a cataclysmic earthquake destroys the West Coast and a wall of water sweeps seventeen-year-old Penelope's family away. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of looters, Pen sets off on a perilous journey to find her family, encountering human-devouring giants, sirens,  lotus-eaters and witches, and gathering three companions to aid her quest. Magic and the fantastic is woven throughout the narrative, which skims back and forth from Pen's present journey to her life before the Earth Shaker, when she was just on the precipice of discovering her sexuality. Even though the book wasn't at all what I though it was, I was enchanted by the magical realism and love that suffused the story.

Lisa, Circulation: Historical fiction is my favorite genre, so I really enjoyed Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jaime Ford. I learned about part of American history that I never really knew about before. Set in Seattle during World War II, the story centers around the evacuation of Japanese Americans to internment camps hundreds of miles away from their homes. They are denied their belongings and the lives they have established there. It is a story of a shamful part of American hisotry, but also of family ties and bonds between fathers and sons. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. 

Amy, Youth Services, The Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier (Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue, and Emerald Green): Gwen has inherited the time-travel gene from her ancestors.  She travels through time in London with Gideon, another time-traveler, to search for the "Circle of Twelve" which are other time-travelers and find out what her own destiny is.  She is the Ruby in the Circle of Twelve and once all the pieces of the puzzle are put together, her own destiny will be revealed.  These books were very interesting and had a refreshing story that separates it from all the similarly written dystopian YA novels of this year.

Who was Shakespeare?

Opening October 28th, Roland Emmerich's film Anonymous asks a question that has dogged scholars for decades: Was Shakespeare really Shakespeare? Was the author of the timeless masterpieces Hamlet and King Lear a glover's son from Stratford-upon-Avon, or someone else entirely?

The "question of authorship," as the debate has been termed, was first raised at the beginning of the 19th century.Since then, many well-known authors and scholars, including Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, and Walt Whitman, have challenged conventional wisdom and offered up alternative candidates as the true Shakespeare. Orson Welles once commented,"I think Oxford wrote Shakespeare. If you don't, there are some awful funny coincidences to explain away."

Among those nominated as the "real"Shakespeare is Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the same man that Anonymous posits as the author of Shakespeare's works, although he is not the only possibility. Rival playwright Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon and even Queen Elizabeth herself have been suggested as the true author(or authors) of Shakespeare's works.

In addition to film, many books have been written on the question of authorship, spanning an entire spectrum of possibilities. Mark Anderson's "Shakespeare"By Another Name: The Life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man Who Was Shakespeare also argues for Edward de Vere as the true Shakespeare,asserting that, unlike the man named William Shakespeare, de Vere had the education, experience, and means to create such timeless works. Anderson also draws parallels between specific plays and episodes in de Vere's life. For example, during his twenties, de Vere accumulated a large debt with London's moneylenders, a theme echoed in The Merchant of Venice.

Other books written on the question of authorship do not make a case for a specific person as much as they cast doubt on Shakespeare as the sole author of the plays and poetry attributed to him. Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? by James Shapiro and Players:The Mysterious Identity of William Shakespeare by Bertram Fields address the issue by pointing out what they see as inconsistencies in Shakespeare's biography, as well as the scope of the works themselves, as proof that he could not have written all of the works that are claimed as his, or, at least, not by himself.

On the other side of the argument, Scott McCrea's The Case for Shakespeare: The End of the Authorship Question works to dismantle the question altogether, especially the arguments for Edward de Vere. Taking a different approach, Bill Bryson, in Shakespeare:The World as Stage, examines the life of William Shakespeare as a person, and celebrates Shakespeare's works as his own along the way.

If you'd like to explore the subject further, the library has many more books that argue both sides of the controversy. Stop by the Reference Desk or email us at yourlibrarian@dubuque.lib.ia.us.

Happy reading!

~Allison, Adult Services