Structure

Ron Chernow tells his biography of Alexander Hamilton from both the third and first-person omniscient points of view. The majority of the book is told in the third-person, as Chernow assumes the role of third-person narrator who relates the events of the life of Alexander Hamilton. Writing as the third-person narrator, Chernow is able to contextualize important events with additional information, such as providing brief biographical sketches of the famous men whose lives intertwined with Hamilton’s, such as Washington, Jefferson, and Burr, as well as sketches of important events relating to Hamilton, such as the American Revolution and the nature of the Constitutional Convention. This provides for a richer and fuller understanding of Hamilton and his times. At various points, Chernow interrupts the narrative to speak from a personal standpoint, where he directly comments on things which occur in Hamilton’s life, or in which he...