Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

WORST AP United States History Assignment EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, this book was my summer reading project. This snooze fest of a book literally made me cry of boredom. In my opinion, Joseph Ellis' first draft of the novel was written in a way NORMAL Americans could understand...THEN Mr. Ellis decided to go back to his original draft and then added every insignificant FLUFF word he could think of. If this book was giving as a punishment it is pretty much guarantied the punished individual would never misbehave again. I hate this book and only read it because it was required for my class, and I have absolutely no idea why a sane person would read this novel for pleasure.

5 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

Ellis's book is very knowledgeable and many of the topics he brought up throughout the book were interesting and made me contemplative. It is very well written and it's far more detailed on parts of the revolution than the normal textbook would be. However, unless you're a complete lover for history / American history, it may either fry your brain or put you to sleep (one or the other)!

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

See the Founders Play Politics

Founding Brothers was an interesting read. The overall point of the book was to humanize these men who are looked up to like gods today. The best thing was the ideological struggle among these men who stood together for independence but gradually became adversaries as the dust settled. Anyone who thinks that the so-called partisan politics or attack ads of today are a new phenomenon needs to read this book. Each chapter details a few events of a founders life that illustrate some point in the continuing struggle to define what America is. Founding Brothers is a quick but informative read.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

So How Did It All Turn Out?

Silly Question,you say, but in Joseph Ellis's capable hands, we come to understand that the great American experiment in democracy was very much in doubt for several years after the U.S.Constitution was ratified. Ellis is endlessly fascinating as he displays the early days of our Republic and the brilliant, flawed, dedicated, wise, sometimes simply wrong political leaders. Yet, they held it all together in the end. They didn't lose the dream of freedom that had urged so many men to risk everything, even their lives, for a chance to live that dream..

If, like me, your understanding of American history is little more than that fast trip through high school history, this is delicious reading. Ellis is a seductive story teller who brings the Americon icons like Washington, Adams, and Jefferson to life with all their splendor and warts showing. Somehow, you think more highly of them and their accomplishments, often against staggering odds, because they were not perfect, but simply men who carried a shared vision that meant everything to them.

I recommend you not miss this chance to know them well.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Unique Perspective on American History

Taking a significant moment in each of the lives of John Adams, George Washington, Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Ellis develops a fascinating discussion of what led up to that moment and its influence on and importance to American history.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Real History

This is a wonderful view of the founders of our country. It goes beyond the history books and looks at several of our country's founders influences and actions.

A little slow to start, but well worth the effort.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Was not my favorite.

The book for me wasn't a good choice. I loved the first chapter and it kept me interested every page I turned. It was well written and didn't repeat itself too much. After the first chapter is where I started to not like the book so much. The second chapter about "The Dinner" I felt was a little confusing to understand the way it was written. If you are a true die hard history lover you will love this book. I am not a die hard history lover so I felt this book was extremely hard to make it through. Also I felt the last two chapters were repeating themselves over and over again for about 100 pages. It didn't get to the point which i was hoping would happen. I would not reccommend this book to anyone who does not have interest in history or has a little interest in history. You must LOVE history to be able to read this book cover to cover with no complaints. I hope everyone liked this book much more than I did but I do not reccommend this book.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Loved it

Sparked my new found love for our founders and our great nation. Worth buying & sharing.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I LOVE this Book

It is a wonderful book that gives you a peek into the world of the founding fathers of our country. I found it INCREDIBLY entertaining and informative.

Great read!

The author brings these historical figures to life.

Ummm...its Okayy

I love history but this book was not fun to read. I had to read it for my Dual Credit History Class. Some of it was intersting but majority of it was boring.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

for history lovers GREAT! for the people that don't...eh...

I am usually a really good reader, but this book was almost painful for me to read...(keep in mind that i am a 16 year old and i had to read this book for history) but there was some witty comments from the author that made some parts interesting, it wasn't all together that bad...but for us high school students it is like trying to understand a person from France with out a translator.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

For history junkies only

I had to read this book for my american history class..i myself love the americam revolution but this book was a little to complicated for me...you have to pay attention to every word to be able to understand it...interesting stories though

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

SAVE YOURSELF!

Whatever you do, DO NOT read confounding brothers! It is the worst history book I have EVER read and that is saying something because I am normally an avid history student. I was forced to read this book for school and it was the most tedious and painful experience ever, I had to push myself to finish it and reading the last chapter took me 3 days (only because I kept having to force myself to keep reading). At some points I had to stop myself from throwing this book out of the window! If you have to read this for school you have my deepest sympathy and if you're thinking of reading it for fun i definitely wouldn't advise it! :(

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I Would Give This A Zero If I Could

Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis, was a book about the founding fathers of our nation. Anyone from John Adams to George Washington. I had to read this book for school. In my opinion, reading an entire textbook would have been better than reading this. Textbooks at least have pictures and everything seperated into small sections. This book just kept giving you fact after fact after fact after fact. However, if I were to have chosen to read a book, I wouldn't have chosen this book, or any book like this one. Maybe it is the fact that I enjoy adventure, action, and mystery books. Maybe it is the fact that I had to read it for school. I am not quite sure, but I will reccommend this to no one. I hope I never have to read a book like this ever again.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A great short history

This book by Ellis treats alot of historic events in a short amount of text. Some of the events that are discussed include: Alexander Hamilton's duel with Aaron Burr, George Washington's presidency, and the feud between Jefferson and John Adam. This book is written in a very readable way. Ellis deals with the topic of the founding generation with an evenhanded tone while still pointing out misconceptions when he finds them. If you are a fan of revolutionary war era history, this book is highly recommended.

Founding Brothers

Founding Brothers, in the eyes of a teenager, was a very difficult read. It was troublesome to understand. It should only be recommended to people who are interested in history, and should not be assigned to high school students.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Enthralling if Brief

This book is an excellent exposition of the travails encountered by individuals Americans know so well from history textbooks. The founding of the USA was frought with external and internal difficulties, with contributions by many of those whom we as Americans regard as mere statuary (stone faced, with little personality and no negative qualities). This book attempts to add color, texture, and movement to these great figures all to often perceived as immovable among the black and white text of history. It talks of personality and power clashes - I was especially interested in Thomas Jefferson's determination to be a partisan thorn in the side of John Adams while simultaneously serving as President Adams' Vice Presidenct (before the days of Prez and VP being on the same partisan electoral ticket). Tidbits like this keep this book enthralling without resorting to revisionist shock-value and/or partisan rhetoric. The only down-side was that it was too short!!

I definitely recommend for anyone who is looking for a relatively quick read with a fresh perspective on issues and historical figures we have long since chiseled on the one-dimensional plane of classroom history.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Eh...

I though the the rest of the book would be as the first chapter was, and that is interesting stories that connected these men. It did, but the stories he tells are probably geared toward the esoterics. The stories he chose to write about are stories that would bore any amateur historian. You would probably retain more by reading other titles (Infamous Scribblers).

Not for T. Jefferson fans

The book was extraordinarily interesting and provided rich background information for a number of events that received little notice in our high school history books. It will be a disappointment for Jefferson fans as he is portrayed as an eloquent writer who is a far less effective leader and politician. I am still sorting out my thoughts on the dilemma encountered by the founders concerning slavery, and have begun to realize how sensitive it still is more than 150 years after the Civil War.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.