Joseph J. Ellis - Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

Pros: Beautifully written in a lively, entertaining style; fair, impartial and judicious.

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: A book sure to appeal to all readers with a desire to learn more about the men and women who founded our great nation.

Review: 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...

Pros: Tightly written lay account is perfect read for history novice

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: Yes.

Review: 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.

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Pros: Smartly written; engaging and challenging; you will be a smarter citizen at the end.

Cons: No pictures. OK ...it is pretty much complete as is.

The Bottom Line: Engaging story of the men who envisioned a common future, and crafted the means to achieve it, from a mish-mash of personalities and discordant goals. An important story well told.

Review: ...
It is customary to refer to the 'Founding Fathers' when speaking of the men who precipitated, organized and led the breakaway of the American Colonies from Mother England. It seems this period of 'nation building' almost requires the image of...

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

The Bottom Line: Joseph Ellis's books are good reads and good history. He writes history that can be appreciated by generalists and scholars alike. Founding Brothers is no exception.

Review: 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: intriguing information, in-depth characterization, different viewpoints of issues are explained

Cons: no written connection to modern society, some dull parts

The Bottom Line: I would recommend Founding Brothers because the information that one learns while reading the novel is priceless.

Review: 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...

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.

The Bottom Line: Why can?t history books for school be written like this book? It is the greatest hits album of the revolutionary war. Condensing biographies & correspondence to a narrative highlight.

Review: August 6th, 2001 A good friend of mine referred this book to me. By the end of 2001 I had purchased a copy on-line at a fairly reasonable price. During the spring of 2002 I started reading chapter one and was half way through the chapter when I put...

Pros: Engaging, decent length, informative

Cons: None for me

The Bottom Line: Recommended as an important read in understanding American history.

Review: 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...

Pros: quite funny, tells about person lives

Cons: confusing at some points, often repeats information

The Bottom Line: Overall, this book was very well written and I believe that people from ages 14 and up will like it and even find it to be rather enjoyable.

Review: Last year, in 9th grade pre-IB American History, my teacher required his class to read this book. At first, we were all upset because we had just switched from pre-IB English with Romeo & Juliet, Odyssey, October Sky, and Hamlet. But, we soon found...

Pros: Solid and unique analysis.

Cons: Uneven in parts.

The Bottom Line: Yes, even non-academics should find this book interesting.

Review: 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...

Pros: Vivid. Varied. Well written.

Cons: Too short. No sequel. No illustrations.

The Bottom Line: Because the book is a pleasure to read and hold, as well as entertaining and educating, I recommend it for all history or biography buffs.

Review: 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...