“Covering Hamilton’s background, birth, and youth in the West Indies and his first decade in the United States, Alexander Hamilton: The Formative Years details Hamilton’s emergence as a revolutionary pamphleteer, military leader, General Washington’s principal, ablest, and most trusted aide-de-camp, and hero of the decisive Yorktown campaign. With encyclopedic knowledge of Hamilton’s life and career and all that has been written about it, including the many contradictions, Michael E. Newton judiciously sorts out what we know and don’t know based on the historical evidence. Where historical actors and later scholars disagree, the author weighs the evidence and presents us with what is most likely based on the extant record. He thereby corrects many false statements and impressions given in the Hamilton literature. Along the way, Mr. Newton also presents a number of new and interesting discoveries. It is a pleasure to read such a deep, informed, and scrupulously documented volume, yet one that is so engaging and well written as to be something of a page-turner.”

~ Richard Sylla is the Henry Kaufman Professor of the History of Financial Institutions and Markets at New York University Stern School of Business. He is the past editor of Journal of Economic History and serves on the editorial board of many journals, including Financial History Review, Enterprise and Society, and Economic and Financial History Abstracts. He is currently a Trustee of the Museum of American Finance. Professor Sylla is also the author or co-author or numerous books and published papers.