Founding Brothers

ISBN: 9780375405440

出版社: Random House Inc

出版年: 2000-10

页数: 304

定价: 250.00元

装帧: HRD

内容简介

An illuminating study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic--John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.

During the 1790s, which Ellis calls the most decisive decade in our nation's history, the greatest statesmen of their generation--and perhaps any--came together to define the new republic and direct its course for the coming centuries. Ellis focuses on six discrete moments that exemplify the most crucial issues facing the fragile new nation: Burr and Hamilton's deadly duel, and what may have really happened; Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison's secret dinner, during which the seat of the permanent capital was determined in exchange for passage of Hamilton's financial plan; Franklin's petition to end the "peculiar institution" of slavery--his last public act--and Madison's efforts to quash it; Washington's precedent-setting Farewell Address, announcing his retirement from public office and offering his country some final advice; Adams's difficult term as Washington's successor and his alleged scheme to pass the presidency on to his son; and finally, Adams and Jefferson's renewed correspondence at the end of their lives, in which they compared their different views of the Revolution and its legacy.

In a lively and engaging narrative, Ellis recounts the sometimes collaborative, sometimes archly antagonistic interactions between these men, and shows us the private characters behind the public personas: Adams, the ever-combative iconoclast, whose closest political collaborator was his wife, Abigail; Burr, crafty, smooth, and one of the most despised public figures of his time; Hamilton, whose audacious manner and deep economic savvy masked his humble origins; Jefferson, renowned for his eloquence, but so reclusive and taciturn that he rarely spoke more than a few sentences in public; Madison, small, sickly, and paralyzingly shy, yet one of the most effective debaters of his generation; and the stiffly formal Washington, the ultimate realist, larger-than-life, and America's only truly indispensable figure.

Ellis argues that the checks and balances that permitted the infant American republic to endure were not primarily legal, constitutional, or institutional, but intensely personal, rooted in the dynamic interaction of leaders with quite different visions and values. Revisiting the old-fashioned idea that character matters, Founding Brothers informs our understanding of American politics--then and now--and gives us a new perspective on the unpredictable forces that shape history.

作者简介

约瑟夫?J. 埃利斯著有多部美国历史著作，包括《激情满怀的圣人：约翰?亚当斯的品性和遗产》（Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams）和《美国的斯芬克斯：托马斯?杰斐逊的品性》（American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson），这本书赢得了1997年国家图书奖。埃利斯毕业于威廉?玛丽学院和耶鲁大学，他与妻子和三个儿子一起居住在马塞诸塞州的阿默斯特。

邓海平，律师，北京大学法学学士及硕士，美国佐治亚大学LL.M。

邓友平，律师，武汉大学理学士，北京大学法学硕士和加拿大英属哥伦比亚大学M.A。

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