A Fatal Friendship - Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr

Hill and Wang : New York, 1999. Paperback. Fine/No Jacket. A Fatal Friendship - Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, by Arnold A. Rogow, Published by Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York 1999, ISBN#: 0809016214, Soft bound, New/Mint condition.This book is a dramatic reinterpretation of the duel that shocked America. For almost two centuries, historians have struggled to explain the extraordinary duel that killed Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury, and ended Vice President Aaron Burr's political career. In "A Fatal Friendship", the distinguished political scientist and writer Arnold Rogow argues that the roots of the fatal encounter lay not in Burr's (admittedly flawed) political and private conduct hut, rather, in Hamilton's conflicted history and character. Rogow's brilliant analysis changes and deepens our understanding of honor, politics, and friendship in the early American Republic. In this extensively researched and densely written study, Rogow (author of "James Forrestal") attempts to restore Burr's reputation, which was shattered after he shot and killed Hamilton in 1804 during a duel that Burr provoked because Hamilton refused to apologize for spreading an unspecified slur about Burr. Although the author documents that the two men collaborated in court cases and met socially, Hamilton, a Federalist, and Burr, who had Republican ties, were bitter political enemies. According to Rogow, Hamilton was preoccupied with destroying Burr's career; he cites as evidence Hamilton's support for Jefferson, whom he disliked, instead of Burr during the 1800 presidential election. Rogow attributes Hamilton's obsession to envy of Burr's privileged birth, as contrasted with Hamilton's illegitimacy. He also discusses an interesting conjecture, drawn from earlier biographies, that Burr and Hamilton were rivals for the affections of the same woman. Rogow dismisses an account that circulated after the duel that a gallant Hamilton fired into the air rather than shooting at Burr. Those who consider today's politics a vicious affair might brush up on Hamilton and Burr, whose 1804 duel ended the political career of Burr, who was then our vice president, and took the life of Hamilton, earlier George Washington's great Treasury secretary. The puzzle of Hamilton's enmity toward Burr long has been as much a matter for the psychologist as the historian, and Rogow has at it both ways in his study of their fateful relationship. A careful weighing of known facts, elegant in its style, his account is plausible, if not entirely convincing, kinder to Burr and harsher to Hamilton than the historical norm.The book is approximately 5 � X 8 � inches in size and contains 351 pages. The cover price is $22.95. Another copy of the book is currently offered on the Internet at Hoffman�s Bookshop for $20. For more info about this other book, Visit: http://dogbert./servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=112453792> Buyer pays minimal shipping - US Post Office Media Mail unless specified otherwise. If you have any questions please send me an email. Thanks for looking!