InWar of Two, John Sedgwick explores the long-standing conflict between Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and Vice President Aaron Burr. A study in contrasts from birth, they had been compatriots, colleagues, and even friends. But above all they were rivals. Matching each other's ambition and skill as lawyers in New York, they later battled for power along political fault lines that would not only decide the future of the United States, but define it.
John Sedgwick is the bestselling author of thirteen books, including Blood Moon, War of Two, his acclaimed account of the duel between Hamilton and Burr, two novels, and the family memoir In My Blood. A longtime contributor to GQ, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, and The Atlantic, he wrote the first national expose of the exploits of Whitey Bulger in GQ in 1992.
Praise for War of Two
“Sedgwick’s War of Two, like Chernow’s great biography, has
depths and details that the musical [Hamilton] cannot
match.”—Gordon Wood, The New York Review of Books
“[A] lively, wide-ranging and immensely readable book. The world
of War of Two is often more personal than political, an
intimate portrait of Hamilton and Burr as they plunged toward their
fatal collision.”—The New York Times
“John Sedgwick has done a great thing here: he has painted a
compelling and original portrait of a defining American rivalry. A
story of ambition, conviction, and finally of bloodshed.”—Jon
Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Thomas Jefferson:
The Art of Power
“In crisp, lively prose, the author presents evenhanded and
insightful profiles of two highly intelligent, driven men with
substantial flaws and very different characters...[An]
entertainingly irreverent account of two consequential men from the
dawn of the American republic.”—Kirkus Reviews
“John Sedgwick rescues the most famous duel in history from musty
mythology and gives us a richly textured, spirited, absorbing tale
of yearning, rivalry, and pathos. War of Two reads like
the Great American Novel—but it’s all true.”—Evan Thomas, New
York Times bestselling author of Being Nixon: A Man
Divided
“Sedgwick perceptively suggests that Burr’s skill at influencing
public opinion epitomized for the emerging Republicans what
Hamilton’s preference for elite governance did for the Federalists:
competing versions of democracy.”—Publishers Weekly
“An explosive historical narrative. With Sedgwick’s deft, clever
writing, this true story of the dangerous and dramatic world of the
Founders becomes as gripping as any novel.”—Matthew Pearl, New
York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookaneer
“The famous duel has been recounted before, but never with such
illuminating attention to the layers upon layers of ambition,
vanity, talent, honor and pigheadedness that marked the
antagonists...A master storyteller.”—H. W. Brands, New York
Times bestselling author of The Man Who Saved the Union:
Ulysses Grant in War and Peace
Ask a Question About this Product More... |