Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr

This letter is from an 1815 letter of John Adam, which Nancy Isenberg quotes (I got this off the web). I found her book a refreshing and well-referenced addition to my Burr library. I am an avid Burrite. I also feel that every American should be able to debate these men and the politics involved - because then we could have far more intelligent discussions of men and politics today. The more things change, the more human... Read Full Review

That is, in conjunction with other works such as Chernow's on Hamilton. My most wasted hours in High School were the idealized histories taught about the founder's. This book, and others, tell a much more compelling story of American History that our young people should hear. To the book itself: Burr like many of the prominent men (and women) of the late 18th Century, was ambitious. I believe the author focuses her thesis... Read Full Review

I have long found Aaron Burr one of the most fascinating characters in early American history and this is a superb new biography of this political genius and scalawag. "Fallen Founder" is the first of many biographies of Burr written by a professional historian. Nancy Isenberg is on the faculty of the University of Tulsa. That, in itself, does not necessary mean that this book rises above the many other popular accounts of... Read Full Review

Nancy Isenberg discards the two century old political spin and searches for the truth about Aaron Burr. My experience is that most historians subscribe to the portrait of Burr that was painted by his enemies. He is always sketched as a cartoonish villain. She has performed a service to history by identifying the political smears and describing the real Aaron Burr.She has written a great read that is also thoroughly professional... Read Full Review

To say that Aaron Burr has been vilified by historians is a gross understatement. It seems that hardly a generation goes by without each new group of historians falling into lock step with their predecessors in a general hatred of this founding father. Most recently Ron Chernow in his book Alexander Hamilton, the bile reserved for Burr is obvious. Then comes Nancy Isenberg and her book Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron... Read Full Review