Virtue, Valor, & Vanity: The Founding Fathers and the Pursuit of Fame

Eric Burns has provided a straightforward overview of some of the behavior and writings of the founders of the American Revolution as regards the pursuit of fame and some of the accompanying concepts (e.g., vanity, modesty, myth-making). History buffs may be put off by the quick handling of certain topics (e.g., the famous Burr-Hamilton duel), but that was not the purpose of this work. History buffs may also be a bit put off by Burns' seeming to take the founders at their words at some points, seemingly unaware of the public face that it was expected would be put forward at that time (see Joanne B. Freeman's Affairs of Honor, for example), and some of the ways that the founders were writing for posterity as much as for each other. At other times, Burns seems more skeptical of the public face, and the transitions between the two stances are not always easy to follow. (There were also sometimes abrupt transitions between between the individuals being analyzed). Again, the purpose of the book was, I think, not to provide the kind of in-depth analysis the historian would seek. The reader is led through these discussions to the epilogue, where the lamentation about the ridiculous and highly damaging cult of celebirty is highlighted.