Founding Brothers

Why it’s on the list: Six episodes from the 1790s — the Burr–Hamilton duel, the dinner-table bargain over assumption and the capital, Washington’s farewell, the Adams–Jefferson correspondence — argued as the moments where the American republic could have gone another way.

Where I heard about it

• Spotted at Amazon Books at Washington Square, Tigard — November 2017 (Books photo album)

• Photographed in December 2019 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at Barnes & Noble, American Fork — September 2024 (Books photo album)

• Replies to @typesfast — named in the thread answering “What’s the best history book you’ve read?”, June 2025. Full list: What’s the best history book… (tweet).

Connections

• What’s the best history book… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• People Over Politics — the portfolio idea this sits closest to.