by Joseph J. Ellis, audio book narrated by Nelson Runger, 2000  by Joseph J. Ellis, 2001 by Recorded Books, LLC

I enjoyed this book very much.  Ellis provides a picture of the revolutionary era and five of the primary figures: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.  He manages to inject some life into each of these individuals, some of whom died over two hundred years ago.  Ellis also provides great insight as to how we got to where we are today, especially when he describes the beginning of the political parties and partisan politics.  It is interesting to note the degree of partisanship that arose very quickly once George Washington stepped out of the public life.  Some of the accusations and character assassination that occurred between the Republicans (Jefferson’s party) and the Federalists (John Adams’ party) goes even further than what we are experiencing today.  According to Ellis, some of Jefferson’s and Madison’s actions during the presidency of John Adams even bordered on treason.

The othe subject on which Ellis sheds a great deal of light is the Constitution and what it actually contains.  The one question which was not fully resolved, according to Ellis, is the exact extent of the power of the national government versus the states.  According to many conservatives, the Constitution explicity reserves all powers to the states which are not specifically given to the federal government.  From the very start, however, this subject was argued, most eloquently by Adams, who favored a strong central government, and Jefferson, who argued that the power should be retained by the people in the form of states powere.  So it seems that even the individuals who were most involved in the writing of the original docuement did not agree on this subject.

The book flows very well and Ellis presents a great deal of new insight into the minds and personalities of these individuals.