Founding Father

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

7,643 members

79 reviews

3.9

3 Members: timspalding, AnnaClaire, Bretzky1

3

by Benjamin Franklin

8,308 members

126 reviews

3.8

2 Members: aulsmith, 2wonderY

4

American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson

His Excellency: George Washington

3,107 members

37 reviews

3.9

2 Members: Stitswerd, AnnaClaire

5

The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution

4,223 members

61 reviews

4

3 Members: eromsted, AnnaClaire, Bretzky1

6

by Alfred F. Young

377 members

3 reviews

3.9

2 Members: eromsted, TimOstroot

7

In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson

John Marshall and the Heroic Age of the Supreme Court

474 members

3 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: eromsted, TimOstroot

8

by R. Kent Newmyer

80 members

4

2 Members: Bretzky1, TimOstroot

9

Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800

James Wilson, Founding Father, 1742-1798

813 members

14 reviews

3.9

2 Members: Stitswerd, AnnaClaire

10

by Charles Page Smith

10 members

2

2 Members: eromsted, TimOstroot

11

Washington: A Life

by Ron Chernow

3,785 members

97 reviews

½ 4.4

2 Members: Bretzky1, SarahFitzPatrick

12

On Revolution

by Hannah Arendt

1,637 members

13 reviews

3.9

2 Members: Bretzky1, TimOstroot
Explanations: Bretzky1: Obviously not specifically about the Founders, but nonetheless contains many interesting insights into them, especially Jefferson and J. Adams.

13

Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787

by Catherine Drinker Bowen

1,882 members

18 reviews

4

Member: SarahFitzPatrick

14

Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different

by Gordon S. Wood

1,177 members

25 reviews

3.9

Member: MDGentleReader

15

George Washington: A Biography

by Douglas Southall Freeman

75 members

4.8

Member: Bretzky1

16

John Adams

by David McCullough

15,446 members

214 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: Bretzky1

17

Thomas Jefferson : An Intimate History

by Fawn McKay Brodie

1,255 members

10 reviews

3.8

Member: Stitswerd

18

The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon

The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin

368 members

28 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: AnnaClaire

19

by H. W. Brands

2,126 members

16 reviews

4.1

Member: AnnaClaire

20

Inventing a Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson

by Gore Vidal

725 members

17 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: Stitswerd

21

The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic

by Lance Banning

107 members

½ 4.3

Member: eromsted

22

Thomas Jefferson

by Joyce Appleby

264 members

7 reviews

3.2

Member: SarahFitzPatrick

23

The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and Other Immigrants Forged a New Economy

by Thomas K. McCraw

124 members

4 reviews

4

Member: Bretzky1

24

Franklin of Philadelphia

by Esmond Wright

91 members

1 review

2.8

Member: eromsted

25

Alexander Hamilton: American

Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence

667 members

10 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: AnnaClaire

26

by Garry Wills

532 members

6 reviews

4

Member: Stitswerd

27

The Sage of Monticello

by Dumas Malone

592 members

2 reviews

4

Member: Stitswerd

28

Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams

Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation

535 members

5 reviews

4

Member: AnnaClaire

29

by Richard Norton Smith

334 members

3 reviews

4

Member: TimOstroot

30

Give Me Liberty: The Uncompromising Statesmanship of Patrick Henry

by David J. Vaughan

261 members

1 review

3.9

Member: TimOstroot

31

John Jay: Founding Father

by Walter Stahr

247 members

3 reviews

3.8

Member: eromsted

32

Jefferson and Madison: The Great Collaboration

by Adrienne Koch

143 members

1 review

½ 3.5

Member: Stitswerd

33

Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington

by Peter R. Henriques

79 members

1 review

4

Member: Bretzky1

34

Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution

by Mark Puls

166 members

5 reviews

4.2

Member: TimOstroot

35

The Life of Washington

by Mason L. Weems

152 members

2 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: TimOstroot

36

Masquerade: The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier

by Alfred F. Young

143 members

1 review

½ 3.7

Member: eromsted

37

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

by Jon Meacham

3,011 members

86 reviews

4

Member: Bretzky1

38

Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of the Nation

by Alfred F. Young

117 members

1 review

½ 3.5

Member: TimOstroot

39

Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers As Revolutionaries (A Cass Canfield book)

by Richard Brandon Morris

81 members

3

Member: TimOstroot

40

George Washington, Nationalist

by Edward J. Larson

8 members

½ 3.5

Member: Bretzky1

41

George Mason : Reluctant Statesman

by Robert A. Rutland

76 members

3.9

Member: TimOstroot

42

Jefferson vs. Hamilton: Confrontations That Shaped a Nation

Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson

70 members

2

Member: TimOstroot

43

by Jane E. Calvert

31 members

1 review

Member: TimOstroot

44

Ordeal of ambition; Jefferson, Hamilton, Burr

by Jonathan Daniels

27 members

½ 3.5

Member: TimOstroot

45

Soldier-statesmen of the Constitution

by Robert K. Wright

29 members

Member: TimOstroot

46

Henry Knox. General Washington's General.

by North Callahan

24 members

2

Member: TimOstroot

47

Jefferson and Monroe: Constant Friendship and Respect

Forgotten Founder: The Life and Times of Charles Pinckney

19 members

5

Member: TimOstroot

48

by Marty D. Matthews

21 members

1 review

4

Member: TimOstroot

49

George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty

by Alonzo Thomas Dill

13 members

2

Member: TimOstroot

50

The Political and Legal Philosophy of James Wilson 1742-1798

by Mark David Hall

11 members

Member: TimOstroot

51

Oliver Ellsworth and the creation of the federal republic

by William R. Casto

7 members

Member: TimOstroot

52

Elbridge Gerry, founding father and republican statesman

by George Athan Billias

11 members

3

Member: TimOstroot

53

Stormy Patriot: The Life of Samuel Chase

by James Haw

6 members

Member: TimOstroot

54

Anthony Wayne, Trouble Shooter of the American Revolution

by Harry Emerson Wildes

6 members

Member: TimOstroot

55

Connecticut's Yankee patriot, Roger Sherman

by John G Rommel

5 members

Member: TimOstroot

56

George Mason and the War for Independence

by Robert Allen Rutland

5 members

Member: TimOstroot

57

John Dickinson: Conservative Revolutionary

by Milton E. Flower

12 members

½ 2.7

Member: TimOstroot

58

Washington: The Indispensable Man

by James Thomas Flexner

1,183 members

11 reviews

4.1

59

The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness

by Harlow Giles Unger

622 members

16 reviews

½ 3.6

60

An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America

by Henry Wiencek

568 members

7 reviews

3.8

61

To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders

by Bernard Bailyn

546 members

3 reviews

½ 3.5

62

Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America

by Jack Rakove

523 members

5 reviews

3.8

63

Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, And The Future Of America

by Thomas Fleming

455 members

3 reviews

3.9

64

James Madison

371 members

9 reviews

½ 3.5

65

John Adams: A Life

332 members

4 reviews

4.1

66

Gentleman Revolutionary

Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution

279 members

4 reviews

3.8

67

George Washington on Leadership

235 members

2 reviews

4.2

68

Burr, Hamilton, and Jefferson: A Study in Character

220 members

6 reviews

4

69

by Roger G. Kennedy

218 members

2 reviews

4

70

General George Washington: A Military Life

by Edward G. Lengel

204 members

3 reviews

3.8

71

George Washington: Man and Monument

by Marcus Cunliffe

171 members

3 reviews

3.1

72

James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic

by Jack Rakove

170 members

3 reviews

3.1

73

Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution

by Charles Rappleye

162 members

1 review

4

74

Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution

by Mark Puls

149 members

4 reviews

3.9

75

The Founding Fathers Reconsidered

by R. B. Bernstein

147 members

1 review

3.8

76

George Washington's Mount Vernon : At Home in Revolutionary America

by Robert F. Dalzell

140 members

½ 4.3

77

Witnesses at the Creation: Hamilton, Madison, Jay, and the Constitution

by Richard B. Morris

140 members

2 reviews

½ 3.5

78

Alexander Hamilton: A Biography

by Forrest McDonald

132 members

3 reviews

3.9

79

George Mason: Forgotten Founder

by Jeff Broadwater

104 members

2 reviews

½ 3.5

80

A Fatal Friendship: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr

by Arnold A. Rogow

100 members

1 review

½ 4.3

81

Jackson's Way: Andrew Jackson and the People of the Western Waters

by John Buchanan

87 members

2 reviews

3.8

82

The First of Men: A Life of George Washington

by John E. Ferling

86 members

4.1

83

The Presidency of George Washington

by Forrest McDonald

83 members

3.9

84

The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson

by Forrest McDonald

81 members

½ 3.3

85

Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson

by Paul Finkelman

73 members

½ 3.7

86

Fame and the Founding Fathers

by Douglass Adair

67 members

1 review

4.1

87

The Presidency of James Monroe