Are you caught up in the Hamilton hullabaloo? If you don't know what I'm talking about it's a smash musical about yes, Alexander Hamilton, otherwise known as the guy on the $10 bill. If you caught the Grammys the other night you saw the opening number of Lin Manuel-Miranda's musical about the Founding Father. It's definitely become a sensation with a rap and hip-hop take on American history and the innovative and color blind casting. If you haven't yet listened to the music, get the soundtrack and get going! I can wait.
Done and fully obsessed yet? Good. Now that you'll be annoying all your friends and peppering all conversation with lines such as, "I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy, and hungry," or "You're the worst, Burr!" you may be asking what's next. I'm here for you with a list of Hamilton and Lin Manuel-Miranda adjacent materials for watching, listening, and reading.
First off, start with the book that inspired the musical, Ron Chernow's Hamilton. The book weighs in at over 800 pages but many of them are sure to be footnotes. If the musical leaves you wanting more details on A. Ham's life, here is the place to start.
If you're interested in hearing more of Manuel-Miranda's music, check out his previous musical In the Heights about three days in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York.
If your favorite part of the musical are King George's songs and are looking for more royal hijinks check out the movie The Madness of King George. The movie, adapted from Alan Bennett's play takes place after the Revolutionary War and focuses on George III's supposed mental illness.
To learn about some of the same events from a different point of view, check out Nancy Isenburg's Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr.
If you are intrigued by American's favorite fighting Frenchman, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette - yes, that's his full name - read Harlow G. Unger's Lafayette. Once you're done, check out the biography of another, and maybe even more intriguing fighting Frenchman, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, father of the famous writer and the "highest-ranking man of African descent ever in a European army." Tom Reiss' The Black Count : glory, revolution, betrayal, and the real Count of Monte Cristo tells his story, and while it takes place during the French not American Revolution there is still appeal for Hamilton fans in Dumas' charimatic life.
For something not related to American history, Lin Manuel-Miranda also reads Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, a sweet YA coming of age and romance. This title is a favorite of a few staff members so it's definitely worth a read.
Finally, if you're one of the lucky - and wealthy - few who have seen the musical on Broadway, come tell us how amazing it is!