Books like Alexander Hamilton

01

Washington: A Life

Ron Chernow · Biography

Ron Chernow's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of George Washington is the most comprehensive single-volume life of the first president, tracing his formation as a Virginia planter, his military career in the French and Indian War and the Revolution, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his eight years as the first executive of an untested republic.

Both dig into legacy.

02

Grant

Ron Chernow · Biography

Ron Chernow's biography of Ulysses S.

A kindred biography read.

03

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Doris Kearns Goodwin · Biography

Doris Kearns Goodwin's account of Abraham Lincoln's formation of his cabinet — which included his three main rivals for the 1860 Republican nomination: William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates — is one of the most widely discussed leadership books of the twenty-first century and one of the most readable biographies of the Lincoln era.

Both dig into ambition.

04

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Ashlee Vance · Biography

Ashlee Vance's biography of Elon Musk is the most comprehensive account of Musk's life and companies up to 2015, written with Musk's cooperation after an initial refusal and a long negotiation.

Both dig into ambition.

05

John Adams

David McCullough · Biography

David McCullough's biography of John Adams, published in 2001, was a commercial phenomenon that spent years on bestseller lists and won the Pulitzer Prize.

Both dig into legacy.

06

Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume III

Robert A. Caro · Biography

Master of the Senate is the third volume of Robert Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson and covers his years as a senator from 1949 through 1958, culminating in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

Both dig into ambition.

07

The Path to Power

Robert A. Caro · Biography

The first volume of Robert A.

Both dig into ambition.

08

10% Happier

Dan Harris · Memoir

10% Happier is Dan Harris's account of discovering meditation after a panic attack live on Good Morning America in 2004 forced him to confront an anxiety problem he'd been managing with cocaine and a punishing work schedule.

Both dig into ambition.

09

Born Standing Up

Steve Martin · Memoir

Born Standing Up is Steve Martin's account of the decade-long grind that preceded his sudden, seemingly overnight fame as America's biggest stand-up comedian of the late 1970s.

Both dig into ambition.

10

Born to Run

Bruce Springsteen · Memoir

Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run is among the most substantive rock memoirs written, in part because Springsteen is a better prose writer than his public image suggests and in part because he chose to write about the things that actually shaped him rather than the things that made him famous.

Both dig into ambition.

11

Bossypants

Tina Fey · Memoir

Bossypants is Tina Fey's memoir and comic essay collection about her upbringing in suburban Pennsylvania, her years doing improv comedy in Chicago, her time as a writer and head writer at Saturday Night Live, her creation of 30 Rock, and the experience of being a woman in charge in show business.

Both dig into ambition.

12

Dealing with China

Henry M. Paulson Jr. · Economics

Dealing with China is Henry Paulson's account of thirty years of engagement with China's political and economic leadership, first as head of Goldman Sachs's Asia operations, then as the bank's CEO, and finally as US Treasury Secretary under President George W.

Both dig into finance.