The popularity of the musical "Hamilton" recently led me to purchase Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton. It's an extremely engaging read so far, and despite always have been interested in American politics, I've been developed a new interest in the time period. Once I finish up "Alexander Hamilton," I know I'd like to keep reading, and I'm looking for a little direction on what I should read next.
Ideally I'd like to read biographies of a few more of the key founding fathers, especially Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. I'm assuming that Chernow's biography of Washington is the best option there, but are there definitive options for Jefferson and Madison? Furthermore, are there any good books that delve into the generalities of the Revolution, development of the Constitution, and subsequent governance? Chernow has been great, but he does assume a fairly comprehensive grasp of the American Revolution at points. This hasn't been a major barrier, but at points I've had to look something up.
Thank you for any suggestions. :)
Probably some of the best books about Thomas Jefferson are Annette Gordon-Reed's works about his life with the Hemings family, The Hemingses of Monticello and Most Blessed of the Patriarchs. They do assume one knows a bit about Jefferson already, so are fairly thick books. For a more general introduction, I recommend Christopher Hitchens' Thomas Jefferson: Author of America.
A word on Chernow: he is extremely biased and even factually inaccurate in a few places. Take claims of his which you do not find in other sources with a grain of salt.