Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-336) and index.

"This book is the first detailed narrative study of his foreign policy role and ideas to appear in more than thirty years. It focuses on Hamilton's controversial activities as a key member of President George Washington's cabinet and as an aspiring military leader in the 1790s, a decade of profound division over the shape and powers of the federal government and U.S. policy toward the warring powers of Europe. Drawing parallels between Hamilton and the Florentine diplomatist and thinker Nicolo Machiavelli, prize-winning historian John Lamberton Harper offers an insightful and accessible account of the origins of Hamilton's outlook, his bitter personal rivalries with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, and his indispensable part in designing and implementing a foreign policy able to ensure the survival of the infant United States."--Jacket.

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