Hamilton: The Revolution

For a fan hoping to enrich their collection, this book is the perfect addition. It looks exactly like the pictures and is bigger than I expected. It is clearly well-crafted and has a classy design for both its cover and spine. The contents are interesting and follow the creation of the musical in the chronological order of the musical numbers. There are numerous illustrations ranging from professional shots of the performers and casual group photos to photocopies of Lin's handwritten notes and letters penned by Hamilton. Personally, I was only looking to purchase the complete book and lyrics of Hamilton in order to study its composition, therefore, this book was less practically useful than I'd hoped (the lyrics were broken down and inserted in different sections of the book, and it's clear that visual appeal trumped structural readability in the making of this book). Admittedly, that's on me entirely, and even so, the book is still a brilliant read. I'd fully recommend this purchase for any Hamilton fan.

The perfect gift for my daughter, in her "Hamilton phase". Contains lots of information regarding the show, the making of it, lyrics to all the songs, and her favourite part - behind the scenes photos. High quality print, hard cover, and pages are made of a very good quality paper. Overall my daughter was extremely happy with her gift, and we both think that it is a perfect option for all "Hamilton" fans. Highly recommended.

This is a beautiful book! My friend who is a huge fan of this production is going to love it!

Unless you have had the fortunate opportunity to fly all the way to New York and get lucky in having a golden ticket to the show itself, most of you reading this review will be thinking, "I was recommended the musical by someone or saw Lin-Manuel Miranda appear on Fallon, I've since heard the musical (several times over I'm sure) and now need a new step to my Hamilton enjoyment." Hamilton The Revolution, lovingly known as #Hamiltome by Miranda and McCarter is that next step. An extremely detailed companion to the musical, the book gives the reader and a greater understanding into cast, crew and creators' mindsets when rehearsing and performing Hamilton. There is a perfect juxtaposition between formal essays that explain the creation of the broadway hit, interspersed with beautiful photos of scenes of the play layered underneath the musical's lyrics, all accompanied by footnotes written by Miranda itself noting several influences and references that went through his mind when writing the musical. All put together inside a somewhat folio-esque cover with essay question based titles, that put together remind this reviewer of the folios produced during the time of the musical's titular character, completed with pages that seem freshly and manually cut; this is a absolute must read for anyone who has had "My Shot" in their head since the first day they listened to it back in the winter of 2015. Then once read, do that oh so famous thing that we all did with Breaking Bad, show it to a dumb-founded friend whilst playing the album to them and ruin their lives forever.

Good quality book. Has the script for Hamilton in it and so much more. My daughter will love it.

I bought the hardback version for my partner who is absolutely enchanted by this book. Inside it details the writing, production and performance of Hamilton the musical but also the history of the story too, including some amazing artefacts and historical letters written by the man himself ! The photos are what really makes this book though with some amazing behind the scenes documentary style photographs through to full on performance shots of the musical performance. If you're even just a casual Hamilton fan this is an absolute bargain and a must read book. If you're considering buying this for a Hamilton fan as a gift then I'd definitely say go for it. Out of the Hamilton merchandise out there this is the one that stands out as absolute quality. Put it in your purchase list and snap it up!

Bought this for my wife who is a die hard Hamilton the musical fan. She absolutely loves it and would make a beautiful present for someone. Really great quality and tons of detail and content

Surprised at how good-looking the book is. First off, it's big, thick and sturdy. Parchment-like paper, 18th-century style layout. It's even made to look like the pages were hand-cut. It would make for a really nice present. So, NOT the dignified press kit I was expecting. At all. Inside is most of what you'd want to find. Annotated lyrics for the whole 2 acts. Background info on writing, composing, acting. Witty writing and cute anecdotes. Tons of pictures of the original Broadway cast. Facsimiles of Lin's notebooks as well as historical documents. I have to admit I was feeling rather silly ordering this book. I am way past fandom age. Well, it's got everything you like Miranda for. Generosity, hard work, endearing honesty and surprising tidbits. Nice job.

Love the show, love the book! So entertaining to read, you get insights from the show and the creative process as well as Lin’s own notes on the songs and they’re meanings, he explains why he did this here and what that verse is referencing to. Great read, loved it!

*Originally published on book blog Will Read for Feels. With the Tony Awards scheduled for today, I couldn’t not pay tribute even in some small way to my current obsession, Hamilton: An American Musical. I can’t count the number of times I’ve listened to the soundtrack in the past week or two, but it was only this week that I started reading the book for it, Hamilton: The Revolution, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (the genius behind the book, lyrics, music, and titular performance for Hamilton) and his co-author Jeremy McCarter (who is also director of the Public Theater, where Hamilton was staged before moving to Broadway). By the time I read this, the lyrics to the songs were nothing new to me, but I really appreciated the annotations by Miranda (and a few from McCarter), as they let me look at each song in a new light, and I found myself experiencing the feels all over again, and magnified at that, thanks to the context provided by those notes. It took me three days to read this book because I kept stopping to listen and re-listen to the songs. And that’s not all. Between the annotated song lyric pages were chapters that explored Lin-Manuel Miranda’s writing and development process as well as all the work everyone involved in the production, from the director to the choreographer to the actors and more. Little details about what each person brought to make the story come alive onstage but also in terms of the words and music. Things like personal triumphs and tragedies and how they affected those who helped put the musical together made each song, each photo mean so much more, even though the lyrics held a rainbow of feels even without that additional information. Being over 8,000 miles from New York, I haven’t had a chance to see the Broadway musical myself, nor will I have one in the immediate future, but somehow the descriptions of the direction and choreography really helped me solidify it in my imagination. And some of the details the authors shared about the decisions made for the choreography were things I felt would enrich the understanding and appreciation of someone who did see the musical, maybe even multiple times. The overall result? The Hamilton soundtrack alone still chokes me up even after I’ve listened to it dozens of times, but several parts of Hamilton: The Revolution had me blubbering all over again, while others had me giggling or hugging myself in what we Filipinos call kilig (romantic sort of thrill). And there were enough notes on Miranda’s efforts to keep things historically accurate and the instances in which he departed from the facts that I’m now determined to read the book that inspired the musical, Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father’s biography written by Ron Chernow, as well as his Washington: A Life. I’ve also decided to rewatch a bio-documentary I watched a few years ago, called The Real George Washington, as well as HBO’s John Adams miniseries. Which is more American history than I’ve had since the seventh grade! In the end, Hamilton: The Revolution helped me understand that this musical tells of at least three revolutions: the historical one fought between the Americans and the Brits, for sure, but also the revolution in thought that created the United States of America and that still exists in and helps define it today. Thirdly, the revolutionary nature of this play in music and in theater, and the way it plays notes to a song we won’t hear the whole of for years to come. And that song? That same revolution in thought and burning ambition that keeps people like Hamilton inspiring people of today.

Fantastico!

If you are, like million others, in a loop where you just can’t get this amazing piece of art out of your mind, then this book is for you! I had purchased the book under the influence that this will be straightforward story of how the musical came to life but it’s so much more than that. It lets you in the room where it all happened. Every little beat that we love, every line that got stuck in our head for days, this book will give you their origination story and it will blow us all away! If the team Hamilton embarked on a mission to make something which at the end does nothing more but makes us smile, they did it with the musical and did it with this book too! I could hear the songs in my head as I flipped through the pages and have smiled and cried almost as much as I did when I am watching the movie! Again, I will say since the book is slightly expensive, invest in it only if you are helplessly in love with this musical and want to know more about the geniuses that created this piece of art. For a non-fan, the book may seem a little boring!

Magnifique livre avec des photos superbes ! Je le conseille pour tous les fan de Hamilton ;)