Historians on Hamilton

RENEE C. ROMANO is the Robert S. Danforth Professor of History at Oberlin College in Ohio. She is the author or coeditor of many books, including Racial Reckoning: Prosecuting America’s Civil Rights Murders.  CLAIRE BOND POTTER is a professor of history and the executive editor of Public Seminar at The New School in New York. She is the author or coeditor of several books, including War on Crime: Bandits, G-Men, and the Politics of Mass Culture (Rutgers University Press).About the contributors:Joseph M. Adelman is an assistant professor of history at FraminghamState University in Massachusetts. A historian of media,communication, and politics in the Atlantic world, he is currentlyworking on a book about the circulation of political news duringthe American Revolution and the history of the U.S. Post Office.  Catherine Allgor is the president of the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety in Boston, Massachusetts. She is the author of severalbooks about women and politics in the founding era, includingA Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the AmericanNation.  Jim Cullen is a history teacher at the Ethical Culture FieldstonSchool in New York City. He is the author of numerous books,among them The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea ThatShaped a Nation and Sensing the Past: Hollywood Stars and HistoricalVisions.  Joanne B. Freeman is a professor of history and American Studiesat Yale University, specializing in the politics and political cultureof Revolutionary and early national America. An elected fellowof the Society of American Historians and an advisor to the NationalPark Service, she is the editor of The Essential Hamilton and Hamilton:Writings; and the author of Affairs of Honor: National Politics inthe New Republic, which won the Best Book award from the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. She is currentlycompleting a study of physical violence in the U.S. Congress.  Leslie M. Harris is a professor of history at Northwestern University.She is the author of In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americansin New York City, 1626–1863; and coeditor with Ira Berlin ofSlavery in New York, which accompanied the groundbreaking 2005–2007 New-York Historical Society exhibition of the same name.  Brian Eugenio Herrera is an assistant professor of theater inthe Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. He is theauthor of The Latina/o Theatre Commons 2013 National Convening:A Narrative Report and Latin Numbers: Playing Latino in Twentieth-Century U.S. Popular Performance, which was awarded the GeorgeJean Nathan Prize for Dramatic Criticism and received an HonorableMention for the John W. Frick Book Award from the AmericanTheatre and Drama Society.  Patricia Herrera is an associate professor in the Department ofTheatre and Dance at the University of Richmond, focusing onU.S. Latinx visual art, performance, and museum exhibitions. Sheis also an artist, performer, and educator who uses theater to promotesocial justice. She is the author of Nuyorican Feminist Performance:From the Nuyorican Poets Cafe to Hip Hop Theater.  William Hogeland is the author of three narrative histories ofthe founding period, The Whiskey Rebellion, Declaration, and Autumnof the Black Snake, as well as the expository books Founding Financeand Inventing American History. His essays have appeared in the BostonReview, the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Oxford American,and Best American Music Writing. He blogs at williamhogeland.com.Lyra D. Monteiro is an assistant professor of history and teachesin the Graduate Program in American Studies at Rutgers University-Newark. She has published on issues in cultural heritage andarchaeological ethics and is the codirector of the Museum On Site,a public humanities organization.  Michael O’Malley is a professor of history at George MasonUniversity. He is the author of Keeping Watch: A History of AmericanTime and Face Value: The Entwined Histories of Race and Money inAmerica.  Jeffrey L. Pasley is a professor of history and the associate directorof the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy at theUniversity of Missouri. His most recent book is The First PresidentialContest: The Election of 1796 and the Beginnings of AmericanDemocracy, a finalist for the 2014 George Washington Book Prize.  Claire Bond Potter is a professor of history at The NewSchool. She is the author of War on Crime: Bandits, G-Men, and thePolitics of Mass Culture and coeditor of the collection Doing RecentHistory: On Privacy, Copyright, Video Games, Institutional ReviewBoards, Activist Scholarship, and History that Talks Back. She is theexecutive editor of Public Seminar. Her essays have appeared in theChronicle of Higher Education, Dissent, the Washington Post, InsideHigher Education, berfrois, and Jacobin.  Renee C. Romano is the Robert S. Danforth Professor of Historyand Professor of Comparative American Studies and AfricanaStudies at Oberlin College. She is the author of Race Mixing: Black–White Marriage in Postwar America and Racial Reckoning: ProsecutingAmerica’s Civil Rights Murders, as well as coeditor of the collectionsThe Civil Rights Movement in American Memory and Doing RecentHistory: On Privacy, Copyright, Video Games, Institutional ReviewBoards, Activist Scholarship, and History That Talks Back.  Andrew M. Schocket is a professor of history and AmericanCulture Studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He isthe author of Fighting Over the Founders: How We Remember the American Revolution and Founding CorporatePower in Early National Philadelphia. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post,the San Francisco Chronicle, History News Network, and Salon.  David Waldstreicher is Distinguished Professor of History atCUNY Graduate Center, and the author of Slavery’s Constitution:From Revolution to Ratification; Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin,Slavery, and the American Revolution; and In the Midst of PerpetualFetes: The Making of American Nationalism, 1776–1820. Asan editor, his books include John Quincy Adams and the Politics ofSlavery: Selections from the Diary; A Companion to John Adams andJohn Quincy Adams; A Companion to Benjamin Franklin; and Beyondthe Founders.  Elizabeth L. Wollman is associate professor of music at BaruchCollege, CUNY, and a member of the doctoral faculty in the TheaterDepartment at CUNY Graduate Center. She is the author ofThe Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, From “Hair” to“Hedwig”; Hard Times: The Adult Musical in 1970s New York City;and the forthcoming The Critical Companion to the American StageMusical.Joseph M. Adelman is an assistant professor of history at FraminghamState University in Massachusetts. A historian of media,communication, and politics in the Atlantic world, he is currentlyworking on a book about the circulation of political news duringthe American Revolution and the history of the U.S. Post Office.  Catherine Allgor is the president of the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety in Boston, Massachusetts. She is the author of severalbooks about women and politics in the founding era, includingA Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the AmericanNation.  Jim Cullen is a history teacher at the Ethical Culture FieldstonSchool in New York City. He is the author of numerous books,among them The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea ThatShaped a Nation and Sensing the Past: Hollywood Stars and HistoricalVisions.  Joanne B. Freeman is a professor of history and American Studiesat Yale University, specializing in the politics and political cultureof Revolutionary and early national America. An elected fellowof the Society of American Historians and an advisor to the NationalPark Service, she is the editor of The Essential Hamilton and Hamilton:Writings; and the author of Affairs of Honor: National Politics inthe New Republic, which won the Best Book award from the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. She is currentlycompleting a study of physical violence in the U.S. Congress.  Leslie M. Harris is a professor of history at Northwestern University.She is the author of In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americansin New York City, 1626–1863; and coeditor with Ira Berlin ofSlavery in New York, which accompanied the groundbreaking 2005–2007 New-York Historical Society exhibition of the same name.  Brian Eugenio Herrera is an assistant professor of theater inthe Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. He is theauthor of The Latina/o Theatre Commons 2013 National Convening:A Narrative Report and Latin Numbers: Playing Latino in Twentieth-Century U.S. Popular Performance, which was awarded the GeorgeJean Nathan Prize for Dramatic Criticism and received an HonorableMention for the John W. Frick Book Award from the AmericanTheatre and Drama Society.  Patricia Herrera is an associate professor in the Department ofTheatre and Dance at the University of Richmond, focusing onU.S. Latinx visual art, performance, and museum exhibitions. Sheis also an artist, performer, and educator who uses theater to promotesocial justice. She is the author of Nuyorican Feminist Performance:From the Nuyorican Poets Cafe to Hip Hop Theater.  William Hogeland is the author of three narrative histories ofthe founding period, The Whiskey Rebellion, Declaration, and Autumnof the Black Snake, as well as the expository books Founding Financeand Inventing American History. His essays have appeared in the BostonReview, the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Oxford American,and Best American Music Writing. He blogs at williamhogeland.com.Lyra D. Monteiro is an assistant professor of history and teachesin the Graduate Program in American Studies at Rutgers University-Newark. She has published on issues in cultural heritage andarchaeological ethics and is the codirector of the Museum On Site,a public humanities organization.  Michael O’Malley is a professor of history at George MasonUniversity. He is the author of Keeping Watch: A History of AmericanTime and Face Value: The Entwined Histories of Race and Money inAmerica.  Jeffrey L. Pasley is a professor of history and the associate directorof the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy at theUniversity of Missouri. His most recent book is The First PresidentialContest: The Election of 1796 and the Beginnings of AmericanDemocracy, a finalist for the 2014 George Washington Book Prize.  Claire Bond Potter is a professor of history at The NewSchool. She is the author of War on Crime: Bandits, G-Men, and thePolitics of Mass Culture and coeditor of the collection Doing RecentHistory: On Privacy, Copyright, Video Games, Institutional ReviewBoards, Activist Scholarship, and History that Talks Back. She is theexecutive editor of Public Seminar. Her essays have appeared in theChronicle of Higher Education, Dissent, the Washington Post, InsideHigher Education, berfrois, and Jacobin.  Renee C. Romano is the Robert S. Danforth Professor of Historyand Professor of Comparative American Studies and AfricanaStudies at Oberlin College. She is the author of Race Mixing: Black–White Marriage in Postwar America and Racial Reckoning: ProsecutingAmerica’s Civil Rights Murders, as well as coeditor of the collectionsThe Civil Rights Movement in American Memory and Doing RecentHistory: On Privacy, Copyright, Video Games, Institutional ReviewBoards, Activist Scholarship, and History That Talks Back.  Andrew M. Schocket is a professor of history and AmericanCulture Studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He isthe author of Fighting Over the Founders: How We Remember the American Revolution and Founding CorporatePower in Early National Philadelphia. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post,the San Francisco Chronicle, History News Network, and Salon.  David Waldstreicher is Distinguished Professor of History atCUNY Graduate Center, and the author of Slavery’s Constitution:From Revolution to Ratification; Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin,Slavery, and the American Revolution; and In the Midst of PerpetualFetes: The Making of American Nationalism, 1776–1820. Asan editor, his books include John Quincy Adams and the Politics ofSlavery: Selections from the Diary; A Companion to John Adams andJohn Quincy Adams; A Companion to Benjamin Franklin; and Beyondthe Founders.  Elizabeth L. Wollman is associate professor of music at BaruchCollege, CUNY, and a member of the doctoral faculty in the TheaterDepartment at CUNY Graduate Center. She is the author ofThe Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, From “Hair” to“Hedwig”; Hard Times: The Adult Musical in 1970s New York City;and the forthcoming The Critical Companion to the American StageMusical.

• ChronologyIntroduction: History is Happening in New York - Renee C. Romano and Claire Bond PotterAct I: The Script Chapter 1: From Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton to Hamilton: An American Musical  - William HogelandChapter 2: "Can We Get Back to Politics? Please?" Hamilton's Missing Politics in Hamilton - Joanne B. FreemanChapter 3: Race-Conscious Casting and the Erasure of the Black Past in Hamilton - Lyra D. MonteiroChapter 4: The Greatest City in the World? Slavery in New York in the Age of Hamilton - Leslie M. HarrisChapter 5: “Remember….I’m Your Man”: Masculinity, Marriage, and Gender in Hamilton - Catherine AllgorAct II: The StageChapter 6: “The Ten Dollar Founding Father”: Hamilton, Money and Federal Power - Michael O’MalleyChapter 7: Hamilton as Founders Chic: A Neo-Federalist, Antislavery, Usable Past? - David Waldstreicher and Jeffrey L. PasleyChapter 8: Hamilton and the American Revolution on Stage and Screen - Andrew M. SchocketChapter 9: From The Black Crook to Hamilton: A Brief History of Hot Tickets on Broadway - Elizabeth L. WollmanChapter 10: Looking at Hamilton from Inside the Broadway Bubble - Brian Eugenio HerreraAct III: The AudienceChapter 11: Mind the Gap: Teaching Hamilton - Jim CullenChapter 12: Who Tells Your Story: Hamilton as a People’s History - Joseph M. AdelmanChapter 13: Reckoning with America’s Racial Past, Present, and Future in Hamilton - Patricia HerreraChapter 14: Hamilton: A New American Civic Myth by Renee C. RomanoChapter 15: Safe in the Nation We’ve Made: Staging Hamilton on Social Media - Claire Bond PotterSample SyllabusAcknowledgmentsNotes on ContributorsIndex

“For Hamilton fans, history buffs, political thinkers and Broadway acolytes, this collection provides dozens of fascinating perspectives, correctives, and sidelong directives. It probably won’t change your mind about the show, but it will keep you thinking and talking about it, and the world that surrounds it, for a long time to come. If you love Hamilton the musical or have any curiosity about the man himself and where he fits into the American panorama, this is the book for you." - Jack Viertel (producer, critic, renowned author, and senior vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters) "Hamilton, the musical, has turned thousands of people onto the history of the American founding. For those who want more, Historians on Hamilton digs deep into the myths and realities behind the show." - Jacob Weisberg (editor-in-chief of the Slate Group and author of The Bush Tragedy) "Historians on Hamilton is an erudite and accessible scholarly consideration of the Broadway phenomenon that created an Alexander Hamilton palatable for our times. An indispensable work for all interested in the founding and contemporary racial politics." - Annette Gordon-Reed (author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family) "Deeply documented, culturally astute, interpretively diverse, consistently illuminating-this is a model of intellectual engagement. Providing insight into Hamilton’s significance, the essays cogently reveal how contemporary culture shapes our past.” - Joshua Brown (American Social History Project, City University of New York Graduate Center) "Treating Hamilton as a historical phenomenon in its own right, contributors to this volume reflect on the lives that inspired it and its meaning for our conflict-ridden present." - Kathleen M. Brown (David Boies Professor of History, The University of Pennsylvania) "Think of this volume as a how-to manual for scholars to use the brilliance of Hamilton to teach about the incredibly complex  power dynamics of early America." - Gautham Rao (assistant professor of history at American University and author of National Duties) "Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is enthralling as musical theater. As history…not so much. Fortunately, two great professional historians, Renee C. Romano and Claire Bond Potter, are here to set the record straight, gathering expert essays to tell you the inconvenient truths about Alexander Hamilton that the hit play leaves out. More than that, though, Historians on Hamilton offers informed and insightful meditations on the themes of history, memory, legacy, interpretation and art that lie at the heart of the Broadway smash. No Hamilton fan should do without it." - David Greenberg (professor of history at Rutgers University, author of Republic of Spin) "A thought-provoking and carefully crafted collection of scholarship that has much to offer readers interested in music, theater, or American history." (Library Journal starred review) "Historians on Hamilton is smart and interesting. It was great fun to read all the different points of view and even have some of my opinions changed. What more could you want from a book?" (Show Showdown) "The Issue on the Table: Is 'Hamilton' Good For History?" by Kate Keller(Smithsonian Magazine Online) "Cumulatively, the essays in Historians on Hamilton provide a useful and impressive range of perspectives from which to appreciate the historical significance of the Broadway sensation, to evaluate the historical accuracy of the story Hamilton tells, and to prod us to consider the contemporary stakes of the historical narratives we consume, celebrate, and propagate." (H-Net) "How ‘Hamilton’ Is Remaking American History" feature and excerpt (DC Metro Theater Arts) "The book takes a unique and revolutionary approach in bringing Hamilton to life." (Choice) New Books Network podcast interview with authors (New Books Network podcast interview) "This book is a collection of articles on the Broadway play Hamilton with what historians say about the play.... Suffice it to say that most of the play seems to be historically correct, but history is always a matter of interpretation, and Alexander Hamilton is certainly an historical figure who needs interpretation."  (We Are Literate) "Gift Guide for Book Lovers" by the editors at Stanfordmag.org (Stanford Magazine) "Facing up to the award-winning play's power to shape our understanding of America's past, Romano and Potter present a collection of accessible but scholarly essays to investigate Hamilton: An American Musical. Delving into history, politics, race relations and contemporary culture, the book poses big questions: Can Hamilton help create a new, multiracial American civic myth? Or was the real-life Alexander Hamilton--an elitist and a skeptic of democracy--simply too divisive? Besides, who owns American history--and who gets to tell it?" (Stanford Magazine) "The collection will be of direct relevance and value to public historians. And like its subject, the volume should also appeal to multiple audiences-teachers and students on the college and other levels, scholars concerned with popular memory of the founders, and general readers wishing to learn more about both the musical and the historical world it depicts." (Public Historian) "Did ‘Hamilton’ Get the Story Wrong? One Playwright Thinks So," by James Barron (New York Times) "A valiant attempt to help audiences understand Hamilton’s achievements while also taking stock of the musical’s shortfalls. Accessibly written, the contributions cover the show as both art and history." (Public Books) "Fans of the musical will appreciate this opportunity to approach it from an academic perspective, and educators will find it productive to include particular chapters on their syllabi." (H-Net) "This book is a worthy addition to popular culture studies, history, American Studies, Africana Studies, Latinx Studies and, of course, theatre and musical theatre studies.....Historians on Hamilton successfully meets Miranda’s challenge, presenting engaging essays in which accomplished historians do take Hamilton seriously and offer a range of perspectives on its place in, and depiction of, American history." (Journal of American Drama and Theatre) "Fall Arts Preview: Theater," by Don Harrisonhttps://richmondmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/fall-arts-preview-2019-theater/ (Richmond Magazine) "This collection of brief accessible essays offers nice balance of perspectives and topics. Taken as a whole, they argue that while Miranda’s Hamilton is not as revolutionary, either in terms of artistic originality or disruptive historical narrative, as many have suggested, it remains remarkably entertaining and presents an almost unique opportunity for historians to engage the public in meaningful conversations about the nation’s past and the nature of history itself. Everyone who has seen the show or listened to the cast recording, especially those who teach about it, will appreciate how this provocative and informative volume not only enlightens but also prompts them to revisit the show, one last time." (H-FedHist) "As a reference work aimed at those bridging the gap between academic and the Broadway audience...the volume will be a valuable contribution to widening discussion beyond the personality-led drama of the stage and the world of the American Revolution." (Journal of the Early Republic) "Just what is the story of Alexander Hamilton as Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical hits Disney Plus?" by Emma Kellyhttps://metro.co.uk/2020/07/02/just-what-story-alexander-hamilton-lin-manuel-mirandas-musical-hits-disney-plus-12934519/ (Metro UK) "As ‘Hamilton’ Arrives on Disney+, Five Lyrics That Have Shaped the Culture," by John Jurgensenhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/as-hamilton-arrives-on-disney-five-lyrics-that-have-shaped-the-culture-11593613712 (Wall Street Journal) "Hamilton is coming. Here’s how to give it your best shot," by Jenna Price (Sydney Morning Herald) "Historian, Hamilton fan, or some combination, something in Historians on Hamilton will inform and challenge you." (Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies) "Historians on Hamilton emerges as a template for thoughtful, deliberate dialogue. In the deft hands of Potter and Romano, the volume manages to be critical and incisive while still, from my impression, maintain a similar spirit to the musical itself. Both provide examples of how to talk across and not at disciplinary, professional, and creative categories. A cultural force as powerful as Hamilton gives historians in many hats a unique opportunity to demonstrate what our work can do....History is not, and should not, the sole interest of historians, but artists, musicians, performers, politicians, activists, and engaged, interested participants in the American and global communities. Historians on Hamilton is an intuitive reminder that historians can, and must, participate on that wider stage." (Early Americanists) “For Hamilton fans, history buffs, political thinkers and Broadway acolytes, this collection provides dozens of fascinating perspectives, correctives, and sidelong directives. It probably won’t change your mind about the show, but it will keep you thinking and talking about it, and the world that surrounds it, for a long time to come. If you love Hamilton the musical or have any curiosity about the man himself and where he fits into the American panorama, this is the book for you." - Jack Viertel (producer, critic, renowned author, and senior vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters) "Hamilton, the musical, has turned thousands of people onto the history of the American founding. For those who want more, Historians on Hamilton digs deep into the myths and realities behind the show." - Jacob Weisberg (editor-in-chief of the Slate Group and author of The Bush Tragedy) "Historians on Hamilton is an erudite and accessible scholarly consideration of the Broadway phenomenon that created an Alexander Hamilton palatable for our times. An indispensable work for all interested in the founding and contemporary racial politics." - Annette Gordon-Reed (author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family) "Deeply documented, culturally astute, interpretively diverse, consistently illuminating-this is a model of intellectual engagement. Providing insight into Hamilton’s significance, the essays cogently reveal how contemporary culture shapes our past.” - Joshua Brown (American Social History Project, City University of New York Graduate Center) "Treating Hamilton as a historical phenomenon in its own right, contributors to this volume reflect on the lives that inspired it and its meaning for our conflict-ridden present." - Kathleen M. Brown (David Boies Professor of History, The University of Pennsylvania) "Think of this volume as a how-to manual for scholars to use the brilliance of Hamilton to teach about the incredibly complex  power dynamics of early America." - Gautham Rao (assistant professor of history at American University and author of National Duties) "Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is enthralling as musical theater. As history…not so much. Fortunately, two great professional historians, Renee C. Romano and Claire Bond Potter, are here to set the record straight, gathering expert essays to tell you the inconvenient truths about Alexander Hamilton that the hit play leaves out. More than that, though, Historians on Hamilton offers informed and insightful meditations on the themes of history, memory, legacy, interpretation and art that lie at the heart of the Broadway smash. No Hamilton fan should do without it." - David Greenberg (professor of history at Rutgers University, author of Republic of Spin) "A thought-provoking and carefully crafted collection of scholarship that has much to offer readers interested in music, theater, or American history." (Library Journal starred review) "Historians on Hamilton is smart and interesting. It was great fun to read all the different points of view and even have some of my opinions changed. What more could you want from a book?" (Show Showdown) "The Issue on the Table: Is 'Hamilton' Good For History?" by Kate Keller(Smithsonian Magazine Online) "Cumulatively, the essays in Historians on Hamilton provide a useful and impressive range of perspectives from which to appreciate the historical significance of the Broadway sensation, to evaluate the historical accuracy of the story Hamilton tells, and to prod us to consider the contemporary stakes of the historical narratives we consume, celebrate, and propagate." (H-Net) "How ‘Hamilton’ Is Remaking American History" feature and excerpt (DC Metro Theater Arts) "The book takes a unique and revolutionary approach in bringing Hamilton to life." (Choice) New Books Network podcast interview with authors (New Books Network podcast interview) "This book is a collection of articles on the Broadway play Hamilton with what historians say about the play.... Suffice it to say that most of the play seems to be historically correct, but history is always a matter of interpretation, and Alexander Hamilton is certainly an historical figure who needs interpretation."  (We Are Literate) "Gift Guide for Book Lovers" by the editors at Stanfordmag.org (Stanford Magazine) "Facing up to the award-winning play's power to shape our understanding of America's past, Romano and Potter present a collection of accessible but scholarly essays to investigate Hamilton: An American Musical. Delving into history, politics, race relations and contemporary culture, the book poses big questions: Can Hamilton help create a new, multiracial American civic myth? Or was the real-life Alexander Hamilton--an elitist and a skeptic of democracy--simply too divisive? Besides, who owns American history--and who gets to tell it?" (Stanford Magazine) "The collection will be of direct relevance and value to public historians. And like its subject, the volume should also appeal to multiple audiences-teachers and students on the college and other levels, scholars concerned with popular memory of the founders, and general readers wishing to learn more about both the musical and the historical world it depicts." (Public Historian) "Did ‘Hamilton’ Get the Story Wrong? One Playwright Thinks So," by James Barron (New York Times) "A valiant attempt to help audiences understand Hamilton’s achievements while also taking stock of the musical’s shortfalls. Accessibly written, the contributions cover the show as both art and history." (Public Books) "Fans of the musical will appreciate this opportunity to approach it from an academic perspective, and educators will find it productive to include particular chapters on their syllabi." (H-Net) "This book is a worthy addition to popular culture studies, history, American Studies, Africana Studies, Latinx Studies and, of course, theatre and musical theatre studies.....Historians on Hamilton successfully meets Miranda’s challenge, presenting engaging essays in which accomplished historians do take Hamilton seriously and offer a range of perspectives on its place in, and depiction of, American history." (Journal of American Drama and Theatre) "Fall Arts Preview: Theater," by Don Harrisonhttps://richmondmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/fall-arts-preview-2019-theater/ (Richmond Magazine) "This collection of brief accessible essays offers nice balance of perspectives and topics. Taken as a whole, they argue that while Miranda’s Hamilton is not as revolutionary, either in terms of artistic originality or disruptive historical narrative, as many have suggested, it remains remarkably entertaining and presents an almost unique opportunity for historians to engage the public in meaningful conversations about the nation’s past and the nature of history itself. Everyone who has seen the show or listened to the cast recording, especially those who teach about it, will appreciate how this provocative and informative volume not only enlightens but also prompts them to revisit the show, one last time." (H-FedHist) "As a reference work aimed at those bridging the gap between academic and the Broadway audience...the volume will be a valuable contribution to widening discussion beyond the personality-led drama of the stage and the world of the American Revolution." (Journal of the Early Republic) "Just what is the story of Alexander Hamilton as Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical hits Disney Plus?" by Emma Kellyhttps://metro.co.uk/2020/07/02/just-what-story-alexander-hamilton-lin-manuel-mirandas-musical-hits-disney-plus-12934519/ (Metro UK) "As ‘Hamilton’ Arrives on Disney+, Five Lyrics That Have Shaped the Culture," by John Jurgensenhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/as-hamilton-arrives-on-disney-five-lyrics-that-have-shaped-the-culture-11593613712 (Wall Street Journal) "Hamilton is coming. Here’s how to give it your best shot," by Jenna Price (Sydney Morning Herald) "Historian, Hamilton fan, or some combination, something in Historians on Hamilton will inform and challenge you." (Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies) "Historians on Hamilton emerges as a template for thoughtful, deliberate dialogue. In the deft hands of Potter and Romano, the volume manages to be critical and incisive while still, from my impression, maintain a similar spirit to the musical itself. Both provide examples of how to talk across and not at disciplinary, professional, and creative categories. A cultural force as powerful as Hamilton gives historians in many hats a unique opportunity to demonstrate what our work can do....History is not, and should not, the sole interest of historians, but artists, musicians, performers, politicians, activists, and engaged, interested participants in the American and global communities. Historians on Hamilton is an intuitive reminder that historians can, and must, participate on that wider stage." (Early Americanists)