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A compelling, intimate portrait of John Hancock, going beyond the flamboyant signature to provide insight into the pivotal role that he had in the American Revolution.
“This zippy biography from Randall (The Founders’ Fortunes) resituates John Hancock as the forgotten impresario of the American Revolution… Beset on all sides (including by Sam Adams, who was disgusted by Hancock’s profligacy), Hancock was remarkable, in Randall’s telling, for persisting in putting himself and his massive fortune on the line, serving as president of the first Continental Congress and, for many months, as sole signer of the Declaration of Independence (hence why his name was writ so large). Randall also strikingly suggests that the reason Hancock is so overlooked in Revolutionary literature is that he makes rich people uncomfortable with how much he risked and gave away. It’s a winning reassessment that will charm readers.”—Publishers Weekly
“Thoughtful life of the all-but-forgotten Founding Father… A solid addition to the literature of the American Revolution.”—Kirkus
“Deploying meticulous research, sharp analysis, and the same narrative verve he has used to illumine Washington, Franklin, and Hamilton, Willard Sterne Randall has produced a biography that finally elevates John Hancock from bold-face name to crucial American founder. Randall will not disappoint readers expecting a dramatic recounting of Hancock’s “signature moment,” but this book amplifies his extraordinary life both before and after the Declaration of Independence. We cannot possibly mark the nation’s semi quincentennial without learning more about the man who made its founding document a billboarded testament to his own personal courage.”
—Harold Holzer, winner of the Lincoln Prize, author of Brought Forth on This Continent
“A concise, insightful look at one of America’s more neglected founding fathers. Willard Sterne Randall’s latest is another important contribution to our understanding of the financial origins of the American Revolution and the republic it produced.”
—Randall Woods, author of John Quincy Adams
“John Hancock pledged his life, his considerable fortune, and his sacred honor to the cause of American independence. Although in his day a highly respected national leader and an extremely popular Massachusetts governor, Hancock remains a comparatively neglected Founding Father. Randall’s highly readable biography is therefore a splendid gift to celebrations of the 250th birthday of the United States.”
—Richard Sylla, New York University, author of Alexander Hamilton: The Illustrated Biography
“Willard Sterne Randall’s John Hancock should serve as a corrective to generations of neglect that have blanketed Hancock in accounts of the American Revolution. Hancock’s prosperous counting house on the Boston waterfront provides a splendid perspective on the economic debates that drove the rebellion, while Randall’s account gives long-overdue credit to the importance of Hancock’s open-handed generosity and clear-eyed leadership of the Continental Congress and America’s most revolutionary state during the years of the Founding.”
—David O. Stewart, author of George Washington: the Political Rise of America’s Founding Father, winner of the Colonial Dames of America Book Prize