The Quartet - by Joseph J Ellis (Paperback)

About the Book

"The prizewinning author of Founding Brothers and American Sphinx now gives us the unexpected story of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew. The Quartet is the story of this second American founding and of the men responsible-- some familiar, such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, and some less so, such as Robert Morris and Governeur Morris. It was these men who shaped the contours of American history by diagnosing the systemic dysfunctions created by the Articles of Confederation, manipulating the political process to force a calling of the Constitutional Convention, conspiring to set the agenda in Philadelphia, orchestrating the debate in the state ratifying conventions, and, finally, drafting the Bill of Rights to assure state compliance with the constitutional settlement"--

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Founding Brothers tells the unexpected story of America's second great founding and of the men most responsible--Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, John Jay, and James Madison.

Ellis explains of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew. These men, with the help of Robert Morris and Gouverneur Morris, shaped the contours of American history by diagnosing the systemic dysfunctions created by the Articles of Confederation, manipulating the political process to force the calling of the Constitutional Convention, conspiring to set the agenda in Philadelphia, orchestrating the debate in the state ratifying conventions, and, finally, drafting the Bill of Rights to assure state compliance with the constitutional settlement, created the new republic. Ellis gives us a dramatic portrait of one of the most crucial and misconstrued periods in American history: the years between the end of the Revolution and the formation of the federal government.

The Quartet unmasks a myth, and in its place presents an even more compelling truth--one that lies at the heart of understanding the creation of the United States of America.

Review Quotes

"Historian Joseph Ellis masterfully illuminates the 'untrodden' path, as Washington put it, that led to that crucial stage of sewing up the elements of the new country. . . . Deeply insightful." --New York Review of Books

"The dissenters--George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison--faced no less a task than redefining the meaning of the War for Independence in what amounted to a Second American Revolution. How they did so is the burden of the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis' The Quartet, an engaging reconsideration of the arduous path to the Constitution." --The Wall Street Journal

"Customary, graceful prose. His portraits [show] his sure touch--highlighting Washington's dignity, Hamilton's energy, Madison's learning and Jay's diplomacy." --New York Times Book Review

"The author is a sure-handed and entertaining guide through the thickets of argument, personality and ideology out of which the American nation emerged." --The Economist

"Ellis shows the extraordinary capacity of these four leaders to understand the events, discuss them dispassionately, explain them to the American people, reach compromise, rise above pettiness and sacrifice personal wealth, power and popularity for the long-term public good. Given the rarity of these qualities today, Ellis' book is a compelling reminder of the political virtues that created the American republic." --Star Tribune

"Ellis lives and breathes the Founders, and he deploys his customary zip and trenchant scholarship in showing how four central figures--Washington, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison--conceived and promoted a new political framework built on the Constitution." --Newsday

"This is more than just a reinterpretation of a vital transition in our history; it is a reflection of new material from an episode that occurred two and a quarter centuries ago. . . . Having set forth the analysis, Ellis plunges into the narrative. His is an inviting voice and his story compelling, built around irresistible figures who, as the annual publishing lists amply display, retain their appeal in our own time." --The Boston Globe

"The Quartet achieves its purpose, providing a clear explanation of how the real United States of America came into being." --Miami Herald

"Ellis, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for Founding Brothers, reminds us that what Catherine Drinker Bowen has called the 'Miracle at Philadelphia' wasn't destiny or ordained by God. It was created by perceptive men who understood human nature, history and politics and could foresee what this country could become should its people choose to have a strong central government." --St. Louis Post Dispatch

"An author who breathes life into the dead and immediacy into the past, Ellis illuminates America's rebirth, the men who made it possible and the framework they created. With rich research and intelligent interpretation, The Quartet burnishes his reputation as a writer, a thinker and a humanist." --Richmond Times Dispatch

"Absorbing in its details, and convincing in its arguments, The Quartet is sure to appeal to history nerds and American politicos. As another election season approaches, a look back at the creation of the government, and the reasons why these founding fathers did what they did, is sure to be engrossing reading for anyone." --Shelf Awareness

"A brilliant account of six years during which four Founding Fathers, 'in disregard of public opinion, carried the American story in a new direction.' In a virtuosic introduction, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Ellis maintains that Abraham Lincoln was wrong. In 1776--four score and seven years before 1863--our forefathers did not bring forth a new nation. . . . Ellis reminds us that the 1776 resolution declaring independence described 13 'free and independent states.' Adopting the Constitution in 1789 created the United States, but no mobs rampaged in its favor. . . . Ellis delivers a convincing argument that it was a massive political transformation led by men with impeccable revolutionary credentials. . . . This is Ellis' ninth consecutive history of the Revolutionary War era and yet another winner." --Kirkus (starred review)

About the Author

JOSEPH J. ELLIS is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Founding Brothers. His portrait of Thomas Jefferson, American Sphinx, won the National Book Award. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife, Ellen, his youngest son, three dogs, and a cat.