"Aaron Burr was a hero of the Revolution, a brilliant politician, lawyer, and very nearly president; a skillful survivor in a raw new country filled with constantly shifting loyalties. But there were dark whispers about him: that he was untrustworthy, a libertine, a man unafraid of claiming whatever he believed should be his. Sold into slavery as a child in India, Mary Emmons was brought to an America torn by war. Toughened by the experiences of her...

This biography of the Revolutionary-era "villain" overturns every myth and image we have of him. The narrative of America's founding is filled with godlike geniuses--and then there was Aaron Burr. Generations have been told Burr was a betrayer--of Hamilton, of his country, of those with nobler ideas. All untrue: the politically aggressive Hamilton was preoccupied with Burr and subverted Burr's career at every turn for more than a decade. Historian...