One of the lesser known episodes in American history involves a duel between a former senator/vice president and a former secretary of state. In the early morning hours of July 11, 1804, two great Americans came together, and only one of them walked away. This is the story of those two men: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

St. George starts at the beginning of each of their lives and brings the reader through the various stages, highlighting the similarities and differences, as they find themselves hurtling toward a dismal end. Hamilton started life as an orphan growing up on the Caribbean island of Nevis before he and his sister were taken in by an uncle living in the American colonies. Burr was born into a wealthy and influential family with high aspirations for his own personal success. From there each served in the Continental Army before becoming moderately successful lawyers in the newly formed New York state.

True success for each can be found in politics, with each gaining appointments and using their influence. Hamilton found himself as Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington and was greatly involved with the founding of the First Bank of America in an attempt to bring all the state and federal debt together in the hopes of allowing it to be paid off more quickly, bringing about respect from other nations.

On the other hand, Burr moved up through electoral appointments, including a win to represent New York in the U.S. Senate. He even tied with Thomas Jefferson in an attempt for the Presidency, only to lose out after a vote in the House of Representatives per the Constitutional requirement.

What is most interesting, is these two successful gentleman from New York constantly found each other on opposite sides in various disagreements. In many cases, this just meant preventing each other from getting appointments they desired, but as time went by, the animosity grew. This reached a point of no return when Hamilton challenged Burr's honesty among some of New York's elite at a party and in letters to the editor of a major New York newspaper. In response, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, which took place in Weehawken, New Jersey.

I thought this was a pretty well done history of the events. A lot of times, histories and biographies written for the middle school audience dumbs down the content, but this seems to avoid that. While it is not exhaustive in its coverage of what each of the two men accomplished, it does cover most of their major contributions to the country. It also does a nice job if presenting neither of them in the role of hero or villain. Instead, St. George allows the reader to decide for himself as to whose choices could have been better.

The shared tale is told in a comfortable narrative style that helps the reader connect to each of their stories. Besides being historical figures, they were also family men, and the reader gets an opportunity to learn about their happy and sad times with the important people in their lives. This helps humanize them, making them more than just big names from American history.

I would definitely recommend this to any tweens (and others) who like history.