Alexander Hamilton was born into disadvantage. His father abandoned him. His mother died of fever. He had no wealth, no name, no land to inherit. He should have faded into obscurity, just another forgotten child on a forgotten island. But Hamilton didn’t. Instead, he wrote himself into history. For most people, the story of Hamilton begins with the revolution—Washington’s right-hand man, the face on the ten-dollar bill, the dueling pistols at Weehawken.