Republicans Have Overlooked Reagan's Origin Story

As somebody who makes a living, in part, by writing history, I have a confession against interest: I am not a big fan of biographies. My main problem is the constant interruption of narrative flow. Real life moves along multiple tracks simultaneously, but a biographer can only discuss one item at a time, so, for instance, a discussion of Alexander Hamilton’s constitutional theory has to be interrupted by personal news.

In contrast, I much prefer thematic books, particularly those that delineate the political philosophies that animated the great historical personages. Johns Hopkins University Press had a great series in this vein, detailing the thinking of James Madison, George Washington, Thomas Paine, and others.