The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton
Published 1788 · 196,468 words · about 11 hours at an average pace · Essays & Criticism, Non-Fiction, Political Science, History
How hard is The Federalist Papers to read?
The Federalist Papers scores 32 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it moderately challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 72 out of 100
- Eighteenth-century political vocabulary with legal and philosophical precision.
- Sentence structure: 70 out of 100
- Abstraction: 82 out of 100
- Moves between constitutional specifics and general principles of republican government.
- Information density: 78 out of 100
- Each essay is densely argued, anticipating objections and responding with detailed analysis.
- Narrative indirection: 15 out of 100
- Direct argumentative essays addressed to a specific audience about a specific question.
- Symbolic density: 100 out of 100
- Occasional classical allusions but primarily direct political argument.
- Ironic distance: 12 out of 100
- Rhetorical strategy of concession and refutation gives a measured ironic quality.
- Resolution withholding: 80 out of 100
- Each essay reaches a clear conclusion in favor of ratification.
- Structural complexity: 22 out of 100
- Eighty-five discrete essays unified by theme and cumulative argumentative strategy.
How The Federalist Papers is regarded
The Federalist Papers holds a literary regard score of 92 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.