"In Aaron Burr: Conspiracy To Treason, historian Buckner F. Melton, Jr. explores Burr's extraordinary life from the perspective of his role in what came to be known as the Burr Conspiracy - the scheme to forge a separate American empire out of the Western territories and Mexico, with Aaron Burr as its Napoleonic emperor.

To shed new light on the conspiracy itself and on what led Burr to orchestrate it, Professor Melton traces Burr's career - from his early days as a New York attorney to his cunning political maneuverings, from his decades-long feud with chief rival Alexander Hamilton to his complex relationships with the other Founding Fathers, especially with Thomas Jefferson and his coconspirator, General James Wilkinson, Commander of the United States forces in the West.

Writing in a taut, dramatic style, Melton creates a detailed portrait of Burr the man, offering fascinating insights into his maddeningly protean character and into the personal demons that ultimately toppled him from the heights of power and set him on the path to infamy.".

"An expert on U.S. constitutional law, Professor Melton also provides an account of Burr's historic treason trial, presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. He demystifies the knotty legal issues involved in the case, considers the ethical issues that arose during the trial, and explores the influence the case and its outcome have had on two centuries of U.S. constitutional law."--BOOK JACKET.