The sheer volume of this book, while not something that would usually put me off, definitely gave me pause before I bought this. I'm a huge history nerd, but if someone had told me a year ago that I would DEVOUR a dense biography about the first US treasury secretary, I would have laughed them out of the room - I'm German, for starters, and I couldn't even name the person CURRENTLY in charge of my country's financials. 
But this book, my god. Being a fan of the musical certainly helped get me into the topic, but I don't think you'd enjoy this book any less if you don't know it. This was not only a really exhaustive look at Hamilton's life, but also an excellent education on the American War of Independence for someone whose only prior knowledge was "someone threw tea in a harbour and then the States declared independence and the British were mad about it??". 
For a biography, and thereby a book on history, this book only makes very half-hearted attempts at impartiality. Chernow is probably even more unabashedly pro-Hamilton than Lin Manuel Miranda; in passages where opponents spread rumours about Hamilton, and even in the Reynolds-affair, Chernow gets quite defensive of him. I thought that was funny and it didn't really bother me, but it may not be for everyone. But I really enjoyed the way this was written. It's very informative, but it was never confusing (even in my second language) and never boring for a second. Actually, it's really funny at times! (contains such gems as "Ordinarily a veritable Niagara of opinion, Hamilton was initially mute about Shay's Rebellion" or "If Washington expected relief from Hamilton badgering him for an appointment, he soon learned otherwise. Hamilton was fully prepared to become a pest.")
And at several points, this biography made me cry real tears, and my copy is probably the most marked-up book I own. A fantastic book, will definitely be a re-read!