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Definitive Biography of a Great President

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This book is a fantastic way to learn about John Adams and it's a great way to be introduced to excellent historical biographical writing. McCullough is a brilliant and exciting writer. He truly makes Adams come alive, and when Adams inevitably dies at the end it is decidedly sad. Adams is a hero of the Republic. First a great friend, then a great rival, then a great friend again of Thomas Jefferson. John Adams is undeservedly overlooked by many students of American History. Adams the republican vs Jefferson the populist was the great debate in American history and still continues today. Adams saw the horror of the French Revolution for what it was and predicted that it would end in depravity and violence and likely cause a savage reaction which would bring about the end of the French Republic itself. He was right, Bonaparte quickly followed the French Revolution and war across europe was the result. Jefferson on the other hand embraced the French Revolution as an expression of the people's desire for liberty. How wrong he was. Adams was a brilliant Statesman, and student of history. A wonderful family man and superb husband, Adams' correspondence with his wife Abigail is a classic in American literature. As a child I spent many hours on the grounds of the Adams Mansion in Quincy, MA, soaking up all the history there as much as is possible. McCullough does so well what so many biographers do so poorly in that he captures the times of the subject and places the person in his rightful context. He brought me back to the grounds of "Peacefield" through his beautiful evocations of it as it hosted great people and great events. History is best studied by understanding how historical figures lived and understood their own lives and times, as they lived them. Hindsight is an overrated tool in historiography. Bringing the past to life in writing is a special gift and McCullough has it. Enjoy his talents and get to know the foundations of the American nation-- a story that is not fully known by so many. Adams' story deserves to be told. What a brilliant man, and McCullough does him superb justice in this highly readable biography. So much can be said here about Adams, but it's not necessary as McCullough has written the definitive John Adams biography and says it better than I. Get to know John Adams through this superb book and you will be glad that you did. And your opinions on Jefferson will likely change, too! 10 STARS!!

biography at its best

Customer Rating:

McCullough isn't a historian, and this book (and his superb biography of Harry Truman) do suffer as a result. Fortunately, McCullough is one of the best biographers in the business, and his ability to bring his subjects to life more than compensates for the lack of depth of his historical knowledge. At times he is a little too uncritical of his subject; but this is a welcome antidote to the modern tendency to dwell on the faults of great men and women. Books like this should be required reading in our schools, if for no other reason that they show that great men are far more ordinary than you'd think, and that they usually suffer long periods of adversity before they succeed. Perhaps even more importantly, our relativist age takes liberty for granted: the sanitised myths about America's founding fathers need to be replaced by honest accounts of how precarious and remarkable the revolution was. And whatever McCullough's shortcomings as a historian, he does understand that rare beast: the politician who passionately believes in limiting the power of the state.

Excellent	Customer Rating:
This novel was the first I'd read by David McCullough, I found the book to be both interesting and very enjoyable. Whether you're interested in reading biographies or history, this is the novel for you. David McCullough did an excellent job piecing together John Adam's life story. It was a compulsive read. :-)

A Biography Worthy Of Its Subject!

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"John Adams" by David McCullough is talented rendition of a unique story. Despite being remembered as the pigmy sandwiched between two giants, Washington and Jefferson, McCullough portrays Adams as an immensely important and interesting character in his own right. Adams is shown as being at the heart of many crucial events of our revolutionary and early national history. It was Adams of the Continental Congress who was the prime promoter of Independence and the nominator of George Washington for the post of commander of the Continental Army. He then carried out a series of diplomatic assignments in Europe, in which he was the intimate collaborator with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Among his unique diplomatic accomplishments were the negotiation of a Dutch loan at a crucial stage of the Revolution and participation in the negotiation of the peace treaty ending the Revolution. Upon his return to America he wrote the constitution of Massachusetts before serving eight years as Washington's loyal vice-president. Adams was one of those rare figures whose greatest for whom the presidency was not the office in which he rendered his greatest service. His mistake of retaining Washington's cabinet compounded his misfortune of having his prime political rival as vice-president and a deadly enemy, Alexander Hamilton as a leader of his won party. This left him leading an administration rife with sabotage. These factors handicapped him as he confronted issues of peace or war abroad and subversion at home. Having to function more as a sole actor than a leader of men, his administration is generally regarded as a failure. His term was influential, largely in the maintenance of peace and appointment of John Marshall to the Supreme Court. Through much of this book the reader is treated to an interwoven mini-biography of Thomas Jefferson. Through this dual biography the reader comes to understand the dichotomy of these two friends, but rivals, collaborators and opponents and, ultimately, correspondents. Their timely demises on the Fiftieth Independence Day are seen as nothing less than providential. As the readers of my reviews are aware, I have read very many biographies. Few match "John Adams" for quality.

Excellent work

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This book is an astounding piece of non-fiction that should be read by anyone with even a passing interest in revolutionary America. The details included by the author are superb including the very close relationship with Jefferson and the subsequent falling out, the love of his small home town and the simple life of farming and reading and the brilliance of his wife, perhaps the most underrated First Lady of all time. Besides this, you also get a front row seat from Adams' extensive correspondence for some of the most important moments in American history from the Declaration of Independence, through the War and the succession to the presidency after Washington. I cannot recommend this book more highly.