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John Adams | 
 enlarge | Author: David Mccullough
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $20.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  760 reviews
Sales Rank: 1013
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 768
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.5
ISBN: 141657588X
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.44092
EAN: 9781416575887
ASIN: 141657588X
Publication Date: January 29, 2008
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Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Left to his own devices, John Adams might have lived out his days as a Massachusetts country lawyer, devoted to his family and friends. As it was, events swiftly overtook him, and Adams--who, David McCullough writes, was "not a man of the world" and not fond of politics--came to greatness as the second president of the United States, and one of the most distinguished of a generation of revolutionary leaders. He found reason to dislike sectarian wrangling even more in the aftermath of war, when Federalist and anti-Federalist factions vied bitterly for power, introducing scandal into an administration beset by other difficulties--including pirates on the high seas, conflict with France and England, and all the public controversy attendant in building a nation. Overshadowed by the lustrous presidents Washington and Jefferson, who bracketed his tenure in office, Adams emerges from McCullough's brilliant biography as a truly heroic figure--not only for his significant role in the American Revolution but also for maintaining his personal integrity in its strife-filled aftermath. McCullough spends much of his narrative examining the troubled friendship between Adams and Jefferson, who had in common a love for books and ideas but differed on almost every other imaginable point. Reading his pages, it is easy to imagine the two as alter egos. (Strangely, both died on the same day, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.) But McCullough also considers Adams in his own light, and the portrait that emerges is altogether fascinating. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description
In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as "out of his senses"; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the most moving love stories in American history. This is history on a grand scale -- a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 755 more reviews...
 An Exceptional Read... August 18, 2008
One of the best books I have read in years. I highly recommend it.
History comes alive! August 13, 2008
It's so much easier to learn & remember history when the writer allows you to become intimately involved with the subject and the period. David McCullough's writing is so personable, so charming, and so precisely informative that I walked away from this book with a deep appreciation of Adams and the time in which he lived. I believe McCullough could fascinate his readers even if he wrote about the telephone book! It was hard to put this book down, I always wanted to know what was coming next. His descriptions of time & place were very visual, putting the reader directly in the midst of the story -- seeing the colors, hearing the voices, feeling the tension, learning about small details. The people he writes about are recognizably human and vulnerable, yet the reader can't help but feel awe for what these people accomplished under such seemingly hopeless situations. One of my favorite history books!!
Finally Giving the Devil His Due August 9, 2008
Much like his book on President Truman, Mr. McCullough has taken a frequently maligned historical figure and helped to burnish his place in history. Many of the books I have read about other great figures from that era always seemed to minimize John Adams contributions. Mr. McCullough is a gifted historian who makes all his subject matters come to life. The author shows how little has changed since the founding of our country when it comes to brilliant individuals willing to compromise their morals in the pursuit of winning in the political arena. It is a balanced, thought-provoking and highly entertaining biography. Well-worth reading even though the weight of this tome made my wrists sore.
Superb biography of a fascinating (and generally overlooked) individual. July 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have been fascinated by John Adams ever since I first saw the movie "1776". Granted, I understand that William Daniels' portrayal had a great deal of dramatization for the sake of making a good story coloring it, but it always seemed to me that there was a fair amount of truth undergirding it as well. This book reinforces that opinion; I could frequently hear with my mind's ear Daniels' acerbic voice speaking the lines attributed to Adams. Granted, I am not a professional historian, so McCullough could easily have made much of this story up out of whole cloth and I'd have no way of detecting the deceit, but it has the feel of a thoroughly researched, carefully accurate tale. But more importantly, it is (to my mind, at least) reasonably well-balanced. Certainly, McCullough has tremendous respect and affection for his subject; most biographers do. But he doesn't fall into the trap that so many biographers fall into of omitting or glossing over the flaws in his subject. It is certainly possible that someone less well-inclined toward Adams might feel that he has minimized them, but no one can reasonably accuse him of ignoring them; Adams is portrayed in a very human light, and no one can read this book and feel that they saw an airbrushed picture of a perfect statesman. The ability to show a subject flaws and all while still invoking sympahy and respect is the mark of a truly fine biographer; McCullough does that.
 Very good biography of a lesser-known Founding Father July 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Everyone knows Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, but fewer people know Buzz Aldrin was second. Sir Edmund Hillary is famous for being the first to scale Mt. Everest, nobody knows Tenzig Norgay was second. It's the same for presidents. George Washington was the first president, and is rightly the most prominent Founding Father. Others, like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson are on coins, monuments, and schools. John Adams played a key role in America's early years, but his biography isn't as familiar.
David McCullough's biography does a very good job of rectifying that wrong with this cradle-to-grave biography. Using the voluminous personal correspondance of Adams, Abigail Adams, and friends and family, McCullough can do a nice job of telling Adams' story. There's a few reasons why I give it four stars instead of five. I'd have preferred it if Adams' formation of a patriot was explained. It's like there were rumblings of revolution, and Adams signed right up. Why? Not every colonist did. In addition, Adams talkable nature is cited, but how did he get so influential in the Continental Congress? His growing influence is stated as fact in the book, but it would have been nice to explain why. Skipping forward a few years, my other complaint is how the power struggle between Hamilton and Adams was described. It's not quite clear how Hamilton thwarted Adams, or why. McCullough goes more into Jefferson and Adams' relationship, even though they spent much of Adams presidency not talking.
These few complaints besides, it's an engaging book, and I recommend it for anyone interested in a popular Revolutionary-era history.
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