John Adams

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Summary: Adams is highly underated as I have learned!
Review: This book has changed my view of John Adams, simply put. Adams has always come off to me as either insane, jealous, or annoying. After reading McCullough's take on Adams, I am convinced that Adams hasn't been treated kindly by previous historians/authors. Adams is a thourghly interesting and complicated person, and the trials he went through, as well as his accomplishements during his life, are astounding. His contributions in the American Revolution are also just as amazing. This book is also very well written, never tiresome or bland. I found it interesting, entertaining, and very easy to read. I look foward to reading other biographies by McCullough as well! :)

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Summary: Excellent Work
Review: This book provides great reminder in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 of the dedication and sacrifices of this Founding Father to the cause of freedom. The book is easy to read and provides new appreciation for the contributions of John Adams and the key role he played in the founding of our Nation. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was inspired to reread Jefferson's "intimate" biography as well as several other biographical works.

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Summary: Best Biography I have read
Review: I couldn't put this one down. I have read many biographies, but McCullough does this work elegantly, interesting and beautifully detailed.

One of my favorites ever!

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Summary: Adams, the forgotton patriot
Review: McCullough exposes the American Revolution like never before in this inside look at the life of John Adams. Adams had his faults, but, according to McCullough, was the real fire behind Jefferson's move toward independence. The relationship between Abigail, John and Thomas Jefferson, highlighted throughtout this book, was well done and is an excellent way to review the American Revolution. For as much as Adams is "black and white," according to historical materials reviewed by McCullough, Jefferson was more in the "grey" area. The American Revolution, however, could not have been successful without Adams, and, of course, Jefferson, but the true unknown story of Adams comes out in this book. Jefferson has received a lot of praise, as he should, but this book finally gives Adams his due.

A good example of how Adams was a true patriot was one of his several trips to France to obtain financial assistance for the colonists' war effort. To start, a trip across the Atlantic in the 1700's was, without elaboration, a difficult journey. On this particular trip, the ship Adams and his sons, Thomas and Charles, were traveling in sprung a leak. At his command, Adams and his boys bailed the water in their trek across the Atlantic. As they neared their destination, the ship sprung another leak which proved to be too dificult to overcome, requiring the ship to land in Spain. Here, Adams was presented with two choices: go over the mountains of Spain to get to France or wait for the ship to be fixed and sail up to France (as a side note, the dignitaries of France disliked Adams, making the trek, I am sure, distasteful). Time wise, Adams determined that walking over the mountains of Spain with his two sons would be the quicker and more effective route to reach France in a timely fashion to further the war effort. This choice shows Adams' character and resolve when he put his mind on something. Jefferson would never have made this decsion nor would he have traveled across the Atlantic in the first place.

However, the story is that Adams and Jefferson were different which made the Revolution possible. Without either of them, it is hard to imagine that the the Revolution would have been successful. But, finally, in this book, Adams gets significant credit for his amazing efforts to bring independence to America.

This book is a great work and, read with Joseph Ellis' Founding Brothers, is an excellent way to enjoy the amazing work of our founding fathers.

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Summary: Great book for Revolutionary novices.
Review: I was looking for an accessible introduction to the American Revolution, and this book didn't disappoint.

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Summary: Clear Focus?
Review: This is excellent writing. This is agenda-driven. This brings John Adams into clear focus? This hollers out to be fair by bringing Thomas Jefferson into clear focus. This means also reading the Remick book drawn from Jefferson's own readings and writings, "West Point: Character Leadership Education... Thomas Jefferson". This is for history buffs? This is a book for all Americans. This is David McCullough's, "John Adams".

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Summary: Required Reading for all Americans
Review: Even though the author is overwhelmingly positive in his attitude towards his subject, this biography is essential reading for people (like myself) who think they know all they need to know about the infancy of our country. It was surprising to me that our country was not founded by a group of individuals with an "all for one and one for all" attitude, but came into being in the midst of much turmoil and diverse forces struggling for dominance. Especially enlightening was the depiction of America's relationship to France as well as England, and the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson is fascinatingly described. Abagail Adams emerges as a woman who was equal, if not superior to, her husband is so many ways. An incredibly rewarding biography, and worth putting at the top of your reading list. Believe the hype-"John Adams" is a sublime read.

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Summary: Flawed man, flawless book
Review: It took me a couple of weeks to get through 650 pages of "John Adams", and that's not counting the extensive footnotes and documentation. I was riveted for every one of those pages, transported effortlessly back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, walking in John Adams's footsteps. What David McCullough has done (and my brain hurts to think about the years of research that must have gone into this book, even before the writing) is create a walking, talking Adams for all seasons, spanning 80 years of his life, paying as much attention to Year 9 as to year 59.

It helps that there hasn't been as much popular print on Adams as there has been on the other Founding Fathers (leaving aside the scholarly works). I've read a number of popular Revolutionary War-era books (e.g. "Duel") that never managed to convince me that history happened quite that way. McCullough recreates a nation's capital (three of them, in fact) that's eerily reminiscent of today's. Everything new is old again. The scheming and double-dealing in Europe is just as odious. By the end of his lone-term Presidency, Adams was about as reviled as Jimmy Carter must have been in 1980.

The unbilled co-star of this book is Abigail, whose life is described in as much detail as John's. There's also a fairly strong portrait of John Quincy Adams, who I must reluctantly admit I knew only through Anthony Hopkins's portrayal in "Amistad". Thomas Jefferson is portrayed in a more ambivalent manner, but McCullough never seems to be choosing sides and stresses that, up or down, his friendship with Adams is still one of the underpinnings of modern American government.

The side steps are equally good, whereas in other history books I might find myself skipping back to the main plot. Discourses on the geography of 1770s Philadelphia, the history of the influenza epidemic, the brief glimpses at the French Revolution, are all informative without screaming "I'm showing off!".

It all comes back to John Adams, in the end. McCullough doesn't judge him, I feel, although the book is more sympathetic than not. I opened to page 1 knowing very little about John Adams, and made it to page 649 with increased admiration for his role in history. Along the way I read lots of great historical quotes, from Adams or otherwise, and obtained much stronger insights into the Constitution than I'd had before. Today's political arena may be ugly, but Adams walked through it gracefully 200 years ago and maybe after reading about his life, we can hope that today's leaders will ultimately do the same.

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Summary: Not just for history buffs but for all Americans
Review: This book brings to life some of the major historical moments of America's Revolution as few have done before. This insider's view of the Revolution shows the good and the bad, the strengths and weaknesses, of the personalities that shaped the start of the American Experiment. Only David McCullough, in his "John Adams", has done as good a job at taking these icons of American history off of their pedestals and showing them for who they were. This book does it better, if only because it is shorter and more to the point than "John Adams" in many ways.

A good read and an easy way to get great insight into how this country was formed. It is especially poignant in the way it shows the problems that were solved, those averted, and those put off until another day - most notably, slavery.

Rating:
Summary: McMullough makes Magic
Review: David McCullough not only allows you to get to know John Adams, but in addition gives the reader a very good sense of the primitive but proud world that was America in the 18th Century. More than just a biography of Adams you get a very honest portrait of the founding fathers - Washington and Jefferson go from being statues to being real people with flaws - but not in a negitive way, but in a personable way. In fact you almost feel that you are hanging out with John Adams as he lives through the birth of the United States.

While this biography didn't go into the same level of detail that his Truman epic did, you still get a very personal portrait of man from 200 years away. As with Truman the author seems to gravitate to interesting people who get overlooked by history - and in this case he shines a wonderful light. What's also wonderful is that it's as much a biography of Abigail Adams as it is of John Adams. McCullough is also honest in looking at the flaws in his subject, for example showing the mistakes of the Alien and Sedition Acts. But in the process by making Adams more human you feel more sympathy for him.

This is a book that should be read by anyone wanting to get a better idea of what went into the creation of the United States - and what set it apart from other events of the day like the French Revolution. In fact the book shows a wonderful contrast of America and Europe in the 18th Century.