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Summary: John Adams, the exciting story by David McCullough
Review: David McCollough's ¨JOHN ADAMS¨ is a knock-out. David McCollough tells of the wonderful accomplishments, thinking spirit of John Adams. David McCollough's narrative and facts of John Adam's life never lets you get bored for a single moment. McCollough is an expert by including Europe to part of John Adams life by describing the affect it had on him (John Adams was often being criticized for believing in the European system of Monarchy). The scenery in this book always changes. What makes this book so special and content is it's descriptiveness and creativity added on to John Adam's life. If you buy this book you will not be dissapointed.
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Summary: A New Light
Review: This book is a historical view bridged with parts of correspondents between the characters. It brings an amazingly bright softness to a President we really hardly new in deep detail. His outward hard appearance was softened in a new light. In summmary I thought that this was a phenomenal read. I loved it. Historical human insights to that era's time and philosophy accented with a deep love story between John and Abigail Adams. This is a permanent addition to my library, bravo David McCullough!
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Summary: A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
Review: Using many sources, but basically drawing on the extensive collection of the Adams Papers housed in the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, David McCullough has written a fascinating biography of John Adams. Unlike conventional biographies, the text covers his immediate family devoting considerable detail to his wife, Abigail, which makes for a balanced narration. This is a biography of John Adams and not a history of the Revolution and the post revolution era so that incidents, actions, etc. not closely related to John Adams are given minimum coverage making for a contiguous account that is not distracted by events (though important) in which Adams was not involved. By quoting from their numerous letters, journals and diaries, this is a highly personal account revealing Adams and Abigail's thoughts and feelings.The narration of Adams activities in France, Great Britain, Holland and Belgium is fascinating. This is a subject that is only briefly covered in most survey courses of American history so that the casual reader of history will find the text well worth reading. The intrigues and manipulative politicians in Europe made for a serious challenge to John Adams' abilities and for the future of the new nation. In many respects, the European attitudes the text outlines in Adams era are still present today regarding America. The text notes that Adams recognized the critical role of a navy for gaining and then maintaining independence. The author states "That he pressed doggedly for a greater part in the war by the French navy would stand as one of his own proudest efforts, and with reason given what happened at Yorktown." During his presidency he initiated a program of navy ship construction and persuaded Congress to authorize funds to equip and man three frigates constructed during Washington's administration, but never equipped for service. These became the three famous frigates CONSTITUTION, UNITED STATES and CONSTELLATION. He further recommended to President Jefferson the establishment of a Naval Academy to which Jefferson agreed. The founding of the US Navy was one of Adams greatest accomplishments. McCullough provides an excellent account of Adams' relationship with Jefferson. Jefferson is not pictured in the typical honorable schoolboy image, but rather the text gives a balance account of Jefferson who did not always follow the highest ethical principals especially regarding political rivals. The author notes that Adams never knew when Jefferson, his Vice President, might be working secretly to undercut or thwart him, for Jefferson's abiding flaw, Adams had concluded, was "want of sincerity". Most interesting is the text's narration of the 1791 public controversy over Jefferson's endorsement of Thomas Paine's pamphlet THE RIGHTS OF MAN. Jefferson had endorsed the pamphlet and in private correspondence ascribed to Adams "the political heresies that have spring up among us" and then blamed the pamphlet printer for his endorsement. In 1809 at the urging of his friend Benjamin Rush, Adams wrote Jefferson, their friendship was renewed and remained strong through the rest of their lives. The text tells of Adams less than high opinion of Benjamin Franklin who Adams considered lazy. In Adams written documents, the image of Franklin as a wholly honorable statesman/scientist is brought into question. However, Adams still had high praise for Franklin stating that if he had done nothing else then invent the lightning rod he had done the world a great service. The text also narrates many situations which were a harbinger of the American Civil War noting the strong differences between New England and the South principally with Jefferson's Virginia. The author quotes Adams who wrote " I know it is high treason to express a doubt of the perpetual duration of our vast American empire, but a struggles between the states over slavery might rend this mighty fabric in twain." In his easy to read narration, the author describes the political world in early America. This account is most intriguing since if only the names and the dates are changed, politics and government today is the same as in Adams age. For example. McCullough writes "Colonel Smith was in Washington. Having failed at nearly everything he ever tried, he had lately been elected to Congress" and Adams is quoted as stating "I would to God there were more ambition in the country....ambition of that laudable kind, to excel." In another example, the text notes that "The more Adams thought about the future of his country, the more convinced he became that it rested on education and wrote "The education of a nation instead of being confined to a few schools and universities for the instruction of the few, must become the national care and expense for the formation of the many." Today, politicians are debating the same topic. To be sure John Adams had his faults and the author does not try to ignore his shortcomings in this biography. His support of the Alien and Sedition Acts was most reprehensible.Perhaps his greatest fault was that he was hard headed; however, this was tempered by Adams integrity. In today's "me first" and "what's in it for me" society, it is pleasant to read the biography of a person (even a whole family) which put public service above self interest. The reader may not agree with McCullough, but will never find the book dull reading.
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Summary: It's history, it's a love story, and more
Review: David McCullough is a remarkable writer as he has so ably demonstrated with Truman, Path Between the Seas, and The Great Bridge. It's when he get's the chance to tackle a subject as fascinating as the life of John Adams that he really shines. He tells the story of this remarkable individual and sheds light on the love story of John and Abigail. He provides insights into the founding of the country, the challenges faced in everday life at the time, and, most importantly, the power of character and integrity in true leadership. Simply put, one of the best books I've read.
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Summary: This is what the telephone killed
Review: Before the phone, people used to write more letters. This book seems to have written itself, in large part, due to all of the letters of John Adams and Abigail Adams, and also their numerous family, professional and business contacts. McCullough does an incredible job of pacing his description to Adams's life cycle, bringing Adams to life scene by scene, year by year. He lets Adams develop before our eyes in a very genuine way, so well done that it is Adams himself who confronts his own limitations and flaws, mostly by admitting and exploring them in his correspondence. The scope of Adams's work is brought out here: Farmer's son, schoolteacher, lawyer, local road commissioner, delegate to numerous revolutionary conclaves, signer of the declaration of independence, author of the Massachusetts constitution, first U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, first U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, personally acquainted with George III and with Louis XVI, Washinton's Vice President, President. And father of an alcoholic no-good son, and of a daughter felled by breast cancer. First occupant of the White House. First President sworn in as a successor to another one. Lots of firsts here. Adams's critiques of so many other founders are also excerpted deftly, and just when I thought it was permissible to be outraged at Jefferson, it turns out Adams won't let me, since he himself insisted on and was nourished by the friendship of Jefferson, although punctuated by two decades of estrangement. Alexander Hamilton takes a big hit in this book, and Hamilton's opposition to not only Burr and Jefferson, but also to Adams, is laid out convincingly by McCullough. Authors like McCullough are rare. I'm looking forward to whatever he decides to write next.
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Summary: An Apologist for Adams
Review: The author provides great insight into the nation's second president and one of our least respected founding fathers. McCullough shows how Adams acted independently, from his defense of British soldiers to his foreign policy of neutrality toward France following the XYZ Affair. Unfortunately, criticism is withheld when our hero acts reprehensibly in supporting the Alien and Sedition Acts, arguably the greatest infraction of civil liberties in American history. In contrast, Jefferson's conduct is consistently viewed by the author as weak and duplicitous. Although slow in spots, the book was insightful and worth reading.
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Summary: Lacking Objectivity...
Review: To write a bestselling history, a writer must foremost be a storyteller, able to engage a reader for 700 pages. This kind of written history often lacks analysis and objectivity. "John Adams" leaves the reader little to think about. Chapters of Adams life are generally onesided in order to show Adams' good characteristics, that are often times backed up by convenient quotes picked from 20 years down the road. While I admire John Adams as one of our most brillent political founding fathers, I want to stress that this is first and foremost a story, designed to make Adams easy to understand. There is more of a focus on his surroundings, opposed to analysis of Adams himself. On that note, I believe the most interesting thing about Adams is his many inner conflicts...the things that make him more real to us today, as opposed to the Monument that George Washington created for himself. I did not enjoy how this book tried to make Adams out to be the typical hero on a journey, filled with trials the tribulations of a Ulysses. Adams contridicting thought process is just as fasinating as his travels and meetings with the famous names of history. John Adams is a fasinating character, but not in the same way as GW
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Summary: John Adams . . . Period
Review: David McCullough's particular gift for writing history lies in his ability to get right inside the skin of the person he is writing about. People who knew Harry Truman, for example, claimed that "Truman" caught the man perfectly. The Adams biography is another expression of that extraordinary gift - but it has a big drawback. If you look at the jacket of the Adams biography carefully, you can see that the title of the book is "John Adams." McCullough explains that Adams always signed his name with that period at the end. Trust him to notice all the details. He has done his Adams reading thoroughly. I would venture to guess that he hasn't missed a single letter written by either John or Abigail. But all he writes about is John Adams . . . period. This is a real problem. McCullough got so far into the skin of his hero that he tells his life story entirely through Adams' own eyes. He even fell in love with Adams' wife. This is not all bad. By the time you are done with the book, you can be pretty confident that you see the American Revolution and the development of the American Republic exactly as Adams saw it. But this is supposed to be a biography - not an autobiography - and McCullough's approach means that you don't get any other perspective. Adams had great strengths which were undermined by equally great weaknesses. He could and did pursue his goals with singleminded stubborn intelligence. There is no doubt that he meant to have only the best for the United States and that he would make considerable personal sacrifices to make sure that the his country had the best. The trouble was that he couldn't understand anyone else's point of view. He had his own vision of America - but he had no picture at all of anyone else's and could not accept a difference of opinion. When his viewpoint was the right one for the particular situation, he was spectacularly successful. For example, his personality and political approach were perfect for approaching the Dutch during the Revolution and the financial loans that resulted were as important as any victory in battle or any other alliance in winning the Revolutionary War. It's even fair to say that no-one else could have gotten so far. But . . . when he was wrong he was just as spectacularly wrong and got nowhere. His presidency is a perfect case in point. His personality had none of the qualities necessary for him to be able to balance conflicting interests during his administration - in the way, for example, that Washington did so well. You don't get that from McCullough's biography. If this book is all you read, you can conclude that Adams was unjustly treated and sabotaged - which was certainly his own point of view. I found that unsatisfying. It means that you have to totally discount every other player at the time and shut your eyes to the wealth of complications and complicated personalities involved. That is where this book falls short. On the other hand, if you read it in conjunction with other books about the Revolution, it is very worthwhile indeed. McCullough writes extremely well. You will KNOW John Adams from the inside out. It will enrich your understanding of the other books, even as they fill in the limitations of this one. For a really comprehensive list, you can't do better than McCullough's bibliography (though I did wonder if he actually read some of those books considering his own final product). High points: Elkins, McKitrick: "The Age of Federalism"; Wood, "The Creation of the American Republic" and "The Radicalism of the American Revolution"; Bailyn, "Ideological Origins of the American Revolution"; Morris, "The Peacemakers"; Rakove, "Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the US Constitution."
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Summary: History with Humanity
Review: My grasp of US History during the lifetime of John Adams is greatly improved. I'm not a historian, nor have I studied much about the Revolution other than what I learned in High School. So for me, in a 700+ page book, there are bound to be many "ah ha's". And there are! It's much more than a chronicle of John Adams's life. This is a love story that makes me think deeply about relationships, and even a little about religion (but, this isn't dwelled on). Due to the extensive time John lived away from home, he and Abigail were constantly writing letters to each other. I never knew how much correspondence from that time survived! But it did, and both the words in the letters, and McCullough's commentary, paint a picture of a deeply devoted couple. We see the lives of Jefferson (especially), Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and others through John Adams's eyes. I have to remind myself that this is a single viewpoint; other histories should be consulted before I firm my judgement on those characters! What about the 700 pages? For me, it went very quickly through the first half and then bogged down. I was afraid that there would be too much information in this tome. Perhaps true, but despite the fact that I could not previously have said which President he was, or for how many terms, McCullough managed to grab my attention and bring the period alive as no one has done for me before.
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Summary: John Adams: Painless Learning
Review: After reading David McCullough's: Truman, I just had to read John Adams. McCullough's writing techniques and style are great. They tell you the story of the man in an interesting way which teaches you the history of the times as a secondary benefit of getting to know the man. The historical legacy that the Adams family has left us through diaries and letters seems to be second to none. The stories they tell are much different than the history I learned in school. Although he was not popular in his era, this was a decent man who put morality, integrity, education, and family values above all else. Historical and political giants are exposed as incredibly human with all of the weaknesses, vices, and faults of the common man. The Adam's family story, American and world History are intertwined to form an interesting and touching story of the times and sets the stage for things to come. This man's story really touched me and enlightened me. He was a much greater man than I ever knew. His influence and contributions to the formation and structure of our government was significantly greater than what I learned in school. John Adams was an interesting and easy to read book. As a side effect to ups and downs of John Adam's life and other prominent humans of the times, I learned much about American and World History. This was truly painless learning.
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