Rating: 
Summary: David McCullough Does It Again!
Review: You will speed right through this biography of our second president. McCullough is our best popular historian. His books read like novels. They are as well researched as some ones written by professional historians and, yet, they are written for everyone to enjoy.McCullough makes an excellent case for John Adams being more important than Thomas Jefferson. After reading this book, I have to agree. Adams was not only our our second president but a preeminent legal scholar who had a big hand in writing our Constitution. He had a committed relationship with his wife Abigail although they were apart for years at a time while Adams fullfilled his duties for the new republic. After all, Abigail couldn't take a jet plane back and forth to wherever John was. She stayed home and ran the farm. When Adams died, he did not die rich
I would love it if McCullough would write a book about John Quincy Adams for his next topic. That boy really had an interesting life! He was schlepped to Europe with his father and learned French and Dutch. Then he was sent to Russian as a secretary to the American ambassador when he was in his teens. After all that, going to Harvard was an anticlimax.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it, borrow it, ...you must read this book.
Review: Another fantastic McCullough book! I love history and this book was a joy to read. I felt as though I knew Adams as I read and wondered at the sacrifices he made for our country. The time away from family and political infighting were new things I learned about. Many of his views on party politics fit in today. If you love politics, history, or just a good biography get this book today!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Informative AudioBook
Review: I really enjoyed this audiobook, listening to it while travelling to and from work. Edward Herrmann's voice combined with David McCullough's writing style made me want to keep driving just so I could keep listening. John Adams was a remarkable man and this book delves into his life in a relaxed and easy-to-follow way. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys biographies and historical works. I plan to look up more of David McCullough's works. Very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: A book like this reminds the reader how fortunate and indebted we are to our great writers. They find the materials, put a book together; all we have to do is read and enjoy. "John Adams" is a substantial work; John Adams is a man of substance. Other reviews have covered his life thoroughly and all the contributions he made in generating support for and in winning the Revolution, in getting the constitution written and ratified,and, as our first vice president and our second president, in getting the country headed in the right direction.
Along the way Adams served in many important capacities, met almost everyone important - at home and abroad - and he lived a long time - 91 years. Early in his life he was a teacher; the rest of his life he remained the teacher. Most importantly (for David McCullough, in any case), perhaps, was his passion for writing letters and faithfully recording the important events of his life in a dairy. Everyone, he said, should maintain a dairy. Otherwise the significant events in one's life pass by, and, like a flock of birds passing overhead, are soon out of sight and completely forgotten - leaving no trace behind. But Adams has left us more than a trace of his life - he's left us this massive paper trail - now stored on some 8 miles of microfilm - in his letters to his wife,children, friends, fellow revolutionaries, and political colleagues - and in the personal dairies he maintained. This is a great book, because it is Adams - and those corresponding with him - who supplies most of the information. And it's not just about Adams; it's also about Abigail and their children, about Thomas Jefferson, Ben
Franklin, George Washington, King George III of England, and places - at home and abroad - to name just a few. Most of his comments are of interest to us, because these comments tell us much about Adams and about the times he lived in. By all written accounts we know that Adams was highly intelligent, a voracious reader,articulate, a persuasive orator, energetic, intellectually curious, honest, candid, decent,puritanical, stubborn, and had a sense of humor and read and spoke French just tolerably.Some said he was also arrogant and vain. Adams once advised his son, John Quincy,then a student at Harvard, that education was the key to all things, but, that he should not
study too hard, that he should walk everyday (Adams was still walking 3-4 miles daily at 60), get his rest, seek out the best scholars, pick their minds, observe their study habits,their tutors, and find out what books they read and own. He also warned John Quincy to be careful, because education can make one arrogant! To the charge that he was vain Adams said this: there are different kinds of vanity. Some people take undue pride in their personal possessions, or appearance, or dress. What made Adams intolerably proud was the fact that he'd served others for years, risking in the process his fortune, his health, and his personal happiness, as well as that of his family. That kind of vanity,Adams bragged, was a joy!
Thomas Jefferson wrote that Adams was vain, irritable, insufficiently religious,but otherwise quite amiable, a profound thinker, and a good judge of most things - except science. While Adams did believe in God and prayer, he worried about churches,because they were controlled by human beings. All humans, he thought, have a weakness - an insatiable lust for power. Once while passing through Northern Spain enroute to France, he noted how there was nothing but poverty everywhere - except in the churches - which were opulently decorated and under the control of well-fed - fat even -clergymen. Adams was a keen observer!
In France Adams worked with Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to secure French aid and assistance for the American revolutionary war. Jefferson, wrote Adams, was a man of great ability and devotion - just excellent. Jefferson loved Paris, Frenchmen, and he loved shopping. In his first month in France he purchased 2000 books. He later bought 63 paintings, 7 busts, and one life-sized statue of George Washington. Jefferson
meticulously recorded all his purchases; he just never totaled them. (Jefferson's grandiose lifestyle produced predictable results: he always suffered money problems and he died deeply in debt).
Abigail Adams joined her husband in Paris for a period. Unlike Jefferson, Abagil's assessment of France was negative: everything was dirty, people relied on servants to do all their work, sanitation systems didn't function, arranged marriages were common, prostitution was rampant, and every year produced 6000 new orphans. France, she concluded, was a country that had grown old in debauchery and lewdness, a country where inordinate interest was directed toward personal appearance, frivolity, theater, concerts,public shows, and spectacles. When did anyone work? she asked herself. Abigail didn't enjoy travel very much; she preferred life at home in Braintree, Massachusetts. John
Adams, on the other hand, enjoyed travel - not the kind that involved strenuous sightseeing, but, rather, the kind that "opened the heart to feeling." Abigail moved to London when her husband became the first U.S. ambassador ever to England. As she was being introduced to the ladies of the English court she observed that the royal women had poor figures and were generally plain or ugly looking. "Keep this a secret!"
she wrote. The English princesses, on the other hand, were "quite pretty, well shaped,and had "heads full of diamonds!" She described King George III as "personable, but, of
white brows and ruddy face."
Adams had few successes as ambassador to England - perhaps, he thought, because he was low-born, possessed no fortune, was physically unimpressive, had been an revolutionary activist, couldn't dance, drink, cajole, promise, dress, swear, or flatter
unattractive ladies. He simply lacked the talents needed to be a diplomat.
Time's up! Space's filled up. Read this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Over-rated
Review: I am a big fan of David McCulloch's (I devoured The Great Bridge, Johnstown Flood, and Truman). I was so psyched to read John Adams but once I commenced reading it I was bored by the constant Abigale/John romance. The Revolutionary War and Adam's presidency were nearly afterthoughts. I was disappointed- I never learned anything useful from the book.
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Summary: We need more leaders like John Adams.
Review: This book is brilliant! I now understand why this book won the Pulitzer Prize. McCullough displays amazing research capabilities in "John Adams," but yet the reader never becomes bored and loses interest. The biography almost reads like a novel and I had to stop a few times to remember that I was reading a non-fiction book. Truly a fascinating account about the life of one of ths most important figures in American history. John Adams has become one of my new heroes.
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Summary: John Adams, Superstar!
Review: Abagail Adams must be purring with delight somewhere in the great beyond that at last her "beloved friend" is receiving the attention and kudos he deserves. John must be dancing a jig. David McCullough has written a warm and witty definitive biography that flies off the shelves. (1,500,00 hardback copies!) What is all the fuss about? Simply, the average American doesn't often consider John Adams. He was a vague outline of a "Founding Father" whose presidency was book ended by the towering Washington and Jefferson. "Towering" literally--Washington was 6'4" and Jefferson was 6'2". The gently rotund Adams came in at 5'7". Adams rather wistfully noted what a fine figure Washington cut in his dashing uniform. Simply, our country would be a far different place without Adams. His tireless efforts in the Continental Congress, always with the long view and rising above petty considerations assured the U.S.A. would not be a squabbling group of nation states. His principles and integrity in every area of his life serves us to this day. Adams was no saintly do-gooder. He was irascible, thin-skinned and had a fearsome temper. He suffered bouts of black depression. But his unflagging loyalty, brilliance, and statesmanship lifted him above almost all his peers. And something I never expected; John Adams had a wonderful sense of humor, a trait both Washington and Jefferson sorely lacked. He had a wonderful relationship with his wife and appreciated her wit and wisdom. He also thought she was a "Venus," a title not many people would bestow on Abagail Adams! "John Adams" is highly readable using many primary sources and exhaustively researched. Mr. McCullough has a conversational writing style that is rare in a biographer, and he never intrudes. My only misgiving is I felt the author gave Thomas Jefferson a very rough ride, that Jefferson's virtues were not adequately acknowledged. When I closed this book, my main thought was "Thank God for John Adams!"
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: A fine biography about one of the "forgotten" Founders....
Review: John Adams certainly isn't one of the better known founding fathers. In many ways, he has perhaps been relegated to the ash heap of history, being pegged for having been involved with the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. However, after having read David McCullough's biography, I have a new respect and understanding of not only the presidency of John Adams, but also his life in total. I can say that before reading this book, I knew very little about Mr. Adams. After reading, I discovered that he was certainly one of the most important figures behind the American Revolution. Without John Adams, it is questionable that independence from Britan would have been declared when it was, if ever. He was the primary member of the continental Congress who pushed the independence issue. Not only was he involved in the movement behind American independence from England, he also served as a commissioner to France as the United States attempted to gain France's good graces in its war against England. He also served as ambassador to England after the war. What I found most impressive about John Adams was the kind of life he lead: honest, forthright, moral. He loved his wife and children and appreciated them. He sorrowed at the loss of his son, Charles, who died an alcoholic. He strived to do what he felt was right in leading the country as President from 1797 - 1801, and never deviated from the course he laid, in spite of strong political opposition. Mr. McCullough has written a true classic about, unfortunately, one of our "forgotten" founders. He brings John Adams to life, showing him as having the same human shortcomings that many of us suffer with, yet being able to overcome, was able to accomplish great things. I highly recommend this book to any student of American History.
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Summary: Second as President, First in Character
Review: It's already common knowledge that David McCullough is so talented it makes most people sick. His distinctive voice has given most of Ken Burns' documentaries the emphasis to keep viewers enthralled through even the boring parts of the Civil War. His writing is clear, conversational, and epic at the same time. His mastery of creating a character through description is unparalleled. In short, McCullough immerses his audiences in a world they've never experienced and leaves them feeling as if they ought to write the main character a postcard just to catch them up on what's happening with them. John Adams is, perhaps, the best biography I've ever read. McCullough delivers better than even his Pulitzer Prize winning Truman, and makes the revolutionary era relevant, challenging, and (most importantly) interesting. After reading Andrew Langguth's "Patriots," I came away with a deep respect for John Adams above all. Sam Adams came off as a liar, Ben Franklin as weird, and Thomas Jefferson was a little to aristocratic, but John Adams was always honest, energetic and idealistic. At the time, only Ferling's "John Adams: A Life" was available. Don't waste your time, though. Ferling's book is much less interesting than the life Adams led. McCullough took one of history's underrated overachievers and placed him precisely where he deserved--a family man with scruples, a lawyer with ideas, and an activist willing to sacrifice all for the good of his country. It's no wonder that McCullough won the Pulitzer for this biography as well, nor that there's now an Adams Memorial planned for Washington. This is a book that needs to be read, not just by Americans, but by everyone who ever wanted to make a difference. This is the epitome of a "must read."
Rating:
Summary: Historically accurate, wonderfully written account of Adams
Review: As a member of the Adams family, I must say that David McCullough did an outstanding job writing this historically accurate account of the life of one of our nation's most influential founding fathers. DM writes not only accurately, but the book was quite entertaining as well-- usually most books of this genre are not. Kudos to Mr. McCullough and I'll be looking forward to his next book! :)
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