Rating: 
Summary: Review of Abridged Audio CD
Review: I received the hardcover of this book as a gift and read the first 200 pages, but put it down to read Ghost Soldiers and didn't pick it back up. I liked the detail, however, it wasn't exactly a page turner and I found it somewhat slow. I recently purchased the 9 audio CD collection and listened to it while traveling on business. I just finished the last CD and I am really glad I didn't give up on this title!I especially like the reciting of passages of letters to and from John Adams. These people had a wonderful command of language and conveyed their thoughts and emotions in beautiful detail. I also found it interesting that politicians 200 years ago had to face a scornful and vicious press, something I thought was a twentieth century phenomenon. John and Abigail Adams are wonderful role models. We can learn a lot from them by the way they handled hardship, separation, and duty. I know that I have.
Rating: 
Summary: Who is John Adams?
Review: This book is almost too good! I was simply compelled to read in every spare moment as the book unfolds very much like a novel: wherein the protagonist and supporting cast are among the world's most remarkable men and women acting at a crucial time in history, as they navigate the treacherous path leading to the founding of a *peaceful* new nation. I have read other reviewers' comments, and I cannot believe how little has been stated about the pride this book engenders. It is mindboggling to consider what our forefathers accomplished as the book recounts the many setbacks they endured. The details of the book simply put it in another class, and remarkably, what surprised me most was how successful David McCullough is in making this a psychological study of not only John Adams, but other important figures too. The contrast and odd rivalry between Adams and Jefferson is epic in itself. The author never fails to describe the motives and ethos of the many characters. His style brings to life the subject matter and draws us in very much like a good novel. David McCullough makes liberal use of the thousands of personal letters John and Abigail Adams produced to yield this uniquely personal insight. We learn that, while many of the other historical founders wrote prolifically, the Adams (Abigail and John) were unique in the way they wrote of their thoughts and feelings and always with great frankness--apparently, atypical for the time. The way David McCullough uses the letters is remarkable--always by foreshadowing future events enough to make me want to read on. To cite one example in the way this works, take how McCullough describes the apprehension Abigail experiences during the nearly fatal first Atlantic crossing John Adams makes as he sails alone to France to join Ben Franklin. We learn through her own letters that Abigail, was conflicted about wanting to travel with John--knowing that the separation would hurt her--but also knowing that she could no more set foot on a ship at sea than plunge herself off a cliff. But as events unfold, we learn that inevitably they must be together, where ever that leads. We learn so much about her strength and how much it meant to John Adams, and we demand to know how will she meet the challenge of sailing the ocean, a journey that in today's terms must be closer to space travel than we can ever know. Odd to say, but from passages like these, you also learn a great deal about John himself. David McCollough is truly masterful in the way everything reflects back to John to illuminate his character, his morality, and even his own insecurity. Lovers of biography will appreciate the careful way the details of Adams' life unfold against a backdrop of historic events. But foremost, through this book, we learn so much about our founders' legacy--through John Adams' desires and struggles, we learn the very meaning of being Americans. While reading this book, the events of today come into a sharp focus. It becomes possible to understand the meaning of our freedom, and, probably as John Adams would compel us with his intellect and obstinate nature to recognize, the complete obligation upon our society to use our freedom wisely and never to squander it. What can I say, I loved this multi-faceted book and feel it to be especially relevant now. Enjoy a brisk read and get David McCollough's super biography of our second President.
Rating:
Summary: Well done, yet there was a bit missing
Review: After having read this biography I feel as if I have come to know whom John Adams the person was in much more detail than I had before. I very much enjoyed reading of the relationship between he and his wife, Abigail. This tells a good deal of her story as well as the hardships she had endured to support her husband. I could not imagine the separation both of them experienced. As a result of reading this I came to have a greater appreciation of them both. Also, I came to see John Adams as a kindred spirit. His love of books and literature were something to which I related. He also considered himself both a Christian and a Free Thinker. A combination while important is still very rare. It is a description that someday I hope others would make of me. The only place I think the book falls short is that it is a very personal biography and that it does not pay enough attention to the historical events that are going on around him. For example, the discussion of the Boston Massacre was not nearly detailed enough. I would have preferred to have seen much more on this topic. Also, while the relationship between Adams and Jefferson was discussed throughout the work not enough of a discussion was paid to the differences in their beliefs. This was something I was hoping to get out of the book when I first started reading it. All in all, however, I would say that this book is well worth reading. While it does not provide some of the insights that I had hopped to gather from this book, it does provide many others. The chief insight is the personal costs paid by many for the founding of this great nation.
Rating:
Summary: What a life, what a book!
Review: Having previously enjoyed David McCollough's Pulitzer
Prize-winning biography TRUMAN, I anxiously looked
forward to reading his latest: JOHN ADAMS . . . what a
book! . . . though a bit longish, it nevertheless moved along
much like a page-turning novel . . . I found myself caught
up in the life of our second President, and how it involved love,
friendship and betrayal. Not only did I feel that I got to know Adams, but McCollough
also gave me a real feel for his contemporaries including
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton,
Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, and John Quincy Adams (his
adored son whom he would live to see become President). There were many memorable passages (often taken from
his diaries and letters to his beloved wife Abigail); among them:
Possibly it was his first or second day back in Philadelphia, in
early 1776, after the long wintry journey from home, that Adams,
in his room at Mrs. Yard's, drew up a list of what he determined
to see accomplished. Or as appears more likely, from its
placement in his diary, the list had been composed earlier,
somewhere en route. Undated, it included, "An alliance to be
formed with France and Spain"; "Governments to be assumed
by every colony''; "Powder mills to be guilt in every colony and
fresh efforts to make saltpeter [for the making of gunpowder]."
And, on the second of the two small opposing pages in the
diary, he wrote, a "Declaration of Independency." [describing Marie Antoinette] She was an object too sublime
and beautiful for my dull pen to describe. . . . Her dress was
everything art and wealth could make it. One of the maids
of honor told me she had diamonds upon her person to the
value of eighteen million livres, and I always thought her
majesty much beholden to her dress. . . . She had a fine
complexion indicating her perfect health, and was a handsome
woman in her face and figure. . . . The Queen took a large
spoonful of soup and displayed her fine persona and graceful
manner, in alternately looking at the company in various parts
of the hall and ordering several kinds of seasoning to be brought
to her, by which she fitted her supper to her taste. When this
was accomplished, her Majesty exhibited to the admiring
spectators the magnificent spectacle of a great queen
swallowing her royal supper in a single spoonful, all at once.
This was all performed like perfect clockwork, not a feature
of her face, nor a motion of any part of her person, especially
her arm and her hand could be criticized as out of order. "Popularity was never my mistress, nor was I ever, or shall I
ever be a popular man," Adams had written to James Warren
at the start of the year, 1787, to say he had just completed a
book that was almost certain to make him unpopular. "But
one thing I know, a man must be sensible of the errors of the
people, and upon his guard against them, and must run the
risk of their displeasure sometimes, or he will never do them
any good in the long run."
Rating:
Summary: Something for everyone
Review: You don't have to be a history buff to enjoy the incredible story of America's second president. However, you may become a history buff after reading this wonderful, well researched account of this incredible man. He was so much more than just a president. Many of his most meaningful contributions to Amercia were as a result of his influence before he was president and in fact before there was a United States. Adams was the mover and shaker behind the appointment of George Washington to command the colonial forces and also given credit for suggesting Thomas Jefferson's writing of the Declaration of Independence. There is , however, much more than politics and war. The personal lives of many of the central characters i.e the founding fathers are explored in depth. You'll learn how dependent Adams was on his wife Abigail. You'll learn much about the life and idiosyncrasies of Adam's life long friend and rival, Thomas Jefferson. This book has its pathos. There were infant deaths and both Adams and his wife suffered numerous life-threatening illnesses. There were also happy moments and a lot of optimism brought on by the birth of a new nation. One of the few detractions in the book, and this is just one man's opinon, were the many, many excerpts from diaries and letters. The writing syle of the late 18th and early 19 centuries can be a little laborious to read. But, even the negative was positive in that even though some of these missives were difficult to get through, it was still compelling reading. David McCullough has created a historial masterpiece that for the most part reads like a well-constructed novel. It is not to missed.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Brothers
Review: "In the cold...New England winter, two men on horseback traveled the coast road below Boston, heading north. The temperature, according to records kept by Adams' former professor of science at Harvard, John Winthrop, was in the low twenties." One can almost hear the amiable yet dramatic tones of historian David McCullough, punctuated by paintings of New England blizzards and the sound of hoofbeats. (McCullough is a frequent narrator of documentaries, notably those of Ken Burns.) McCullough's familiar cadence resounds through this extremely well written best-seller. The details never slow the reading or obscure the portrait; instead, source materials (much of it from the Adams' personal letters) illuminate and concretize his subject. McCullough writes clearly, forcefully, and with an ear for detail, humor, and anecdote. Overall this is a flattering portrait of Adams' longtime service as lawyer, revolutionary, writer and philosopher, diplomat, politician, and farmer. The book could well have been subtitled: "An Appreciation," both because Adams demonstrates so much to admire (including integrity, erudition, patriotism, work ethic, and courage) and because McCullough either doesn't criticize Adams or couches his disapproval by leaving some issues open. Some readers may suspect a positive bias. Criticized and embattled by Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton--and by the libelous hyperbole of opposition newspapers and rivals--Adams takes on an almost martyr-like persona. To test McCullough's balance, one must read other books on both the Founders and the political culture of the times. Joseph Ellis' "Brothers of the Revolution," for example, is a more analytic, speculative, and impersonal book than "John Adams," and Ellis does not temporize on such issues as Jefferson's affair with Sally Hemmings. (McCullough: "for all the rumors . . . relatively little would ever be known." Ellis: "which was only confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt by DNA studies done in 1998 . . . "). Ellis engages in comparatively more "psychobiography" ("[Adams had] a congenital inability to separate his thoughts from his feelings about them"); McCullough resists theory, and relies more on the literal evidence of his source materials. Also, because it is a biography, we miss some history: Since Adams was an ambassador in Europe during the war, securing French naval assistance and Dutch money, there is little mention of the country's trials military victories in the latter years of the war. Hamilton's role in stabilizing the country through the Federalist papers and establishment of a central bank receive little attention. There is little question that Adams was, for the most part, the right man for the times, largely steering clear of both Republican and Federalist extremes. McCullough demonstrates that Adams was largely underappreciated by his contemporaries. More than Jefferson, Adams seems the man of the people, as well as the more flexible: Adams was an idealist when the times called for it; a pragmatist when they did not. McCullough includes some fascinating insights into Adams' personal life, especially his love, partnership, and correspondence with Abigail Adams and their son, John Quincy Adams. One comes away liking Adams, despite certain tempermental qualities implied by McCullough. The book documents just how well (and how often) Adams served his country, no matter what the inconvenience to himself or his family. Overall, the appreciation is well deserved. Readers will likely use this fine biography as a springboard to further investigations, such as Ellis' book. "John Adams" has 654 pages of text; additionally, there are black and white as well as color plates, extensive source notes, and a thorough index. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Adams as a giant, uncompromising architect of America
Review: Thanks to this splendid author, we now know so much more about America's founding fathers. This fine work delves deeply into the personal lives not only of Adams, but Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and other political leaders of the time. They were a polyglot group with perhaps Arron Burr and Alexander Hamilton being the most disturbing characters among them, yet not without their own unique contributions. In the annals of American history though, Adams has seemingly not had the attention, nor credit he deserves as one of the giant, uncompromising architects of America. The book has a ring of genuine authenticity. McCullough studied over a thousand unpublished Adams family letters that shed new light on the inside, private lives of the people he writes about. The author treats you to a sometimes unvarnished, painfully human look at the foibles, shortcomings as well as the steely dedication of the founding fathers. They were among the most successful, accomplished individuals in the Colonies. With all their success and worldliness, they could be as pleasant as a root canal, arrogant, jealous, mean spirited. rude, abrasive, stubborn. Yet with all that, they set aside their differences and worked together so that 200 years later we enjoy the fantastic benefits of their remarkable sacrifice and work. Adams was the first president to occupy the White House. As an instigator of the Declaration of Independence, he was marked as first in line for hanging by the British king. Adam's fortunate marriage to the wise, ebullient Abigail Adams is one of the most inspiring love stories in American history. He was first close friends, fellow diplomat, then enemy, and finally friends again with Jefferson. Although Adams was eight years older than Jefferson, incredibly, they both died on the same day, July 4, 1826. After reading this fine work, one cannot help but come off with a deeper understanding of the gut-wrenching price we must be ready to pay at any time to keep this country going.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging and beautifully written.
Review: A gap in modern biography and in the knowledge of most casual readers has been admirably filled by David McCullough's biography of John Adams. I strongly recommend the book as an instructive and illuminating text on the period and as an enjoyable read--McCullough is a fantastic writer who keeps the tale moving along nicely, despite a level of detail that at times approaches the extreme. The book rapidly moves from Adams' youth to his involvement in the Revolution. In particular, Adams' defense of the British soldiers charged in the Boston Massacre and his role in the Continental Congress are tremendously well-told and engaging. The middle of the book details Adams's little known work as a foreign minister to France, the Netherlands, and ultimately the Court of St. James. Adams first appearance as ambassador before George III--the very king he had revolted against--is a scene worthy of the theater. The last third of the book covers Adams's presidency through his death, revealing his late correspondence with an aging Jefferson and touching on the career of John Quincy Adams. Some specific praise and criticism. McCullogh is perhaps most enjoyable as a historian because of his fantastic ability to describe the settings for the events he records--his portraits of 18th and early 19th century Boston, Philadelphia, Paris, London, the Hague, and the newly born capital at Washington were to me among the high points of the book. As for criticism, the book is, without a doubt, a 600-page fan letter, minimizing criticism of Adams (for example, his admittedly vain nature is repeatedly excused, and the Alien and Sedition Acts are breezed over in two or three pages, with excuses for their passage provided by the author) and heaping praise even where it may not be deserved (should we really give Adams credit for Jefferson's subsequent Louisiana Purchase?). McCullough nails Franklin and Jefferson with the predictable and relentless criticism that seems to be en vogue these days. Granted, Adams has been unappreciated compared to his Revolutionary peers, but a more balanced account of his remarkable life would have served his cause just as well, if not better. Despite these nitpicks, this is an important biography that is an easy and enjoyable read despite its length. It is also a handsome volume to add to your shelf, with a fine cover and informative illustrations, if too few maps. Put this book high on your list.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Author David McCullough has done it again! This biography on one of our most under-appreciated president's is nothing short of outstanding. One not only gains a great appreciation of a great president, but of the mastery of the author's skills. This book could likely garner McCullough another Pulitzer.
Rating:
Summary: On the Importance of Abigail Adams
Review: McCullough's work is first rate. It presents the American Revolution on personal terms that bring the tumult of the late 18th century to life. Its most significant contribution, however, may be the credit that McCullough necesarily gives to Adam's wife, Abigail. In a different era, she might have been a notable politician or philosopher in her own right. She was able to provide valuable counsel and much-needed comfort to a person whose influence on the architecture of the constitution has had salutory and lasting effects. We all owe her, as well as her husband, a large debt of gratitute for the stability of our government. We also owe Mr. McCullough thanks for bringing this personal and political love story to life in a very readable book.
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