Rating: 
Summary: OUTSTANDING!!
Review: McCullough does his research. Throughout the book, which covers John Adams life, McCullough deftly paints the background and then liberally quotes from Adams' correspondence. By the time I was complete with the book, I had an increased respect and admiration for both John and Abigail Adams. McCullough also studies the fascinating relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Both expert and novice will have an increased appreciation and knowledge for both Adams and the time in which he lived - the birth, infancy and, in some ways, the coming of age of the United States.
Rating:
Summary: totally absorbing
Review: I can't say that it is the best history I have ever read, in terms of accuracy, but the letters alone are well worth it, as are the comparisons between Adams and the more glamorous Jefferson.
I admit i picked up the book and devoured the first 150 pages in one sitting!
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Summary: A MUST READ
Review: I am a lover of history and have read many books on this time period. David McCullough's book is one of the BEST I've read. It is an easy read and not bogged down by technical writing. It brought to life John Adams and the people who were in his world. I found myself reading it during any spare moment and reading far into the night. You will cry with appreciation for all he and others went through for our nation. You will be touched by the wonderful marriage John and Abigail had. They are examples to us all of integrity, thrift, industry and endurance. I rank John & Abigail Adams right up with George & Martha Washington. I think every American should read and reread this book. It is wonderful and will inspire patriotism.
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Summary: David Mccullough - our best biographer
Review: David Mccullough does it again! I've read 'Truman' and 'The Johnstown Flood', and both captured the excitement of the topic rather than overwhelming the reader with irrelevant detail, as the great bulk of biographers do. 'John Adams' captures both the spirit of the man and the times. If you enjoy history, buy this book. If you enjoy a good story, buy this book. If you write biographies, emulate this author.
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Summary: I didn't want to put this book down!
Review: A great read! A smooth and easy to read book by the prize- winning author of "Truman".The book gives a quick glance at his early life and then McCullough sinks his teeth into Adams' adult life.
McCullough writes in great detail about Adams' years with the Continental Congress, his time in Paris,Holland and England.I was fascinated to read the abundance of excerpts McCullough pulled from the letters and diaries of John Adams, our second president and the man that Thomas Jefferson himself called "the collossus of independence".
However,the most important thing covered in this book is the deep love and respect between Abagail and John Adams.The outpourings of emotion in their letters to each other can't help but effect the reader in some way.
David McCullough has done it again. He has written another book that deserves a Pulitzer Prize.I thought that with the old style of talking and writing that the book would be a hard read but it was not.At 700+ pages it will take some time but it will be worth every minute of it!! A beautiful book, beautifully done!!
Rating: 
Summary: Learned a lot but a tough read
Review: I bought this book largely because I had previously read McCullough's book on Harry Truman and enjoyed it. I learned a tremendous amount about John Adams from the book. I had not known much about the man, much less that he had defended the English soldiers in the Boston Massacre, that he had pushed Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence, that our country's Birthday is really July 2nd and the July 4th date is based on both Adams' and Jefferson's faulty memories, that Adams was in charge of the War Department supporting Washington's army in the Revolutionary War, or Adams pivotal role in just about every aspect of America's independence effort. It is sort of startling to me that, up until this work apparently, Adams got virtually ignored compared to Washington and Jefferson. For that, I am grateful that I read this book.
That being said, I must say that, even though I read a lot, I found this book to be extremely hard to read. It is quite slow going. Much of the information and details is based upon correspondence between John Adams and his wife (Abigail). Also, McCullough has a habit of skipping around a bit chronologically, which I found confusing. Finally, McCullough is so enamored with his subject and the book is so largely founded on correspondence between husband and wife that it lacks any real criticism of the man.
Still, I am glad that I read the book and recommend it. I deducted one star because I found it difficult to read.
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Summary: Story of a Yankee Patriot
Review: Of all the men who were key to the founding of the American Republic, John Adams is probably the most neglected today in the popular imagination. Even in his own time he could see himself becoming overshadowed by his more glamorous peers - Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, even others - who flirted with their own legends and burnished the images that were to enter posterity. So one can easily imagine John Adams now two centuries later smiling down in satisfaction at finding his own dusty image at last redeemed by this superb biography. Biographers often fall in love with their subjects, and while Mr. McCullough doesn't aggrandize Adams, every chapter of this book glows with a fond admiration for him. The birth of American democracy succeeded against all odds in large part because the clear-sighted pragmatism of its leaders, and Adams stands out among them. His core talent was for getting to the nub of complex issues, then unleashing his obsessive determination to resolve them, regardless of the political cost to himself or of the sensibilities of others. He therefore always seemed to have more enemies than friends, and even his friends rarely stood by him as unconditional allies. Yet he had a way of getting the job done, and his most virulent detractors never questioned his integrity or his dedication to his country. Adams was the political tactician who, probably more than any other, pushed the bitter floor debate in Philadelphia towards issuance of the explosive Declaration of Independence. His greatest achievement was undoubtedly as president, in steering the young nation through the period of venomous partisanship between the Federalists and Republicans. Angering his allies still without winning over any of his enemies, he acted largely alone in initiating the diplomatic overtures that avoided the threatening war with France which, had it occurred, could very well have destroyed the young republic and brought America back under the domination of one or the other of the great European powers. Mr. McCullough's biography nicely portrays the balance Adams achieved between his political and private lives. Indeed, the most endearing theme of this whole story is the passionate, life-long love affair Adams had with is wife Abigail, whose unconditional loyalty and political acumen made her the only confidant in whom Adams ever placed his whole-hearted trust. In sharp contrast to many of his revolutionary colleagues - particularly and ironically Jefferson - he was a man of relatively modest means and he cared little for the trappings of wealth. He was a Yankee farmer at heart, and his letters during 25-year retirement at the end of his life sparkle with an kind of mystical love for his land. His home was a beehive of family warmth and happy social activity. Yet his late years were punctuated as well with continual tragedy, as old friends and family members died around him, including his daughter Nappy and, eventually, his beloved Abigail. He endured the sad and self-destructive failures of his two younger sons, and lived to see John Quincy, his oldest son and his pride and joy, elected as the sixth president of the United States. After his own presidency, he largely avoided politics except through correspondence. Along with Abigail, the other enduring thread in his life was to Thomas Jefferson, a friend whom he loved dearly yet became a bitterly divided from during the height of their careers. After both had retired, they buried the hatchet and corresponded regularly, renewing their friendship without ever again laying eyes on one another. In one of the most extraordinary serendipities in history, they died on the same day, the 4th of July, exactly half a century after issuance of the revolutionary document which the two of them had coaxed into being. Mr. McCullough's account of the waning years of Adam's life exudes a biblical intensity, describing the love and beauty the man experienced, intertwined with wrenching tragedy and the physical pain and deterioration of old age. With his bluntness, his curmudgeonly Yankee cleverness, his simplicity, his warmth, his integrity and his love for life, Adams was a quintessentially American character. David McCullough has performed a great service by bringing it back to life for us in this fine biography, which I highly recommend.
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Summary: Aesthetics are Ruining Print
Review: The Book is fabulous. I found it informative and interesting. I am an avid reader of biography and was fascinated by the sad state of Jefferson's personna.
I contacted Simon & Schuster about the presentation of their book. The print was uneven, some dark, some almost ubreadable because of the lack of ink and some in between. As I informed them, I will not ever buy another of their books. I will wait for the paperback, as one doesn't expect quality. I knew they would not answer my letter so I am letting you , and hopefully many others, know about the lack of quality control.. This is not a book I would lend to someone it is so shoddy.
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Summary: McCullough Becomes John Adams
Review: I got about 2/3 through the book before I put it down. I can understand why McCullough fills the book up with citations and references from the Adams' abundant correspondence; but when McCullough begins to use 18th century phraseology and terms in his own writing, then this is too much. This is a situation where David has "done too much research and let his subject's writing style, in the end, influence his own.
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Summary: Founding Fathers made human
Review: Living in New England, this book seemed like required reading. After reading it, I believe this book should be required reading. It is a history, a love story, an intrigue. It is great reading with something for everyone.Our founding fathers were not men living on a pedestal. They had strengths and weaknesses just like all of us; they were human. In one of my favorite passages, McCullough describes a night that Ben Franklin and John Adams had to share a hotel room because rooms were scarce. Ben wanted to sleep with the window and John wanted the window closed. How mundane! How human! Well done, Mr. McCullough!
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