Rating: 
Summary: Pulitzer quality...
Review: Best book I've read this year. Worthy of another Pulitzer Prize for the author. It's as much a biography of John and Abigail Adams as it is a biography of Thomas Jefferson. The research done for this work is unparralled and this book deserves all the acclaim it is receiving and then some. The story of John Adams is the the story of America on so many different levels. History lovers and anyone who enjoys great prose should be attracted to this book. HIHGLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: If you are a proud USA citizen, read this.
Review: JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough
This biography should be required reading before the first year of college. John Adams had so much to do with the making of the America government that his story is the story of America. He helped write the Declaration of Independence and was there every step of the way to make sure it was implemented. As a signer of the document and one of the most enthusiastic and involved American for independence, he was a traitor to England and was to be put to death by the English. In none of his correspondence with the English, French and to his fellow American did he waver is his determination to see a free American. This review would not be complete without the contributions that were made throughout the book by Abigail, John Adams wife who was another prodigious letter writer. She wrote about the events that were happening and she wrote with comments. At the same time the health and well being of the family was first. Because of John's position as an envoy to France and the Dutch Court and a minister to The Court of St. James in England his wife was not with him a great deal of the time. Crossing the Atlantic in a sailing ship was a long, more than three-month adventure, and John did it twice. Later, on John's second voyage, Abigail went to him in spite of her fear of sailing the Atlantic. David McCullough kept the story interesting. This of type of biography can be very dry. It helped that John Adams was a prodigious writer--with letter in his own hand and memoriam after memoriam of every thing including his trips across the Atlantic. John Adams donated his whole life to America and its freedom for the people. Even when retired and writing again his main subject was America. To accept the job of writing a biography for John Adams and do it honestly to the memory of John Adams was an admirable project. John Adams's first test was the trial of the British Captain and the six solders that killed five men in what was then called the Boston Massacre. The 34-year-old John was to defend the Captain and the solders. He did this without letting his person feeling or the personal feeling of his American friends interfere. The captain was found not guilty and four of the solders were found not guilty. Two were found guilty of manslaughter and were branded on their thumbs.
John was busy with his duties to Congress and very worried about his family when he was not there to help-which was very often. His family was living near Boston during a Smallpox plague. Dr. Zabdiel Boylston a great uncle of John Adams introduced the smallpox inoculation in America approximately 1716. An African Slave named Onesimus said that the practice had been practiced for a long time in Africa. He had a scar on his arm to prove it. Abigail, John Adams wife, had the children inoculated against Smallpox with success when it was a very new and untried procedure. One more very drastic medical problem at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of War, with the British warships already in the area. America fought the Revolution War without a president or a vice president. George Washington was the American general who reported directly to congress. John Adams was the first Vice President to George Washington who was the first President. They had not decided what John's pay would be. The two wealthiest men in the nation at this time were Franklin and Washington who both supported the idea of public officials serving without pay. John was opposed to the idea that the public officials would serve without pay besides he couldn't afford to serve under those rules. He had written earlier when he was in England that under the circumstances of not being paid, "all offices would be monopolized by the rich."
David McCullough did a good job or picking out the parts of the documents which meant something to America and John Adams and belong in this biography. I really felt as thought I'd met John Adams and liked him after reading David McCullough's biography. I believe John Adams would have liked this history of his life. John Adams was a man who picked out his own weaknesses; he not only picked them out, but also attempted to correct them. I imagine that egoism will always be a problem with people in politics. John recognized it, and wrote about it as reflected in his memoirs. He had more than normal type of vanity, not the mirror type; in his case it would be called intelligence vanity, or again egoism. I will rate this at five stars. If I could give it more I would.
Roger L. Lee
Rating:
Summary: An obsolute must!
Review: This book is the best written material published this year! Guranteed not to disapoint. A just account of the life of our second President. Not just his political strifes, but also his personal difficulties are detailed in a very warm and human way. The story leaves you with the sense of similar struggles that we also face in our lives today, as well as the difficulty the same problems posed our fore fathers.
Rating:
Summary: A History Lovers Delight!
Review: Without a doubt, David McCullough's John Adams is one of the finest biographies of our time. We are, indeed, fortunate that the letters of Adams and his wife Abigail have been preserved thus enabling McCullough to draw from them a vivid portrait of these wonderful early Americans. The direct quotes from the letters give the account an intimate feel which really enables the reader to connect to the private as well as public life of these people. Additionally, McCullough's description of Adams encounters with Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton and others offers great insight into early political relationships of our Founding Fathers. It was not all smooth going and the author is fair in relating the shortcomings as well as the successes of those who brought our country to birth. Adams role was extremely important, yet history has never given him the place he so richly deserves. Hopefully, this biography will make all Americans realize what a truly remarkable and gifted leader he was.
Rating: 
Summary: McCullough's John Adams Gives New Life to Old Patriot
Review: Historian David McCullough, author of several notable presidential biographies including "Mornings on Horseback" (Theodore Roosevelt) and "Truman," has breathed new life into the largely forgotten tale of an essential figure in American history. Unlike Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, and other 18th century figures, John Adams frequently has been banished to the dustbin of American history by scholars, political junkies, and a fair share of 5th grade history students who regard the New Englander as uncommonly prudish and puritan. McCullough's biography takes this myth to task by examining Adams' character in depth. The historian concludes that, while Adams had personality flaws, the motivating factor behind his New England facade was strength, integrity, and an utmost concern and love for the well being of his young country.
The prose of McCullough's biography is swift, engaging, and balances the author's penchant for detail and an overall thematic approach. Unlike "Truman," in which the narrative is swamped at the start by too many unnecessary details about the subject's early life, "John Adams" gives important details of the Massachusetts man's formative years and then moves swiftly on to the first major test of his character--the pre-declaration deliberations of the continental congress in Philadelphia. McCullough's balance between the different stages of Adams' long life is excellent, allowing the reader to see the consistency of the New Englander's integrity and character through three decades of public service, as well as two subsequent decades of private life.
While tangents about the devotion and love of Abigail and the rising political career of John Quincy fit nicely within the book's framework, there is one notable flaw in McCullough's narrative. The historian virtually glosses over Adams' role in--as well as the national implications of--the Alien and Sedition Acts, considered by many scholars to be the darkest moment in John Adams' long public service career. McCullough does spend some time examining the Alien and Sedition Acts, but given the importance of the Acts in both the life of Adams and the life of our nation, the historian's discussion is extraordinarily brief, leaving an aftertaste of near flippancy in the reader's mouth.
The author's brief discussion of the Alien and Sedition Acts aside, the narrative is compelling and the scholarship lives up to the high standards McCullough has established in the past. "John Adams" is a must-read for the history buff, political junkie, and casual reader alike.
Rating:
Summary: Father of Independence
Review: This is good biography, good history and good writing. McCullough's unhurried narration takes the reader through as much of John Adams' life as he can weave without loose ends. The story is complete.Adams was a prolific writer of letters and a life-long keeper of journals. McCullough relies on these, plus the letters of others, journalism and other public records, and the notes, writings and published anecdotes from later Adamses, to cast his story. He also uses them as literary vehicles to give the reader an effective understanding and appreciation of the times and of Adams' character. That character was as simple and straightforward as it was complex. Adams was a vain, ambitious, stubborn and opinionated provincial on one hand; and a persevering and committed idealist of great integrity on the other. He was determined, energetic, insightful, decisive and consistent. Whereas he was able to see all issues writ large, his actions, in turn, were often viewed narrowly. Like George Washington, he gave no quarter to politics and, unable to play at them, was often their victim. But throughout, the causes of American independence and human liberty defined him, and he shared their integrity. McCullough does not present a high-handed criticism of Adams. But he is no apologist, either. He simply gives us the Adams of historical record. As Washington is termed the father of our country; Madison of the constitution; Hamilton, the U.S. Treasury; and so forth; McCullough leaves the reader to realize that John Adams, too often overlooked, was indeed the Father of our American Independence.
Rating:
Summary: More than a President
Review: Mr.McCullough write more. Give us more. Your work is complete, honorable and a must read for every American. The adventure starts from the very first word. A true treasure. Another patriot please, Mr.McCullough.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Biography
Review: David McCullough has done a tremoundous job researching the second President of the United States. There are so many references directly from the letters of John and Abigail Adams that one really gets a feel of authenticity. Mr. Adams was so candid in his correspondence and not afraid to express his feelings and innermost thoughts that it sheds alot of light on a much aligned figure. McCullough did an admirable job of pulling all this correspondence together in a biography. Mr. Adams is portrayed in many ways, not the least of which is a true patriot that always put the best interests of his country ahead of his own personal ambition. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this era of United States history.
Rating:
Summary: John Adams brought to life
Review: This is a particularly vivid biography focusing not solely on the political achievements of another "founding father"/"dead white male", but rather on the quirks that made John Adams the person he was. McCollough pays attention to Adams' family life, his shortcomings, his talents, the things that made him human. With the Adams Papers at the Mass. Historical Archive as his main source, McCollough brings Adams to life, thoughtfully. I was thoroughly engrossed.
Rating:
Summary: Nobel Prize Winner
Review: David won the Pulitzer for "Truman" and he will win it for "John Adams" if not, the Nobel Prize. He is truly a gift to the literary world if not, the world as a whole. Would that were more David McCulloughs!!
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