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Summary: A+ for Prose; C- for Scholarship and McCullough Understands
Review: First, this is a well written enjoyable read on one of our "forgotten" founding fathers ...but the scholarship, and in many respects, the cornerstone premise of the book is the Jefferson quote that McCullough uses to describe Adams "as the colossus of independence" ...problem is it appears Jefferson never said it and the flawed scholarship takes an important period of American history and proceeds to muddle it. Commercially, scholarship be damned, the books are selling and yet, a reader should expect more ...unfortunate.
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Summary: The Real John Adams
Review: This is a great book. Now I understand what type of person John Adams was: intuitive, visionary, stubborn, determined, loyal, brave, argumentative, but mostly a man who believed he could make a difference and did. If you want to really understand our founding fathers, who they were, what they did, and why, get this book today. It must be made into a movie.
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Summary: Changes this reader's mind! ...
Review: After public school, college, graduate school and professional degree educations, I knew little about John Adams except that he was smart enough to have picked a "feminist" and wonderfully intelligent wife who wrote beautifully and displayed an incredible female-political consciousness way back then. I knew nothing about his contribution to the intellectual heritage of our country and I certainly did not think of him as an anti-slavery champion of equality for the common "man." But after this wonderfully engrossing read, I came to understand the author's amazingly revealed paradox that this man who stood so steadfastly against slavery in his personal life as well as theoretically and who championed the "common man's" need of a salary for public office since without it only a rich man would be able to afford such service, this man who was NOT born an aristocrat and who worked as a farmer as did his family before him, is widely regarded as being a "conservative" sympathizer with aristocracy/elitism in contrast to Jefferson who, though an owner of slaves even unto his death and an opponent of the Toussaint slave uprising, who lived an aristocrat's life, is regarded as the champion of equality for the "common man" and the opponent of slavery.I ended the book with a powerful sense of John Adam's life, deeply grateful for all his letters and writings, for his family's writings, especially Abigail's. I loved how the author wove into the story the powerful partnership Adams had with Abigail and how this so intimately helped to shape his mental life and the trajectory of his accomplishments. In the end, I put the book down with an incredible awareness of whole lives being lived, the awesomeness of death removing such whole lives from the stage of life, the powerful comparison of then with now. Well done!
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: There is a reason this book is #1--people are in need of intregrity and ideals--which they can no longer get from their immediate political surroundings--this book with its fantastic author who is writing with an unimaginable passion and flair gives us a taste for real people trying to carve a system away from tyranny and inequity. I cannot rate it high enough-- it is an important book by an important writer and deserves all the accolades that will come its way.
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Summary: HIS STORY
Review: As a Bostonian familiar with the homes of Hancock, Adams, Abigail Smith Adams, and the like to be found in our great commonwealth, I am savoring every word of this magnificent tome. This is not only the story of Adams, it is the story of America and how it came to be. To think that Adams and Winthrop stood on top of "Old Harvard Hall" and looked through a telescope at Jupiter is amazing. I am keeping a notebook as I read this book. Every American should read this book and see how our country came to be as it was actually happening. The British may get a kick out of it also, as at times many colonists refused to declare independence from the Crown. It was a narrow margin more often than we may think. We have come to take so much of our independence for granted that reading this book should ground us to the plan our forefathers meant for us and not what America has turned into.
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Summary: Life of a Patriot
Review: This book made me feel guilty. Again and again, McCullough documents the towering achievements of this founding father, of which I was sadly ignorant. This biography is truly an exemplary work of scholarship, and makes a compelling case that John Adams' stature in history deserves to be at least equal if not higher than his contemporaries, Jefferson and Washington. One suspects from this account, that Adams' personality may have had the grating effect on people that sometimes results from extreme dedication to a cause. Yet in looking at his accomplishments in an objective light, it is impossible to deny him his place as perhaps the person most responsible in both the birth of our nation, and its survival through the critical early years. This book also relates enough about Abigail Adams to arouse your affection for her and make you want to read more about her. Adams' relationships with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton are fascinating reading. So also is the account of his son John Quincy Adams' development from childhood to statesman and President. I was astonished to feel tears in my eyes during the accounts of the deaths of Jefferson and Adams, both on the Fourth of July of 1826. McCullough's well-chosen selections from the large body of letters, diaries, and published writings of John Adams provide invaluable insight into the mind and motivations of a great man. In comparison to modern politicians, Adams' lifelong determination to place the interests of his country above those of any party, faction, region, or his personal interests, raise the image of a truly noble-hearted and wise patriot. I know of no better way to acquire a detailed sense of the history of our country over the first 50 years of its life than to trace the life and work of John Adams through this genuinely superb work by David McCullough.
Rating: 
Summary: John Adams: The Forgotten Founding Father
Review: Perhaps, less is written and said about John Adams, the second President of the United States, than any of the other founding fathers. Jefferson has had extensive biographies done by any number of authors (Joe Ellis and Fawn Brodie are two that come to my mind). Other founding fathers such as Franklin and Washington have been extensively written about--and generally in a positive light. On the other hand, little has been written about Adams. David McCullough's book "John Adams" helps fill this gap. The book is generally positive about Adams. In a sense, though, the title is a misnomer because McCullough writes extensively about the other founding fathers besides Adams. At the end of the book, one has also been presented with alot of material about Hamilton, Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, etc. The book also tells us about Adams children, particularly John Quincy Adams who was also elected President for one term. Adams achievements and services on behalf of his country include his role in preparing the Declaration of Independence, his service as a diplomatic envoy to France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain, his years as Vice-President, and finally serving one four-year term as President of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Its a prodigious record and while doing all these things Adams and his family kept a voluminous record of his doings through personal correspondence that has been preserved. The book while interesting, is probably not for those who are not interested in this period of history. Its a lengthy book that relies a great deal on correspondence from the time. If one doesn't have an interest already in the Revolutionary War, the early presidencies, and the first years of America this book is probably not going to create it. McCullough's book, Truman, on the other hand is about events that occurred in the twentieth century and is so well-written that it can hold the interest of those who aren't rabid history no-it-alls. My greatest criticism of "John Adams" is that, at times, McCullough isn't critical enough of Adams. For example, during the Adams Presidency the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed and signed into law by Adams. The Sedition law actually punished journalists for exercising their first amendment rights by writing articles critical of the President and the government. Under this act, some journalists were imprisoned and fined for no greater crime than criticizing the Adams administration. McCullough makes the point, but seems to mention it more in passing and seemingly lets Adams off the hook. Actually, this is probably one of the more monumental blunders committed by a President and undoubtedly contributed to Adams defeat in office after one term. Its clear that McCullough admires the subject of his book and is loathe to attack him. I think McCullough begins the book in an interesting fashion. Rather, than detailing mundane and arcane circumstances of Adams birth and early years as a child, immediately, he instead jumps in at the beginning with Adams attending the convention in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was drafted. Its a good way to launch the book and will hold the interest of most readers. I enjoyed John Adams. It ranks well as a history book and as one of the better books of this year. Those with an interest in this period of time will not be disappointed.
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Summary: Men and Women will love this book.
Review: Rare is the book that appeals to both men and women and David McCullough has done this with this book that will become a part of learning in our schools and lives to come. It appealed to me because it showed a couple who were equals in a time of unequals and a deep devotion and respect that we in the year 2001 need the gentle reminder of. Have seen the author of Charlie Rose and C-SPAN which seem to be the last two places in television where books of substance are spoke of and loved. Non-fiction is my favorite. And I never get tired reading of the minds and lives of the Founding Fathers and being reminded of the virgor, and genius they shared. This book, by the way is a great book to get for reading aloud to others. We have been doing this at home, with me doing a chapter and then my husband and then our sons. PLEASE buy the book for your public library if they do not own a copy.
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Summary: Tom and Gary
Review: Jefferson and Condit have a lot in common.
Rating:
Summary: good book
Review: good book that breaks away from the history books and tells a more personal side of the revolution that greatly affected our lives today.
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