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| John Adams |  | Author: David Mccullough
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Category: Book
List Price: $30.95
Buy Used: $16.88
You Save: $14.07 (45%)
New (11) Collectible (3) from $36.69
Avg. Customer Rating:  761 reviews
Sales Rank: 407998
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1123
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.4
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.3 x 2.2
ISBN: 0786236523
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.44092
EAN: 9780786236527
ASIN: 0786236523
Publication Date: December 2, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Large print. A nice ex-library copy. Gently used. All pages and cover clear except for a few library markings. Softly worn around edges and corners. Binding is a little loose. No creases. Some tears on spine. Some pages have some moisture wrinkling.
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Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Left to his own devices, John Adams might have lived out his days as a Massachusetts country lawyer, devoted to his family and friends. As it was, events swiftly overtook him, and Adams--who, David McCullough writes, was "not a man of the world" and not fond of politics--came to greatness as the second president of the United States, and one of the most distinguished of a generation of revolutionary leaders. He found reason to dislike sectarian wrangling even more in the aftermath of war, when Federalist and anti-Federalist factions vied bitterly for power, introducing scandal into an administration beset by other difficulties--including pirates on the high seas, conflict with France and England, and all the public controversy attendant in building a nation. Overshadowed by the lustrous presidents Washington and Jefferson, who bracketed his tenure in office, Adams emerges from McCullough's brilliant biography as a truly heroic figure--not only for his significant role in the American Revolution but also for maintaining his personal integrity in its strife-filled aftermath. McCullough spends much of his narrative examining the troubled friendship between Adams and Jefferson, who had in common a love for books and ideas but differed on almost every other imaginable point. Reading his pages, it is easy to imagine the two as alter egos. (Strangely, both died on the same day, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.) But McCullough also considers Adams in his own light, and the portrait that emerges is altogether fascinating. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description
A New York Times Bestseller
A Pulitzer Prize-winning Author In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot -- "the colossus of independence," as Thomas Jefferson called him -- who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into war; who was learned beyond all but a few; and whose marriage is one of the moving love stories of American history.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 756 more reviews...
 The first American Political Intellectual August 23, 2008
In the field of historical writing there is this great chasm. There are the intellectual Professional University Scholars who delve into the abyss of historical matter and come up with the historical truth. Unfortunately their writings are boring and state the rather moribund cold facts. On the other hand we have great writers who also do their due diligence but are able to write a coherent historical accounting of the past.
David McCullough is a writer of that other ilk in writing and historical perspective. John Adams happens to be his second best writing in his oeuvre of works.
His detailing of the life and times of John Adams is a work of historical importance that actually brings back a time of life in the early formation of the United States of America. His writings of the correspondence between Abigail Adams and John are remarkable. The following of the raising and the lives of their offspring are indeed new founded and compelling. The recording of John Adams forays with the other founding fathers and his travels abroad are indeed both interesting and compelling. Adam's relationship with Thomas Jefferson is fully explained and exposed.
McCullough goes on to explain the complete political philosophy of John Adams. This is indeed a great read. I consider David McCullough to be a true and actual historian for the common folk. Five Stars No Problem!!!!
An Exceptional Read... August 18, 2008
One of the best books I have read in years. I highly recommend it.
History comes alive! August 13, 2008
It's so much easier to learn & remember history when the writer allows you to become intimately involved with the subject and the period. David McCullough's writing is so personable, so charming, and so precisely informative that I walked away from this book with a deep appreciation of Adams and the time in which he lived. I believe McCullough could fascinate his readers even if he wrote about the telephone book! It was hard to put this book down, I always wanted to know what was coming next. His descriptions of time & place were very visual, putting the reader directly in the midst of the story -- seeing the colors, hearing the voices, feeling the tension, learning about small details. The people he writes about are recognizably human and vulnerable, yet the reader can't help but feel awe for what these people accomplished under such seemingly hopeless situations. One of my favorite history books!!
Finally Giving the Devil His Due August 9, 2008
Much like his book on President Truman, Mr. McCullough has taken a frequently maligned historical figure and helped to burnish his place in history. Many of the books I have read about other great figures from that era always seemed to minimize John Adams contributions. Mr. McCullough is a gifted historian who makes all his subject matters come to life. The author shows how little has changed since the founding of our country when it comes to brilliant individuals willing to compromise their morals in the pursuit of winning in the political arena. It is a balanced, thought-provoking and highly entertaining biography. Well-worth reading even though the weight of this tome made my wrists sore.
Superb biography of a fascinating (and generally overlooked) individual. July 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have been fascinated by John Adams ever since I first saw the movie "1776". Granted, I understand that William Daniels' portrayal had a great deal of dramatization for the sake of making a good story coloring it, but it always seemed to me that there was a fair amount of truth undergirding it as well. This book reinforces that opinion; I could frequently hear with my mind's ear Daniels' acerbic voice speaking the lines attributed to Adams. Granted, I am not a professional historian, so McCullough could easily have made much of this story up out of whole cloth and I'd have no way of detecting the deceit, but it has the feel of a thoroughly researched, carefully accurate tale. But more importantly, it is (to my mind, at least) reasonably well-balanced. Certainly, McCullough has tremendous respect and affection for his subject; most biographers do. But he doesn't fall into the trap that so many biographers fall into of omitting or glossing over the flaws in his subject. It is certainly possible that someone less well-inclined toward Adams might feel that he has minimized them, but no one can reasonably accuse him of ignoring them; Adams is portrayed in a very human light, and no one can read this book and feel that they saw an airbrushed picture of a perfect statesman. The ability to show a subject flaws and all while still invoking sympahy and respect is the mark of a truly fine biographer; McCullough does that.
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