John Adams

The Barnes & Noble ReviewOne of America's greatest storytellers has turned to one of America's greatest stories as the source for his most recent inspiration: a tale of one of the most influential, and often the most misunderstood, Founding Fathers: John Adams. The result is a tour de force and pure joy for the reader. John Adams is a sweeping epic, often cinematic in its lively sense of everyday detail, that moves at a wonderful pace from Adams's earliest days in Massachusetts as a country lawyer to the halcyon days of American Revolution; the enormous work of diplomacy in Paris, The Hague, and London; the earliest years of government in the fledgling Republic in both New York and Washington; and the establishment of the large Adams clan, whose own lives were to become so interwoven in the fabric of the young nation.The book reexamines both the most famous and least well known stories of Adams's contribution to the experiment in American democracy -- from his complex and often troubled relationships to Thomas Jefferson and the manipulative Benjamin Franklin to a brilliant interweaving of some of the most moving of the now-famous conversations on paper between John and his beloved wife, Abigail.David McCullough has given us a biography written in a style that allows us full glimpses into the workings of palace intrigue, early presidential scandals, the birth of the two-party system, and quiet days on a beloved farm: All are presented with a grace that makes this book an essential read for any lover of history. (Elena Simon)