“ Thanks to God that he gave me stubbornness when I know I am right. ” (John Adams)

David McCullough transports 21st Century readers to the 18th Century and introduces us to the magnificent character of John Adams in this Pulitzer-Prize-winning biography. My review emphasizes personal details about Adams and his philosophy and will assume that you know that Adams was a founding father of the American Revolution and the second President of the United States. Therefore, I will not attempt to restate More...

MESSAGE TO BIOGRAPHERS: Tidy up your prose, sharpen your story-telling, knowledge up on your source material and bring your entire bag of game, because the gauntlet has been chucked, the bar has been raised and David McCullough has taken off his literary glove and pasted all of you upside your second rate heads. The challenge is before you.

This is, WITHOUT QUESTION, the best biography I have ever read. It is also, again WITHOUT QUESTION, the best story on the American Revolution and the creatio More...

"No man who ever held the office of president would congratulate a friend on obtaining it," wrote John Adams, and this superb biography by David McCullough makes it clear why Adams was undoubtedly sincere in this sentiment. Adams was a plain and honest speaking man who rose to the challenges of extraordinary times. In this biography he emerges from the shadows of the better known presidents - Washington and Jefferson - whose administrations bracketed his.

McCullough did not originally intend to More...

Since reading John Adams I have continually been reminded of my delusion of our country's history. Today as I saw the conclusion of the John Adams' series on HBO I realized I was one of those John Adams saw as "deluded" by the artistic portrayal of our history in Trumbell's "Declaration of Independence." Adams was right. Too many of us believe Trumbell's view of the Declaration of Independence not acknowledging the many difficulties over many years before and after the signing of that great docu More...

I haven’t read a book this good in years!

I cannot imagine anyone who wouldn’t enjoy this book.

This is a book about a man, John Adams, but it is also much, much more. It is a book about American Independence, the American Revolution and all the Founding Fathers, the seven most important being George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, George Madison and Benjamin Franklin. The book follows all the events from the Declaration of Independence and the Revolution More...

John Adams is an extraordinary book, and an excellent political history of the beginning of the United States. This is the first book I've read by David McCullough, and I'm impressed at his ability to be respectful but blunt, and be serious but entertaining at the same time.

John Adams was an unusual man -- though he had the ambition and vanity characteristic of all politicians, he was a remarkably uncomplicated and generally happy family man. The impression one gets from this book is much like More...

Adams always seemed like a dumpy old president, but the man was incredibly physically and intellectually rigorous, and without his undaunted labors that were often overlooked, we might not have had the necessary support to win the war against the British.

McMullough is a master. He takes musty old documents and makes them read like fast-paced fiction.

David McCullough’s JOHN ADAMS paints a vivid portrait of Adams the patriot and Adams the man. Well-written and engaging, it relies in large part on Adams’s voluminous correspondence – with his wife Abigail and with friends and public figures. At times I thought the picture was a bit one-sided. Despite making some mistakes and being decidedly irascible, Adams is depicted as the true patriot, who doggedly pursued his beliefs against all odds to do what was best for the country. His selflessness, h More...

This is such a well written, interesting book. I keep wishing we had a John Adams to vote for this November. The caveat for me is that there is so much content to this book I need to continually take a break and do some light reading between and/or at the same time. Highly recommended for any American history buff.

"The happiness of the people was the purpose of government, he wrote, and therefore that form of government was best which produced the greatest amount of happiness for the largest number. And since all "sober inquirers after truth" agreed that happiness derived from virtue, that form of government with virtue as its foundation was more likely than any other to promote the general happiness." pg. 102 I have EIGHT pages of quotes I journaled from this fabulous book. It is very long and detailed a More...

Popular history. That's what this book is. David McCullough is obviously engaged with his story; he likes Adams, respects the Founders, and knows his history. But he seems shackled by having to tell two stories at the same time, while making both flow into one accessible and engaging narrative.

The first story is the political one. Adams the politician is an energetic, combative creature, not afraid to step on toes or burn bridges in the name of principle. McCullough cuts no corners in fleshing o More...

I knew so little about Adams before reading this. I've heard some rank Jefferson as an historical figure they'd like to dine with: forget Jefferson! Adams is seemingly so under appreciated, but was a giant both in his role as a founder of the United States but also in character.

One of the challenges of writing a biography is to know when to stop. In the case of Adams, McCullough has so much material from which to draw that the opportunity to present intimate detail could soon render it unreadable. McCullough is a masterful biographer and in this case does an skillful job at skirting the fine line between an insightful portrait and drowning us in minutia.

Beyond just exploring Adams' role in the host of world-changing events that took place in his lifetime, McCullough do More...

The book gave me a new found respect and admiration for our founding fathers. It put a face and personality to many names I learned about in school. I was inspired by the relationship John and Abigail Adams had with each other. How they overcame long seperations. They wrote over a thousand letters to each other. They shared all their thoughts and dreams. They were united. It is a love story, a story of friendship, and it helped me to feel how divine a creation our wonderful country is. More now More...

Before reading this, everything I knew about the Revolutionary War could have been summed up in one short senetence.

David McCullough masterfully brings to life our founding fathers. Obviously the book focuses on John Adams and his life, beliefs, ideals and adventures, but it also delves deeply into his relationships with Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and many others, including his bad-ass wife, Abigail.

If you are lacking knowledge about the creation of th More...

After reading David McCullough’s outstanding biography, I now have a new favorite president. John Adams was advocate for the declaration of independence in congress, the young lawyer willing to defend the British soldiers accused in the Boston massacre, the President who avoided war with the French, the envoy and ambassador to Britain and France. Adams was passionate, opinionated, objective, a scholar committed to books and reading, and an incorruptible champion for his country. Adams greatest b More...

David McCullough venerates a man I knew little about and now feel he was one of the greatest Americans we've ever had. His role in the beginning of the United States was vital. Adams' passion for doing his duty was amazing. In the first 14 years of his marriage, he spent more than 1/2 of it away from his home and his wife, yet their marriage is one of devotion, support, love. They wrote copious letters back and forth (even when it could take months to receive an answer). I kept seeing parallels More...

This might be the most outstanding biography I have ever read. It was very thorough and I really feel like I know John Adams. Benjamin Franklin was portrayed as an annoying rascal. John Adams was an upright, moral man who devoted his life to serving his country. He spent so long away from his wife and children on diplomatic missions in Europe and serving in the Continental Congress and as vice president. Yet he did not get much recognition or appreciation and all his responsibility and power jus More...

I picked up this book when the HBO series came out. I didn't know much about John Adams--just that he was a Founding Father and was married to an exceptional woman in Abigail Adams. McCullough's portrait of Adams is exceptionally done; his work is guided by question "what inspires greatness?". The author takes great pains to present a picture of Adams that is fair--his foibles and strengths are presented in equal measure. Evidently, no one was a tougher critic on Adams than Adams himself, and th More...

I just finished reading this book and it was absolutely outstanding. Adams is one of the least appreciated of the Founding Fathers, often overshadowed by Washington, Franklin and Jefferson. This book brings the man to life and gives an intimate view of the struggles and sacrifices that he endured in the cause of freedom. His compatriots widely acknowledged him as the driving force behind the Declaration of Independence (he was referred to as the voice and Jefferson as the hand in declaring indep More...

In this well-written, engaging biography, David McCullough tells the story of John Adams' life and times in vivid detail. In McCullough's retelling, the man long overshadowed by Jefferson, Franklin, and his own cousin Sam finally receives his due, emerging as the hero of the revolution and of the early republic.

One may wonder, however, if in certain situations McCullough does not overstate his case. On the one hand, every achievement that Adams makes is portrayed as one of the greatest accomplis More...

good gracious, what does one say about such an undertaking?

with a handful of healthy breaks in the reading, i've been living with mr. adams all summer and then some. and it's been an epic experience. a revelatory, exhausting, exhilarating, vexing, joyful experience.

to top it all off, i immediately (i mean, the very day i was finished) went and checked out the recent HBO mini series of the same name. i was surprised to note the differences in the series' interpretation of adams versus my own, w More...

I just finished this great book about John Adams. As most of the reviewers have said, I have a whole new appreciation for this great man. While he could be cantankerous, vain, jealous, and biting with his words, he was also a great friend, lover, and a man with a tremendous amount of integrity. He was truly the kind of person who always did what he thought was right, even if it was unpopular. (Defending the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre.) Most of the time he was right and, in readin More...

I finished it! This book took me a while to read, but it's well worth it! McCullough gives such a personal view into who John and Abigail, actually the whole Adams family, really were. And they were truly wonderful, honest, patriots, full of integrity, and not afraid of hard work for their country. John and his wife Abagail wrote over a thousand letters to each other and these and countless more to other family and friends, including Jefferson who became a friend while they were both working in More...

In addition to exploring the life and career of John Adams, McCullough has encompassed the full tapestry of people, places, and events surrounding Adams from boyhood on. One of two prominent threads that lend a fascinating dynamic to this portrait was his marriage to Abigail Smith. Abigail was a remarkable woman, a steadying hand and the love of his life. Their union was passionate, spiritual and intellectual, and it was their constant correspondence during Adams's absences that provided a weal More...

Narrator: Edward Herrmann
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2001
Length: 9 hours

Audie Award Winner, Non-Fiction (abridged), 2002
Pulitzer Prize Winner, Biography or Autobiography, 2002

Publisher's Summary

In this powerful, epic biography, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life-journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution. Adams thought, w More...

If you aren't already a student of the history of the birth of the United States and want to know where to begin, read this book. In all his books, McCullough has a way of sucking you into the action but also providing context without slowing the pace of the story. The long separations and hardships John and Abigail endured and the letters they shared throughout are nothing short of inspiring.

In reading John Adams and another great McCullough biography, Truman, it's clear that McCullough has an More...

I read John Adams largely because my grandfather's response when I told him I was reading Alexander Hamilton last year was "I hear that John Adams biography is excellent." Additionally, I was interested because Hamilton was always at odds with him, but I like them both a great deal (and incidentally do not feel the same way about Thomas Jefferson).

This book did not disappoint. McCullough masterfully selected quotations of Adams, Abigail, John Quincy, Benjamin Rush, Jefferson, and other major pla More...

John Adams has largely been overshadowed by others in the early days of our nation's history. His role in writing the Declaration of Independence has been overlooked as we focus on Jefferson and Madison. His role as a diplomat to France and later Amsterdam was overshadowed by Benjamin Franklin. He was the first vice president, but saw his role as one of supporting the policies of George Washington. He became president at a time of sharp divisiveness about foreign policy. I knew of his rivalry wi More...

This might be the perfect biography. McCullough's excellent writing is complimented by Adams' own in excerpts from the treasure trove of his letters that survive. Those letters, combined with McCullough's research, make a more vivid and personal biography than you would expect from someone of this time period. Makes a convincing case that Adams was every bit as important to American independence as Thomas Jefferson. And, the Alien and Sedition Acts not withstanding, was certainly a better person More...