false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170952966m/78500.jpg 78500 5 In the spirit of his earlier books, <I>Alexander Hamilton: American</I> and <I>Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington</I>, Richard Brookhiser produces an elegant, concise volume drawing on previous scholarship but offering a fresh perspective on four prickly generations of Adamses. Until David McCullough's <I>John Adams</I> became a surprise bestseller, the United States' second president and his descendants seldom had good press. Acknowledging John's essential role in the American Revolution and his son John Quincy's principled fight against slavery, contemporaries and historians nonetheless judged both men poor presidents, characterized by haughty pride and stiff-necked dislike of compromise. Charles Francis Adams, John Quincy's son, lost an almost certain chance to run for president as a Republican in 1872 by disdainfully announcing "that he would reject any nomination that had to be negotiated for;" the most famous book by Charles's son, <I>The Education of Henry Adams</I> (1907), implicitly blames Henry's failure to achieve the prominence of his forefathers on the loss of meaning and coherence in the modern, fragmented world. Tracing the lives and careers of these four men, Brookhiser strikes a balance between their struggles with a daunting heritage and battles with the often unappreciative outer world, identifying "the constant companion of the Adamses" as "the idea of greatness. <I>Am I as great as my ancestors? As great as my contemporaries? Why doesn't the world recognize my greatness?</I>" This proves a sensible organizing principle for his graceful reappraisal of a well-known but not often well-understood family. <I>--Wendy Smith</I> 538178 2002 America's First Dynasty : The Adamses, 1735-1918 total:34|5:2|4:11|3:17|2:4|1:0| 34 113 53 4 2 0 false false Tue Mar 17 12:10:44 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 12:14:21 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 29 07:25:51 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 07:28:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Feb 08 08:43:00 -0800 2007 Fri Feb 09 16:19:31 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Mon Sep 01 13:25:21 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 21 18:47:50 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Sun Nov 08 07:53:08 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 07:53:08 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 13 19:03:44 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 19:03:44 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 18 13:53:51 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 13:53:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 31 18:33:22 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 18:33:22 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Aug 25 18:43:45 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 18:43:45 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 05 20:11:24 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 20:11:24 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sat Aug 01 15:09:46 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 15:09:46 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Jul 05 19:00:04 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 19:00:04 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jun 14 10:47:21 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 10:47:25 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 05 12:12:40 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 12:12:40 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jun 02 07:23:07 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 07:23:07 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jun 16 07:17:07 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 06:51:34 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 07:17:07 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon May 18 20:19:43 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 20:19:43 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Apr 27 18:14:25 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 18:14:25 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Apr 22 08:05:12 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 08:05:12 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Mar 27 20:05:17 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 20:05:17 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=78500