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 accomplishments in American history. Whether he is securing loans from the Dutch, meeting with the King of England, writing the constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, he always appears to be engaged in some earth-shatteringly brave, bold, and brilliant effort on behalf of his country. On the other hand, Adams' foes are cast in a decidedly negative light. Thomas Jefferson emerges as a two-faced, spineless, spendthrift; Benjamin Franklin appears as an indolent womanizer with bad taste and no morals; Alexander Hamilton becomes an amoral, ambitious intriguer. To be sure, Jefferson, Franklin, and Hamilton had their flaws, but many of their actions could be interpreted differently, or at least more sympathetically, than McCullough does here. As it is, we know where McCullough's sympathies lie - with Adams, who emerges as a sort of virtuous American Cincinnatus, always longing to return home to Braintree, abhorrent of ambition and intrigue, but always forced by circumstance back into public life.

McCullough is not so biased, however, that he does not allow Adams' own flaws to stand for themselves, and he will almost reluctantly admit when Adams' judgment has failed him (such as during the passage of the ill-conceived Alien and Sedition Acts). What is truly wonderful about the book is that McCullough presents a picture of Adams the man, more than Adams the statesman, diplomat, or president. McCullough captures his deep love of his family, his deep love of home, which for Adams were indistinguishable from his patriotism - his acts on behalf of the country he loved were also acts of love for his family - and presents all the powerful forces that motivated this remarkable, passionate, fiery character. Politics are always personal, and the personal is always political, and nowhere was this more true, perhaps, than in the life of John Adams.