Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams

by Charles Francis Adams, John Quincy Adams, Abigail Adams

First published in 1875, this was the first collection of this remarkable correspondence comprising nearly 300 letters between the two and providing unique documentation not only of the trials, failures, and triumphs they shared, but of their extraordinary personal relationship. Includes Charles Francis Adams's 30-page "Memoir" and Preface. Index. 2006: 424 pages, Softcover. (Scholar's Bookshelf)

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Memoir, Classics, Biography, American History

986 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 3, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This author page may require further disambiguation.
Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886)
Charles Francis Adams (1835-1915)
Charles Francis Adams (1869-?)
Charles Francis Adams Jr.

Reviews

[Julie]

10/10

No review to come. I enjoyed this immensely as it provided a wonderful view of the daily frets and worries of two people whose lives were inextricably enmeshed within their country's revolution. Nation Building 101 -- with a bit of a quotidian tea drinking, as a backdrop.

The last letter in this volume lends a certain closure to the American Revolution, and to a seminal point in their personal lives.

“Paris, 18 February, 1783.

My dearest Friend,—The peace,[213] which sets the rest of the world at ease, increases, I think, my perplexities and anxiety. I have written to Congress a resignation, but I foresee there will not be a speedy decision upon it, and I shall be left in a state of suspense that will be intolerable. Foreseeing this, I am determined not to wait for an acceptance of my resignation, but to come home without it, provided it does not arrive in a reasonable time. Don't think, therefore of coming to Europe. If you do, we shall cross each other, and I shall arrive in America about the same time that you may arrive in Europe.

I shall certainly return home in the spring. With or without leave, resignation accepted or not, home I will come, so you have nothing to do but wait to receive your old friend

J. Adams.



[213] The preliminary articles between the three parties, Great Britain, France, and the United States, were signed at Paris on the 28th of January, 1783. Hence this may be considered as the close of the great struggle of the Revolution.”

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite sources of inspiration. John Adams is painted, by his own metaphorical brush, as something rare to find in a U.S. president: a person with feelings, fears, doubts, vanity, and hope. He is brought to life in this correspondence between himself and his wife, whom I now contend might be seen as the finest First Lady with whom this nation has been graced.

Her powerful, poignant words echo constantly in my mind. Vastly ahead of her time in terms of her views on female empowerment, she is also a devoted wife, mother, and patriot. Honestly, I come away with a greater respect for Abigail Adams than I hold for most figures in American history.

This collection of letters, though difficult trudging at times - due primarily to specific details of war maneuvers (which some may find fascinating) - I found that the letters held true gems in terms of quotations, words to live by, and evidence of the intimate bond between two distant lovers, trying to hold their connection strong.

I highly recommend this collection, but I would caution anyone unfamiliar with the basic timeline of the Revolutionary War to brush up before they embark on this journey.

[Jewels · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a while to get through this, as I was a bit burned out on my history classes. Abigail Adams remains one of my heroines, and I have nothing but respect for her husband John, even though he amused me a bit with his protestations of vanity. I have to admit that I felt really sorry for Abigail; the loneliness and sorrow at being parted from her husband for so long came through as quite the burden to bear. It was interesting to see how the war effected the times that they lived in as well, from the descriptions of Congress, movements of the military, right down to how the war effected prices for goods. All in all, this was a very compelling look at one of America's greatest couples, made even better because it was their own views and experiences that colored it.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would love to have given this 5-stars just because of the respect I have for both Adams'. But, I reserve 5-star rating for those books I would re-read whenever, and although this is a fascinating view into the life of some of our founding fathers, it is a little dry to re-read. Highly recommended, though. For a more entertaining read, try "John Adams" by McCullough. He obviously used these letters as some of his source material.

[Jennifer Zartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading personal letters makes history come alive. I found it thrilling to read the account of the Declaration of Independence by a man who labored to bring it about. John and Abigail Adams detail the sacrifices, the deprivations, and the emotions of war and separation in a personal, unguarded way, and the balance of the masculine and feminine perspectives makes this book particularly interesting and unique. I highly recommend it.

[Fred Lente · Rating 1 out of 5]

The star rating is for the shoddy POD quality of the book, a reproduction, which is basically a text-file dump to standard letter sized paper f what must be an early-to-mid nineteenth century edition, then bound. C'mon, people, if I wanted a .txt doc I would've found one on-line, not accidentally bought a dead tree version on Amazon.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing Their Own History

It is clear through many of these letters that John and Abigail Adams knew they were documenting history. They took care in many of these letters to carefully record the events occurring during the American Revolution and how they were personally affected. Anyone with an interest in this time period will find reading these letters worth their time.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful window into a marriage during the American Colonial Era and onto experiences of the Revolutionary War.