"I have heard of one Mr. Adams, but who is the other?"
- King George III of England
John Adams
by David McCullough
Simon & Schuster, 752 pages
ISBN: 0743223136
Synopsis
This book chronicles the life, love, and service of John Adams. He is alternately remembered as founding father, foreign diplomat, vice-president, president, peacemaker, father, husband, monarchist, censor, and warmonger.
The sheer quantity of his surviving correspondence was greater than any other statesman of his time. This allows for a uniquely personal interpretation of the life of the second President of the United States as well as a thoughtful, if opinionated, look at the times in which he lived. In addition to the historical record, one can examine the thoughts of the man himself and his reasoning, his motives, and his worldview. This is not an exaggeration either, as John Adams was a man who often wrote with his heart rather than with his head, so a good deal of his passionate personality is imprinted on his various letters and thereby preserved for the ages.
This volume draws heavily on those letters and those of his equally passionate wife, Abigail, as well as building upon previous biographical works.
Review
Let me start by saying this was among the best biographies I have read, within the categories of historical content and quality of writing. Sadly, though, a small but highly visible current of bias trickles through an otherwise outstanding book.
Be warned: This book starts with a chaotic non-linear chapter on the American Revolution and John and Abigail Adams which--to one who is not a great expert on either the Adamses or the American Revolution--was difficult to follow. There are places for unorthodox writing styles or odd usage and sentence structure, but those places do not include non-fiction works whose primary aim is to communicate information in a clear way. I almost gave up there, but I stoically trudged through the first difficult pages and then, suddenly, the work changed gears and became a well-written biographical work. My hope is that the chaos of the first chapter was supposed to be a kind of metaphor for the chaos of the subject matter: The American Revolution. Even so, it was distracting.
Following this, the work is linear and chatty. I say "chatty" because much of it is told in the voice of the participants via the letters mentioned in the synopsis. It is a rarity that so much of a modern work can draw from the raw personality of a man who lived 200 years ago.
The major problem with this volume is the bias. It is possible that in drawing so much from personal correspondence, the author, either intentionally (as a creative idea) or otherwise pushed the opinions of Mr. Adams as his own. The author paints Benjamin Franklin as little more than an aging malicious philandering dandy who had no idea what was going on around him. While parts of this are undoubtedly true, this is the entirety of the picture drawn of the famous statesman. Thomas Jefferson, Adams' protege and sometimes friend, is also treated unkindly, focusing very strongly on his reclusive behavior and personal problems.
The worst bias, though, was regarding John Adams himself. The enormous political errors in France were essentially other people's problems (including the errors committed by Adams himself). The Alien and Sedition Acts were covered inadequately, and explained away as a product of the times. In fact, in almost every case where an unfavorable opinion of Adams might take even the most tenuous hold, the author tries to explain it away and in several instances comes very close to apologizing.
In closing, I feel that this is an important book. It covers the life and career of one of the least remembered Presidents in a well-paced and well-written if sometimes tilted fashion. Read this book, but read it critically.
Awards and Honors
- Pulitzer Prize - Biography or Autobiography (2002)
- American Academy of Diplomacy - Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy (2001)
- Christopher Award - Books for Adults (2002)
- Revolutionary War Roundtable Prize
- Time Magazine - Best nonfiction book of the year (2001)
- New York Times Book Review - Editors' Choice (2001)
Resources:
John Adams - David McCullough
http://www.pulitzer.org/
http://www.academyofdiplomacy.org/
http://www.christophers.org/awinners/02awinners.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E6D7153AF931A35751C1A9679C8B63
http://www.time.com/time/bestworst2001/books.html