David McCullough: John Adams

• ISBN-13: 9780743223133
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 9/3/2002
• Pages: 752

In this powerful, epic biography, 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; who rose to become the second President of the United States and save the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as "out of his sense"; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history. 
 This is history on a grand scale - a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas.  Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.

 If you knew me at all, you would know that I am a huge fan of the Revolutionary period of American history (and just kind of history in general, but ya know...). So this book was right up my alley, obviously. Little did I know how very much I was going to learn.
 First, I would like to emphasize that David McCullough is one of my favorite history authors. He's interesting - he tells the story in a way that doesn't make it seem like a rote repetition of facts. He also makes you really feel like you know these people, or at least feel comfortable with the personalities of these long dead personages. Side note: Does anyone realize that it has been almost two hundred years since the death of the last signers of the Declaration of Independence? That is so fascinating to me. Side note over. So, I would recommend any and all of David McCullough's books.
 Now, on to John Adams. Before reading this book, I would have said that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were my two favorite Presidents. They had no precedence, and they managed to turn a fledgling nation into a country with a navy strong enough to defeat the best navy in the world, where democracy thrived and the turn over of power was peaceful - something rarely seen in the world previously. So yeah, they were some pretty amazing guys. However, now I understand that the period of John Adams' presidency was not just a lull in events without interest or achievement. And John Adams was not the staunch man history has created - he did not refuse to compromise, nor was he a warmonger, as he has been portrayed.
 I find the man fascinating, and he was one of the greatest minds of his time. He could read multiple ancient languages, so he was reading Cicero in its original Latin, and he also taught himself French for his time as ambassador to France. Well done, sir. He was also a fairly prolific writer, although at times his rhetoric could  get heated. I don't blame him. People are massively stupid as a species.
 Now that I've ranted about what a fabulous person John Adams was, I think you've gotten an idea of how great this book was. They based a mini-series on it, if you didn't know. I haven't watched that, but I always recommend reading the book before you watch the TV show/movie/what-have-you.
 Overall: A+
 I loved this book, although it did kind of destroy my mental image of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington in the process. But then, of course, as we get older we are forced to accept that people are people and everybody has flaws. That doesn't make them any less great than they were. After reading John Adams, however, you begin to believe that maybe some people were greater than you've heard.