You'll never learn so much in such a small book, 28 Jan 2007
This book is a work of genius for the whole, exquisitely written it offers wisdom on most pages and nonsense on the others. It's been a very long time since I learnt such a large amount, the language has a poetic beauty to it and anybody interested in governance should read this. The thesis of the book is well known (as it indeed should be) but there are some startling facts about the author. Rousseau was serial child abandoner; he seems to have left five children in foundling hospitals and when attacked by his critic, a certain Voltaire, his defence was that the he would have been a poor father and his children would fair better in a foundling hospital. A slightly implausible fact given the high mortality rate at the founding hospital. Still, we judge him for his ideas, not his actions so this book receives a resounding five stars.

socialist precurser, 22 Mar 2006
this book is not, as other readers claim, endorsing dictatorship, but rather is criticising bad democracy. surprisingly persuasive and well written, as a blueprint to later socialist theories eg Marx, it is fascinating.

A Warning From History, 19 May 2004
This is an important book, perhaps one of the most influential ever written. Unfortunately its influence has been wholly pernicious in the extreme - the blueprint for totalitarian regimes the world over. Rousseau was a psychotic and self obsessed individual who elaborated a theory of human civilization at odds with the basic principles of common sense and reason. From the French Revolutionary terror to the Soviet Gulags - the hallmarks of Rousseau's absurd doctrines can be found. But a willfull disregard for reality seems to be the prerequisite for so called enlightened thinkers and those that provided the ideological bedrock for revolutionaries from the french revolution onwards. The most recent example of an attempt to throw off the 'shackles' of civilization occured in Cambodia - Pol Pot - a true disciple of Rousseau, nurtured in the intellectual salons of the Left Bank. Savage indeed, but noble? In the fevered dreams of Marxist intellectuals were the ovens and gulags first delineated - Rousseau was their precursor, an important document, handle with care.

Rousseau, we love ya!, 06 Mar 2001
It's coherent. It's valid. It's informed. One must make up one's own mind about the 'general will', however. Buy, read, then dismiss. Or buy, read, then love. If you can find it in your soul to love a piece of political theory, that is.

You'll never learn so much in such a small book, 28 Jan 2007
This book is a work of genius for the whole, exquisitely written it offers wisdom on most pages and nonsense on the others. It's been a very long time since I learnt such a large amount, the language has a poetic beauty to it and anybody interested in governance should read this. The thesis of the book is well known (as it indeed should be) but there are some startling facts about the author. Rousseau was serial child abandoner; he seems to have left five children in foundling hospitals and when attacked by his critic, a certain Voltaire, his defence was that the he would have been a poor father and his children would fair better in a foundling hospital. A slightly implausible fact given the high mortality rate at the founding hospital. Still, we judge him for his ideas, not his actions so this book receives a resounding five stars.

socialist precurser, 22 Mar 2006
this book is not, as other readers claim, endorsing dictatorship, but rather is criticising bad democracy. surprisingly persuasive and well written, as a blueprint to later socialist theories eg Marx, it is fascinating.

A Warning From History, 19 May 2004
This is an important book, perhaps one of the most influential ever written. Unfortunately its influence has been wholly pernicious in the extreme - the blueprint for totalitarian regimes the world over. Rousseau was a psychotic and self obsessed individual who elaborated a theory of human civilization at odds with the basic principles of common sense and reason. From the French Revolutionary terror to the Soviet Gulags - the hallmarks of Rousseau's absurd doctrines can be found. But a willfull disregard for reality seems to be the prerequisite for so called enlightened thinkers and those that provided the ideological bedrock for revolutionaries from the french revolution onwards. The most recent example of an attempt to throw off the 'shackles' of civilization occured in Cambodia - Pol Pot - a true disciple of Rousseau, nurtured in the intellectual salons of the Left Bank. Savage indeed, but noble? In the fevered dreams of Marxist intellectuals were the ovens and gulags first delineated - Rousseau was their precursor, an important document, handle with care.

Rousseau, we love ya!, 06 Mar 2001
It's coherent. It's valid. It's informed. One must make up one's own mind about the 'general will', however. Buy, read, then dismiss. Or buy, read, then love. If you can find it in your soul to love a piece of political theory, that is.

Definitive Biography of a Great President, 01 Jan 2008
This book is a fantastic way to learn about John Adams and it's a great way to be introduced to excellent historical biographical writing.

McCullough is a brilliant and exciting writer. He truly makes Adams come alive, and when Adams inevitably dies at the end it is decidedly sad.

Adams is a hero of the Republic. First a great friend, then a great rival, then a great friend again of Thomas Jefferson. John Adams is undeservedly overlooked by many students of American History.

Adams the republican vs Jefferson the populist was the great debate in American history and still continues today. Adams saw the horror of the French Revolution for what it was and predicted that it would end in depravity and violence and likely cause a savage reaction which would bring about the end of the French Republic itself. He was right, Bonaparte quickly followed the French Revolution and war across europe was the result. Jefferson on the other hand embraced the French Revolution as an expression of the people's desire for liberty. How wrong he was.

Adams was a brilliant Statesman, and student of history. A wonderful family man and superb husband, Adams' correspondence with his wife Abigail is a classic in American literature.

As a child I spent many hours on the grounds of the Adams Mansion in Quincy, MA, soaking up all the history there as much as is possible. McCullough does so well what so many biographers do so poorly in that he captures the times of the subject and places the person in his rightful context. He brought me back to the grounds of "Peacefield" through his beautiful evocations of it as it hosted great people and great events.

History is best studied by understanding how historical figures lived and understood their own lives and times, as they lived them. Hindsight is an overrated tool in historiography.

Bringing the past to life in writing is a special gift and McCullough has it. Enjoy his talents and get to know the foundations of the American nation-- a story that is not fully known by so many. Adams' story deserves to be told. What a brilliant man, and McCullough does him superb justice in this highly readable biography.

So much can be said here about Adams, but it's not necessary as McCullough has written the definitive John Adams biography and says it better than I. Get to know John Adams through this superb book and you will be glad that you did. And your opinions on Jefferson will likely change, too! 10 STARS!!

biography at its best, 03 Nov 2007
McCullough isn't a historian, and this book (and his superb biography of Harry Truman) do suffer as a result. Fortunately, McCullough is one of the best biographers in the business, and his ability to bring his subjects to life more than compensates for the lack of depth of his historical knowledge. At times he is a little too uncritical of his subject; but this is a welcome antidote to the modern tendency to dwell on the faults of great men and women. Books like this should be required reading in our schools, if for no other reason that they show that great men are far more ordinary than you'd think, and that they usually suffer long periods of adversity before they succeed.

Perhaps even more importantly, our relativist age takes liberty for granted: the sanitised myths about America's founding fathers need to be replaced by honest accounts of how precarious and remarkable the revolution was. And whatever McCullough's shortcomings as a historian, he does understand that rare beast: the politician who passionately believes in limiting the power of the state.

Excellent, 07 Mar 2007

This novel was the first I'd read by David McCullough, I found the book to be both interesting and very enjoyable.

Whether you're interested in reading biographies or history, this is the novel for you.

David McCullough did an excellent job piecing together John Adam's life story. It was a compulsive read. :-)




A Biography Worthy Of Its Subject!, 04 Feb 2007
"John Adams" by David McCullough is talented rendition of a unique story. Despite being remembered as the pigmy sandwiched between two giants, Washington and Jefferson, McCullough portrays Adams as an immensely important and interesting character in his own right. Adams is shown as being at the heart of many crucial events of our revolutionary and early national history. It was Adams of the Continental Congress who was the prime promoter of Independence and the nominator of George Washington for the post of commander of the Continental Army. He then carried out a series of diplomatic assignments in Europe, in which he was the intimate collaborator with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Among his unique diplomatic accomplishments were the negotiation of a Dutch loan at a crucial stage of the Revolution and participation in the negotiation of the peace treaty ending the Revolution. Upon his return to America he wrote the constitution of Massachusetts before serving eight years as Washington's loyal vice-president.

Adams was one of those rare figures whose greatest for whom the presidency was not the office in which he rendered his greatest service. His mistake of retaining Washington's cabinet compounded his misfortune of having his prime political rival as vice-president and a deadly enemy, Alexander Hamilton as a leader of his won party. This left him leading an administration rife with sabotage. These factors handicapped him as he confronted issues of peace or war abroad and subversion at home. Having to function more as a sole actor than a leader of men, his administration is generally regarded as a failure. His term was influential, largely in the maintenance of peace and appointment of John Marshall to the Supreme Court.

Through much of this book the reader is treated to an interwoven mini-biography of Thomas Jefferson. Through this dual biography the reader comes to understand the dichotomy of these two friends, but rivals, collaborators and opponents and, ultimately, correspondents. Their timely demises on the Fiftieth Independence Day are seen as nothing less than providential.

As the readers of my reviews are aware, I have read very many biographies. Few match "John Adams" for quality.


Excellent work, 06 Sep 2005
This book is an astounding piece of non-fiction that should be read by anyone with even a passing interest in revolutionary America.
The details included by the author are superb including the very close relationship with Jefferson and the subsequent falling out, the love of his small home town and the simple life of farming and reading and the brilliance of his wife, perhaps the most underrated First Lady of all time.
Besides this, you also get a front row seat from Adams' extensive correspondence for some of the most important moments in American history from the Declaration of Independence, through the War and the succession to the presidency after Washington.
I cannot recommend this book more highly.

You'll never learn so much in such a small book, 28 Jan 2007
This book is a work of genius for the whole, exquisitely written it offers wisdom on most pages and nonsense on the others. It's been a very long time since I learnt such a large amount, the language has a poetic beauty to it and anybody interested in governance should read this. The thesis of the book is well known (as it indeed should be) but there are some startling facts about the author. Rousseau was serial child abandoner; he seems to have left five children in foundling hospitals and when attacked by his critic, a certain Voltaire, his defence was that the he would have been a poor father and his children would fair better in a foundling hospital. A slightly implausible fact given the high mortality rate at the founding hospital. Still, we judge him for his ideas, not his actions so this book receives a resounding five stars.

socialist precurser, 22 Mar 2006
this book is not, as other readers claim, endorsing dictatorship, but rather is criticising bad democracy. surprisingly persuasive and well written, as a blueprint to later socialist theories eg Marx, it is fascinating.

A Warning From History, 19 May 2004
This is an important book, perhaps one of the most influential ever written. Unfortunately its influence has been wholly pernicious in the extreme - the blueprint for totalitarian regimes the world over. Rousseau was a psychotic and self obsessed individual who elaborated a theory of human civilization at odds with the basic principles of common sense and reason. From the French Revolutionary terror to the Soviet Gulags - the hallmarks of Rousseau's absurd doctrines can be found. But a willfull disregard for reality seems to be the prerequisite for so called enlightened thinkers and those that provided the ideological bedrock for revolutionaries from the french revolution onwards. The most recent example of an attempt to throw off the 'shackles' of civilization occured in Cambodia - Pol Pot - a true disciple of Rousseau, nurtured in the intellectual salons of the Left Bank. Savage indeed, but noble? In the fevered dreams of Marxist intellectuals were the ovens and gulags first delineated - Rousseau was their precursor, an important document, handle with care.

Rousseau, we love ya!, 06 Mar 2001
It's coherent. It's valid. It's informed. One must make up one's own mind about the 'general will', however. Buy, read, then dismiss. Or buy, read, then love. If you can find it in your soul to love a piece of political theory, that is.

Definitive Biography of a Great President, 01 Jan 2008
This book is a fantastic way to learn about John Adams and it's a great way to be introduced to excellent historical biographical writing.

McCullough is a brilliant and exciting writer. He truly makes Adams come alive, and when Adams inevitably dies at the end it is decidedly sad.

Adams is a hero of the Republic. First a great friend, then a great rival, then a great friend again of Thomas Jefferson. John Adams is undeservedly overlooked by many students of American History.

Adams the republican vs Jefferson the populist was the great debate in American history and still continues today. Adams saw the horror of the French Revolution for what it was and predicted that it would end in depravity and violence and likely cause a savage reaction which would bring about the end of the French Republic itself. He was right, Bonaparte quickly followed the French Revolution and war across europe was the result. Jefferson on the other hand embraced the French Revolution as an expression of the people's desire for liberty. How wrong he was.

Adams was a brilliant Statesman, and student of history. A wonderful family man and superb husband, Adams' correspondence with his wife Abigail is a classic in American literature.

As a child I spent many hours on the grounds of the Adams Mansion in Quincy, MA, soaking up all the history there as much as is possible. McCullough does so well what so many biographers do so poorly in that he captures the times of the subject and places the person in his rightful context. He brought me back to the grounds of "Peacefield" through his beautiful evocations of it as it hosted great people and great events.

History is best studied by understanding how historical figures lived and understood their own lives and times, as they lived them. Hindsight is an overrated tool in historiography.

Bringing the past to life in writing is a special gift and McCullough has it. Enjoy his talents and get to know the foundations of the American nation-- a story that is not fully known by so many. Adams' story deserves to be told. What a brilliant man, and McCullough does him superb justice in this highly readable biography.

So much can be said here about Adams, but it's not necessary as McCullough has written the definitive John Adams biography and says it better than I. Get to know John Adams through this superb book and you will be glad that you did. And your opinions on Jefferson will likely change, too! 10 STARS!!

biography at its best, 03 Nov 2007
McCullough isn't a historian, and this book (and his superb biography of Harry Truman) do suffer as a result. Fortunately, McCullough is one of the best biographers in the business, and his ability to bring his subjects to life more than compensates for the lack of depth of his historical knowledge. At times he is a little too uncritical of his subject; but this is a welcome antidote to the modern tendency to dwell on the faults of great men and women. Books like this should be required reading in our schools, if for no other reason that they show that great men are far more ordinary than you'd think, and that they usually suffer long periods of adversity before they succeed.

Perhaps even more importantly, our relativist age takes liberty for granted: the sanitised myths about America's founding fathers need to be replaced by honest accounts of how precarious and remarkable the revolution was. And whatever McCullough's shortcomings as a historian, he does understand that rare beast: the politician who passionately believes in limiting the power of the state.

Excellent, 07 Mar 2007

This novel was the first I'd read by David McCullough, I found the book to be both interesting and very enjoyable.

Whether you're interested in reading biographies or history, this is the novel for you.

David McCullough did an excellent job piecing together John Adam's life story. It was a compulsive read. :-)




A Biography Worthy Of Its Subject!, 04 Feb 2007
"John Adams" by David McCullough is talented rendition of a unique story. Despite being remembered as the pigmy sandwiched between two giants, Washington and Jefferson, McCullough portrays Adams as an immensely important and interesting character in his own right. Adams is shown as being at the heart of many crucial events of our revolutionary and early national history. It was Adams of the Continental Congress who was the prime promoter of Independence and the nominator of George Washington for the post of commander of the Continental Army. He then carried out a series of diplomatic assignments in Europe, in which he was the intimate collaborator with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Among his unique diplomatic accomplishments were the negotiation of a Dutch loan at a crucial stage of the Revolution and participation in the negotiation of the peace treaty ending the Revolution. Upon his return to America he wrote the constitution of Massachusetts before serving eight years as Washington's loyal vice-president.

Adams was one of those rare figures whose greatest for whom the presidency was not the office in which he rendered his greatest service. His mistake of retaining Washington's cabinet compounded his misfortune of having his prime political rival as vice-president and a deadly enemy, Alexander Hamilton as a leader of his won party. This left him leading an administration rife with sabotage. These factors handicapped him as he confronted issues of peace or war abroad and subversion at home. Having to function more as a sole actor than a leader of men, his administration is generally regarded as a failure. His term was influential, largely in the maintenance of peace and appointment of John Marshall to the Supreme Court.

Through much of this book the reader is treated to an interwoven mini-biography of Thomas Jefferson. Through this dual biography the reader comes to understand the dichotomy of these two friends, but rivals, collaborators and opponents and, ultimately, correspondents. Their timely demises on the Fiftieth Independence Day are seen as nothing less than providential.

As the readers of my reviews are aware, I have read very many biographies. Few match "John Adams" for quality.


Excellent work, 06 Sep 2005
This book is an astounding piece of non-fiction that should be read by anyone with even a passing interest in revolutionary America.
The details included by the author are superb including the very close relationship with Jefferson and the subsequent falling out, the love of his small home town and the simple life of farming and reading and the brilliance of his wife, perhaps the most underrated First Lady of all time.
Besides this, you also get a front row seat from Adams' extensive correspondence for some of the most important moments in American history from the Declaration of Independence, through the War and the succession to the presidency after Washington.
I cannot recommend this book more highly.

Insightful, 03 Aug 2008
The author has a depth of knowledge of events which are enlightening and entertaining. Much effort appears to have gone into unearthing contemporary accounts giving a refreshing and unbiased view of events with a ring of truth about them unlike the standard texts which can be misleading generalisations. Well worth the money, not only for a gripping read as well as an historical record .

A message for all aspiring officers..., 08 Jul 2008
I'm not sure whether Urban truly intended to write a narrative history that not only sets right many of the injustices of much of the scholarship on this era, as well as comment on the current operations in Afghanistan.

Whatever his intent, this book is brilliant, in many ways surpassing 'Rifles'. The characters are brought to life in vivid colours, their flaws and their strengths, the arrogance of certain 'Minden men', the self-righteousness on both sides, and the sheer hypocrisy of the ideologues. This is not a book for those 'Patriot' lovers; this is a very real history. The maps are first class, and Urban, as we have come to expect, cuts through the fog of war to deliver stunning detail on everything from the tactical, strategic and operational levels of war.

Any young officer, or aspiring officer, should take the lessons so clearly portrayed in it; learning organisations defeat insurgencies, as we so nearly did in the 13 Colonies. For those not in the military, take heed anyway; read this as a history of the American war, and apply much of the logic to Iraq and Afghanistan, and that is what we are up against. The lessons are clear: Doctrine, tactics, strategy, all have to work together.

An Engaging Picture of a Regiment at War, 22 Dec 2007
Mark Urban has sought to recreate his earlier success with 'Rifles' by following a single regiment through a war. In choosing the 23rd Regiment (Royal Welch Fusiliers), he has plumped on a unit that fought throughout the American War of Independence from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, and can therefore act as illustrative of the war as a whole. Unlike the 95th Rifles, however, the 23rd were a 'line' regiment with none of the glamour of 'special' troops, although much of the action surrounds their detached light company. And given the very fluid organization of the army it is easy to see problems trying to carry out a single regiment narrative thread. As his Royal Welch witnesses come and go, he has had to use eyewitnesses wherever he could get them; not all are Royal Welchmen, nor are they necessarily eyewitnesses to the actual events he is discussing.

Mr Urban's lack of military background and wider understanding is sometimes apparent. As Donald Graves has noted, his belief that Revolutionary War tactics were important in Europe is dubious, and he is unfairly harsh on David Dundas. The essential need to train the army on a common doctrine was not possible until the Duke of York became Commander-in-Chief, with the full weight of Royal authority behind him. If the correct solution was a fusion of the `German' and `American' schools, that was never possible given the stresses of service until Sir Ralph Abercromby got nearly two months to properly train his army in 1800-1 before Egypt. He was the first British commander to have that opportunity after the reserve of trained troops was dissipated in the West Indies in 1793-5.

Due to these reservations I was only going to give the book four stars, but as a former Royal Welchman myself I thought, 'How can I!' Because in all honesty, Mr Urban has written a very engaging book about the British army in the Revolutionary War, when there are not many others (Hugh Bicheno and Christopher Hibbert come to mind) to choose from. He has also done much to dissipate the many myths beloved by American authors, particularly concerning their own tactical effectiveness. This is the book's greatest strength; a unit level account of a forgotten period in the army's history when they were fighting a bad war in a bad place at a bad time, trying to carry on as professionally as possible.

Thorough work on a complex theme, 22 Oct 2007
Centred on the elite 23rd (Royal Welch) Fuziliers [sic] during the American War of Independence, this book also gives an excellent account of many of the other units involved, since the light and grenadier companies of regiments were often hived off and brigaded with those of other units.

As we have come to expect from Urban, the battle accounts are both accurate and stirring, but I particulary like the way he draws on personal accounts of the war from both men and officers of both sides, many of them never published before, making it a highly engaging read. I learned a great deal about commanders such as Howe and Cornwallis, Balfour and Calvert, and the role they played not only in the fortunes of the 23rd Foot, but also in the political and military heirarchy of the time.

Readers new to the period may be surprised to learn that although the war was lost, the British and their allies suffered few actual defeats in the field; on the contrary, it was the remarkable ability of the Americans to recover from defeat after defeat that ultimately brought them victory.

The AWI has always aroused passions on both sides of the Atlantic, and whilst he concentrates on the fighting and campaigning of this conflict, Urban does not shy away from examining the tragic atrocities committed by both sides that served to polarise opinion during the war. This is a sober and refreshing antidote to some of the one-sided episodes in movies such as Mel Gibson's "The Patriot".

Overall, a thorough and humane examination of Great Britain's first major humiliation on the world stage, and the effects it had on the army the British are still justifiably proud of today. Highly recommended.

You'll never learn so much in such a small book, 28 Jan 2007
This book is a work of genius for the whole, exquisitely written it offers wisdom on most pages and nonsense on the others. It's been a very long time since I learnt such a large amount, the language has a poetic beauty to it and anybody interested in governance should read this. The thesis of the book is well known (as it indeed should be) but there are some startling facts about the author. Rousseau was serial child abandoner; he seems to have left five children in foundling hospitals and when attacked by his critic, a certain Voltaire, his defence was that the he would have been a poor father and his children would fair better in a foundling hospital. A slightly implausible fact given the high mortality rate at the founding hospital. Still, we judge him for his ideas, not his actions so this book receives a resounding five stars.

socialist precurser, 22 Mar 2006
this book is not, as other readers claim, endorsing dictatorship, but rather is criticising bad democracy. surprisingly persuasive and well written, as a blueprint to later socialist theories eg Marx, it is fascinating.

A Warning From History, 19 May 2004
This is an important book, perhaps one of the most influential ever written. Unfortunately its influence has been wholly pernicious in the extreme - the blueprint for totalitarian regimes the world over. Rousseau was a psychotic and self obsessed individual who elaborated a theory of human civilization at odds with the basic principles of common sense and reason. From the French Revolutionary terror to the Soviet Gulags - the hallmarks of Rousseau's absurd doctrines can be found. But a willfull disregard for reality seems to be the prerequisite for so called enlightened thinkers and those that provided the ideological bedrock for revolutionaries from the french revolution onwards. The most recent example of an attempt to throw off the 'shackles' of civilization occured in Cambodia - Pol Pot - a true disciple of Rousseau, nurtured in the intellectual salons of the Left Bank. Savage indeed, but noble? In the fevered dreams of Marxist intellectuals were the ovens and gulags first delineated - Rousseau was their precursor, an important document, handle with care.

Rousseau, we love ya!, 06 Mar 2001
It's coherent. It's valid. It's informed. One must make up one's own mind about the 'general will', however. Buy, read, then dismiss. Or buy, read, then love. If you can find it in your soul to love a piece of political theory, that is.

Definitive Biography of a Great President, 01 Jan 2008
This book is a fantastic way to learn about John Adams and it's a great way to be introduced to excellent historical biographical writing.

McCullough is a brilliant and exciting writer. He truly makes Adams come alive, and when Adams inevitably dies at the end it is decidedly sad.

Adams is a hero of the Republic. First a great friend, then a great rival, then a great friend again of Thomas Jefferson. John Adams is undeservedly overlooked by many students of American History.

Adams the republican vs Jefferson the populist was the great debate in American history and still continues today. Adams saw the horror of the French Revolution for what it was and predicted that it would end in depravity and violence and likely cause a savage reaction which would bring about the end of the French Republic itself. He was right, Bonaparte quickly followed the French Revolution and war across europe was the result. Jefferson on the other hand embraced the French Revolution as an expression of the people's desire for liberty. How wrong he was.

Adams was a brilliant Statesman, and student of history. A wonderful family man and superb husband, Adams' correspondence with his wife Abigail is a classic in American literature.

As a child I spent many hours on the grounds of the Adams Mansion in Quincy, MA, soaking up all the history there as much as is possible. McCullough does so well what so many biographers do so poorly in that he captures the times of the subject and places the person in his rightful context. He brought me back to the grounds of "Peacefield" through his beautiful evocations of it as it hosted great people and great events.

History is best studied by understanding how historical figures lived and understood their own lives and times, as they lived them. Hindsight is an overrated tool in historiography.

Bringing the past to life in writing is a special gift and McCullough has it. Enjoy his talents and get to know the foundations of the American nation-- a story that is not fully known by so many. Adams' story deserves to be told. What a brilliant man, and McCullough does him superb justice in this highly readable biography.

So much can be said here about Adams, but it's not necessary as McCullough has written the definitive John Adams biography and says it better than I. Get to know John Adams through this superb book and you will be glad that you did. And your opinions on Jefferson will likely change, too! 10 STARS!!

biography at its best, 03 Nov 2007
McCullough isn't a historian, and this book (and his superb biography of Harry Truman) do suffer as a result. Fortunately, McCullough is one of the best biographers in the business, and his ability to bring his subjects to life more than compensates for the lack of depth of his historical knowledge. At times he is a little too uncritical of his subject; but this is a welcome antidote to the modern tendency to dwell on the faults of great men and women. Books like this should be required reading in our schools, if for no other reason that they show that great men are far more ordinary than you'd think, and that they usually suffer long periods of adversity before they succeed.

Perhaps even more importantly, our relativist age takes liberty for granted: the sanitised myths about America's founding fathers need to be replaced by honest accounts of how precarious and remarkable the revolution was. And whatever McCullough's shortcomings as a historian, he does understand that rare beast: the politician who passionately believes in limiting the power of the state.

Excellent, 07 Mar 2007

This novel was the first I'd read by David McCullough, I found the book to be both interesting and very enjoyable.

Whether you're interested in reading biographies or history, this is the novel for you.

David McCullough did an excellent job piecing together John Adam's life story. It was a compulsive read. :-)




A Biography Worthy Of Its Subject!, 04 Feb 2007
"John Adams" by David McCullough is talented rendition of a unique story. Despite being remembered as the pigmy sandwiched between two giants, Washington and Jefferson, McCullough portrays Adams as an immensely important and interesting character in his own right. Adams is shown as being at the heart of many crucial events of our revolutionary and early national history. It was Adams of the Continental Congress who was the prime promoter of Independence and the nominator of George Washington for the post of commander of the Continental Army. He then carried out a series of diplomatic assignments in Europe, in which he was the intimate collaborator with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Among his unique diplomatic accomplishments were the negotiation of a Dutch loan at a crucial stage of the Revolution and participation in the negotiation of the peace treaty ending the Revolution. Upon his return to America he wrote the constitution of Massachusetts before serving eight years as Washington's loyal vice-president.

Adams was one of those rare figures whose greatest for whom the presidency was not the office in which he rendered his greatest service. His mistake of retaining Washington's cabinet compounded his misfortune of having his prime political rival as vice-president and a deadly enemy, Alexander Hamilton as a leader of his won party. This left him leading an administration rife with sabotage. These factors handicapped him as he confronted issues of peace or war abroad and subversion at home. Having to function more as a sole actor than a leader of men, his administration is generally regarded as a failure. His term was influential, largely in the maintenance of peace and appointment of John Marshall to the Supreme Court.

Through much of this book the reader is treated to an interwoven mini-biography of Thomas Jefferson. Through this dual biography the reader comes to understand the dichotomy of these two friends, but rivals, collaborators and opponents and, ultimately, correspondents. Their timely demises on the Fiftieth Independence Day are seen as nothing less than providential.

As the readers of my reviews are aware, I have read very many biographies. Few match "John Adams" for quality.


Excellent work, 06 Sep 2005
This book is an astounding piece of non-fiction that should be read by anyone with even a passing interest in revolutionary America.
The details included by the author are superb including the very close relationship with Jefferson and the subsequent falling out, the love of his small home town and the simple life of farming and reading and the brilliance of his wife, perhaps the most underrated First Lady of all time.
Besides this, you also get a front row seat from Adams' extensive correspondence for some of the most important moments in American history from the Declaration of Independence, through the War and the succession to the presidency after Washington.
I cannot recommend this book more highly.

Insightful, 03 Aug 2008
The author has a depth of knowledge of events which are enlightening and entertaining. Much effort appears to have gone into unearthing contemporary accounts giving a refreshing and unbiased view of events with a ring of truth about them unlike the standard texts which can be misleading generalisations. Well worth the money, not only for a gripping read as well as an historical record .

A message for all aspiring officers..., 08 Jul 2008
I'm not sure whether Urban truly intended to write a narrative history that not only sets right many of the injustices of much of the scholarship on this era, as well as comment on the current operations in Afghanistan.

Whatever his intent, this book is brilliant, in many ways surpassing 'Rifles'. The characters are brought to life in vivid colours, their flaws and their strengths, the arrogance of certain 'Minden men', the self-righteousness on both sides, and the sheer hypocrisy of the ideologues. This is not a book for those 'Patriot' lovers; this is a very real history. The maps are first class, and Urban, as we have come to expect, cuts through the fog of war to deliver stunning detail on everything from the tactical, strategic and operational levels of war.

Any young officer, or aspiring officer, should take the lessons so clearly portrayed in it; learning organisations defeat insurgencies, as we so nearly did in the 13 Colonies. For those not in the military, take heed anyway; read this as a history of the American war, and apply much of the logic to Iraq and Afghanistan, and that is what we are up against. The lessons are clear: Doctrine, tactics, strategy, all have to work together.

An Engaging Picture of a Regiment at War, 22 Dec 2007
Mark Urban has sought to recreate his earlier success with 'Rifles' by following a single regiment through a war. In choosing the 23rd Regiment (Royal Welch Fusiliers), he has plumped on a unit that fought throughout the American War of Independence from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, and can therefore act as illustrative of the war as a whole. Unlike the 95th Rifles, however, the 23rd were a 'line' regiment with none of the glamour of 'special' troops, although much of the action surrounds their detached light company. And given the very fluid organization of the army it is easy to see problems trying to carry out a single regiment narrative thread. As his Royal Welch witnesses come and go, he has had to use eyewitnesses wherever he could get them; not all are Royal Welchmen, nor are they necessarily eyewitnesses to the actual events he is discussing.

Mr Urban's lack of military background and wider understanding is sometimes apparent. As Donald Graves has noted, his belief that Revolutionary War tactics were important in Europe is dubious, and he is unfairly harsh on David Dundas. The essential need to train the army on a common doctrine was not possible until the Duke of York became Commander-in-Chief, with the full weight of Royal authority behind him. If the correct solution was a fusion of the `German' and `American' schools, that was never possible given the stresses of service until Sir Ralph Abercromby got nearly two months to properly train his army in 1800-1 before Egypt. He was the first British commander to have that opportunity after the reserve of trained troops was dissipated in the West Indies in 1793-5.

Due to these reservations I was only going to give the book four stars, but as a former Royal Welchman myself I thought, 'How can I!' Because in all honesty, Mr Urban has written a very engaging book about the British army in the Revolutionary War, when there are not many others (Hugh Bicheno and Christopher Hibbert come to mind) to choose from. He has also done much to dissipate the many myths beloved by American authors, particularly concerning their own tactical effectiveness. This is the book's greatest strength; a unit level account of a forgotten period in the army's history when they were fighting a bad war in a bad place at a bad time, trying to carry on as professionally as possible.

Thorough work on a complex theme, 22 Oct 2007
Centred on the elite 23rd (Royal Welch) Fuziliers [sic] during the American War of Independence, this book also gives an excellent account of many of the other units involved, since the light and grenadier companies of regiments were often hived off and brigaded with those of other units.

As we have come to expect from Urban, the battle accounts are both accurate and stirring, but I particulary like the way he draws on personal accounts of the war from both men and officers of both sides, many of them never published before, making it a highly engaging read. I learned a great deal about commanders such as Howe and Cornwallis, Balfour and Calvert, and the role they played not only in the fortunes of the 23rd Foot, but also in the political and military heirarchy of the time.

Readers new to the period may be surprised to learn that although the war was lost, the British and their allies suffered few actual defeats in the field; on the contrary, it was the remarkable ability of the Americans to recover from defeat after defeat that ultimately brought them victory.

The AWI has always aroused passions on both sides of the Atlantic, and whilst he concentrates on the fighting and campaigning of this conflict, Urban does not shy away from examining the tragic atrocities committed by both sides that served to polarise opinion during the war. This is a sober and refreshing antidote to some of the one-sided episodes in movies such as Mel Gibson's "The Patriot".

Overall, a thorough and humane examination of Great Britain's first major humiliation on the world stage, and the effects it had on the army the British are still justifiably proud of today. Highly recommended.

The extraordinary story of black loyalists and indefatigable abolitionists, 14 Nov 2008
Simon Schama is not only one of Britain's leading historians but a story-teller par excellence. And he is not a historian with a political agenda; his compassion for the oppressed and the voiceless of history shines through every page of his writing. In this unashamedly populist account of the thousands of black slaves who chose to fight on the British side in the American War of Independence, he has fabulously rich subject matter. It is a tale of incalculable suffering, brutality, degradation and betrayal on one hand and of integrity, dedication, altruism and hope on the other. And it is not always straightforward. We learn of white men who risked their lives in the abolitionist cause and black men who became slavers when the opportunity arose.
Although we have been taught not to fall into the trap of judging past historical events with the values and concepts of the modern era I soon learnt that far from being universally accepted as a legitimate mode of commerce, there was a large body of individuals in England in the eighteenth century who were outraged by the obscenity of the transatlantic slave trade. Many of these were the celebrities of the day: man of letters Dr Johnson, actor David Garrick, pottery magnate Josiah Wedgewood and Darwin's botanist Joseph Banks. But Schama as ever concentrates on the unsung heroes and the hidden villains of history. He gives voice to many of the vocal, articulate blacks who, though understandably always reticent in trusting their white persecutors, nevertheless never lose faith either in British justice or in their abolitionist friends: Thomas Peters, Boston King, David George, Olaudah Equiano and the charismatic Frederick Douglass, even as many of them are buffeted between the Virginian and Carolinan plantations, freezing Nova Scotia and disease-ridden Sierra Leone.
Early in Rough Crossings we are introduced to obsessive abolitionist Granville Sharp who successfully defends in court James Somerset, one of London's thousands of black men who had escaped slavery in the colonies but who constantly faced the horror of recapture. The milestone decision of the court - that once a slave sets foot on English soil he becomes a free man - was to reverberate throughout the slave world. Concerned with the wretched plight of London's blacks Sharp then sets about resettling them voluntarily in a small community in Sierra Leone in West Africa, Sharp Town, the first such experiment but which faced monolithic political, social and environmental barriers to success. In spite of Sharp's best efforts, black-white hatred and suspicion constant bubbled beneath the surface.
Meanwhile, in America the result of the Somerset case had signalled to slaves there that British justice was honourable and fair and offered them their only hope of freedom. Consequently, thousands of them opted to abandon their masters and fight as loyalists on the side of the crown during the American War of Independence. Many of them joined the British Black Pioneers. They were encouraged by the struggling British government who had promised them land in return for military service. Of course, there were the usual disasters and betrayals, including one terrible incident when hundreds of blacks and their families weakened by smallpox were abandoned to die on the beach of the Virginian coast.
When the war ended in defeat for the British the black loyalists, far from being settled on arable plots of land to feed their families as they had hoped, instead found themselves freezing on a barren, rock-strewn wilderness in Nova Scotia maltreated and humiliated by the loyalist whites among whom they lived. Enter British naval officer and indefatigable abolitionist John Clarkson, brother of like-minded Thomas, incensed by the humiliation of the ex-slaves in the Canadian wasteland, most of whom were now servants or indentured labourers, shunned and maltreated by their white neighbours, little more than slaves again. Like Sharp, Clarkson felt that the only hope for them was a return to the warmth and cultural familiarity of West Africa and so the moribund Sharp Town community in Sierra Leone was kick-started again by a new influx of free black men. Much of the second half of the book describes the almost insurmountable problems faced by Clarkson as he prepares the voyage and resettlement of hundreds of black loyalists and the increasing number of white hangers-on; and then the hunger, disease, storms, squabbles, sabotage and treachery that constantly threatens to derail the project. We read of the unsteady growth of the beleaguered community, and the gradual emergence of an embryonic black democracy. From beginning to end this wonderful and moving historical narrative is empathetic, beautifully written and riveting to read. And for those who seek to supplement their knowledge there is a highly accessible and comprehensive reference list and a dramatis personae.


A Magnificent Piece of History, 20 Feb 2008
Simon Schama's Rough Crossings tells the story of the American revolution, the resettlement of slaves and others loyal to the British after the war. It covers a period from the 1770's up to the the turn of the century with a final part, up to the mid nineteenth century, that explores the beginnings and endings of history. The narrative roams three continents with a cast of characters that includes the bad and the good.

As a black man, I came to this book to learn about the experience of the slaves from yet another perspective. However, the book is so well written, the story told with such great style that I was quickly shifted from my narrow perspective and was drawn fully into the complexities of the revolution and its making.

The germ of the making of the revolution is clearly revealed by Schama. The scheming, the wheeler dealings and deceit are all there. An early passage in the book states: "In the experience of both David George and Boston King (the best sources we have for the experience of blacks in the Revolutionary War), the British could appear as both benefactors and theives, hard-hearted and kind-hearted; yet there was never any question about the ultimate allegiance of these two."

But Rough Crossings is more than a histoy of the American revolution; Britian's response and the experience of slaves, it is also a political and geographical history. In other works, it is also about the formation of 'states'. Schama's outline of the makings of settlements in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone is quite revealing of the politics of betrayal and brutishness that ensued. He clearly shows us life from the seedy to the pretentiousness of high civility. Pretentiousness to high civility that could never be obtained because these new societies carried within them the seeds from another place and time. In the early formation of these new colonies what begun to blossom again was racism. For example, in Nova Scotia, to keep the settlement of Shelburne free of the "frolicks" of negros the whites decided to create a settlement for the blacks - namely Birchtown. Here in lies the making of racial apartheid.

What also comes across clearly in this book is a history of greed and profitering at the expense of the slaves. One of the recurring themes was that the whole enterprise of the war and slavery was driven by profits. The drive for profits at the expense of human beings is painfully outlined in the story of captain Luke Collingwood. Rather than lose money by captured Africans dying during the passage from Africa to the Caribbean, during one passage Collingwood prepared and executed a plan to defruad his insures by casting live Africans into the sea.

Part two of this great history focuses on the efforts of John Clarkson to resettle "ex-slaves" and loyalist in Sierra Leone. In restrained almost understated language, Schama outlines how the hardships, the betrayals, the effects of indentured bonds and debts were experienced by "ex-slaves". It is a story of great human suffering, endurance and determination.

It is not just the content that makes the book highly readable. After all, the story has been told before in various guises. What also sustains the reading of this story is the way it is told. In part, Schama's style is rhetorical. This had the effect of sweeping me along with his narrative and persuading me into believing the content. Here is an example of Schama at the peak of rhetorical flourish as he describes how against poor conditions and experiences slaves were still prepared to join the British army: "For all the chaos and brutality; for all the untended sickness and the abandonment of the sick; for all the slaves forced on to public works, some of them even sent back to masters; for all the chronic uncertainty about their eventual fate; ... whereever the British army went, in big battalions or small, in North Carolina and then in Virginia, slaves still continue to pour into their camps by the score, then in hundreds and finally thousands."

Schama is detailed and scholarly whilst at the same time remaining sufficiently populist to allow his book to appeal to a broad readship. His command of the language is so great, his narrative flows so fluently that at times I had to read out aloud if only to hear an imagined voice and savour the text. Furthermore, Schama's descriptive passages are quite simply brilliant and dazzling. Take the long opening paragraph of part one. Here a vivid picture of aspects of life in London is presented. The reader can almost see the hustle and bustle of high and low life. As we read we can easily emerse ourselves into London life.

The truth is the apex to which the writer; whether historian, novelist or philosopher, must aim. In reading Rough Crossings, one is left with the clear impression that the truth is exactly what Schama achieves. He leaves no stone unturned, he shows us great acts of human kindness and the despicable, depravity of human behaviour. One example of the wide spectrum of human behaviour can be found in the story of Jonathan Stong, a London slave beaten almost beyond recognition by his master David Lisle, but rescued and rehabilitated by William Sharp. I was simply moved not just by the story but just as important Schama's ability to convey the pathos involved.

I think the best way to summarise Schama's achievement is to pay him a tribute. One senses that Schama's handling of his material and subject is second to none. He manages to achieve what I would think most historians aim at, that is the right balance between the narration of the story, description of scenes and events, and analysis of the underlying causes. This is a magnificent piece of history, please read it.

"A place like no other . . . ", 30 Oct 2007
Like the ships' journeys, this is a three part tale. For the ships, it was from some British port to the coast of Africa, thence - loaded with "live cargo" - across the Atlantic to the sales dock before returning to the British Isles. It is that "live cargo" that Schama deals with in this superbly written, but tragic, account of how Britain attempted to redeem itself for its role in the slave trade. When the British colonies in North America severed their link to the Crown, "liberty" was the ultimate cause. That "liberty" meant the right to make their own decisions, something the slave-holding colonists refused to apply to their African workers. If they could, slaves and free blacks thus bolted from certain captivity to a promise offered by the defeated imperial power.

The triad of sites in this book are London, North America - particularly Nova Scotia - and the African Coast. In London, a reformer group, led by Granville Sharp, arose to combat slavery and the trans-Atlantic trade in "live cargo". They were opposed by political inertia and the Caribbean sugar lobby of planters, shippers and agents. Escaped or manumitted slaves in North America had few refuges and London held as much promise as anywhere. Ghettos of black populations had grown up by the 1760s, and laboured under uncertain legal and social status. A colonist visiting the capital might seek a lost slave there, while press gangs could raid the black district of St Giles with near impunity. Schama depicts the twisted path of black status in England where Common Law declared that "no man might own another" with acerbic clarity. A court case that might have been a landmark decision resulted in mixed interpretations of the ruling.

Mixed or not, when the Thirteen Colonies rebelled a decade later, the British found it useful to entice slaves to desert masters. Projecting the idea that "no man might own another" at least to? the North American mainland, the British Army created black military forces and declared any soldier or civilian working for it, free. Defeat forced a massive relocation programme, with thousands of people transferred to Nova Scotia. In New York, "The Book of Negroes" was a catalogue of those newly emancipated people as a means of certifying their identity and status. One reason this remained necessary was that slave-owning Loyalists had no intention of releasing their property. Freed and enslaved was distinguished by certificates issued by the military and by such lists as "The Book".

Nova Scotia, as Schama well portrays, was not an unqualified success. The climate was anything but salubrious, nor was the economy ready for the influx of people. Pressures mounted until Birchtown became the first site of a race riot in North America. Another solution was needed and the London group found it in Sierra Leone. As tensions increased in Nova Scotia, Schama introduces the figure of John Clarkson, a Royal Navy officer who might be described as a principled navigator. In Schama's view, Clarkson became the Saviour of the Nova Scotia and some London freedmen. Clarkson's sacrifices were certainly worthy of sainthood - his career, his health and whatever income he possessed. The book's title is as applicable to Clarkson's journey from Halifax to Sierra Leone as any event related. Severe storms buffeted the fleet, while Clarkson lay prostrate in his cabin with what may have been meningitis. Sierra Leone was also beset by storms, of both weather and politics, as it struggled to gain the independence it had been promised. It never was truly free, as much as Clarkson and the settlers wished it so. Still, it was an enclave of hope, and at one point was actually the only place anywhere in the Atlantic world where free blacks had elected representatives and actually entered into the first black labour negotiations.

Schama's account of the struggles of black British subjects is long overdue. It will make uncomfortable reading for some - a testimony to its value and importance. The research foundation is impressively thorough. He handles personalities and situations with equal skill, and has no qualms about exposing the hypocrisies he encounters. The term "racism" doesn't appear in the book, but it doesn't have to. The statements and actions of those who would become leaders in "The Home of Liberty" are expressive enough. A fine, admirable and much-needed book, this needs a wide readership. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A Voyage of Historical Revelation, 17 Dec 2006
With so many historians writing about subjects already extensively covered, it is always a particular delight to find a book which tells a story unfamiliar to all but the the specialist. Simon Schama has found just such a subject in the chronicles of black Afro American slaves who fought for the British Crown in the American War of Independence in return for their freedom and the chance to start afresh in Canada and Seirra Leone.It is account full of exciting incident, vivid characters, idealism, betrayal, misfortune, courage and hypocrisy: it also makes for a cracking read. Those who might find the topic of slavery so immense as to be off putting will find this volume focussed, detailed and cleverly structured whilst some who find Schama's on screen persona irritating will find him a far more appealing on the printed page. Along the way we encounter the usual suspects: politicians who say one thing and do another, Southern plantation owners proclaiming their worship of liberty providing it doesn't apply to slaves and pious martinets who don't let humanity and commonsense get in the way of a moral sermon. Yet in the hard work and commitment of the freed slaves and the idealism of decent men like Granville Sharp and John Clarkson the story of struggle against enormous odds becomes inspiring. For those wanting an informed overview on the debate over the legality of slavery or differing transatlantic approaches to the notion of liberty or the roots of the quest for black political representation will find much of interest here, but if you just like a totally engrossing account of a fascinating historical episode, you cannot go wrong. One of the best popular history books of recent years without doubt.

How history should be written: accurate, interesting and accessible, 12 Oct 2006
Simon Schama's book deals with the history of a few thousand, in a war that concerned millions, while giving poignant examples from the personal few. He successful fits his story of the slaves who fought behind British lines into a larger picture of the civil war, and gives them a voice. To the reviewer who claimed this book is overcomplicated, I must simply argue that you're wrong. In this book, Schama writes clearly and is at all points captivating, if one wants an example of imaginative, yet no pretentious social history then one needs to look no further. With his unique style, he writes a book that could easily be a work of fiction were it not so thoroughly researched. Highly recommended to those with even the passing interest in history, it may win the subject some converts.

You'll never learn so much in such a small book, 28 Jan 2007
This book is a work of genius for the whole, exquisitely written it offers wisdom on most pages and nonsense on the others. It's been a very long time since I learnt such a large amount, the language has a poetic beauty to it and anybody interested in governance should read this. The thesis of the book is well known (as it indeed should be) but there are some startling facts about the author. Rousseau was serial child abandoner; he seems to have left five children in foundling hospitals and when attacked by his critic, a certain Voltaire, his defence was that the he would have been a poor father and his children would fair better in a foundling hospital. A slightly implausible fact given the high mortality rate at the founding hospital. Still, we judge him for his ideas, not his actions so this book receives a resounding five stars.

socialist precurser, 22 Mar 2006
this book is not, as other readers claim, endorsing dictatorship, but rather is criticising bad democracy. surprisingly persuasive and well written, as a blueprint to later socialist theories eg Marx, it is fascinating.

A Warning From History, 19 May 2004
This is an important book, perhaps one of the most influential ever written. Unfortunately its influence has been wholly pernicious in the extreme - the blueprint for totalitarian regimes the world over. Rousseau was a psychotic and self obsessed individual who elaborated a theory of human civilization at odds with the basic principles of common sense and reason. From the French Revolutionary terror to the Soviet Gulags - the hallmarks of Rousseau's absurd doctrines can be found. But a willfull disregard for reality seems to be the prerequisite for so called enlightened thinkers and those that provided the ideological bedrock for revolutionaries from the french revolution onwards. The most recent example of an attempt to throw off the 'shackles' of civilization occured in Cambodia - Pol Pot - a true disciple of Rousseau, nurtured in the intellectual salons of the Left Bank. Savage indeed, but noble? In the fevered dreams of Marxist intellectuals were the ovens and gulags first delineated - Rousseau was their precursor, an important document, handle with care.

Rousseau, we love ya!, 06 Mar 2001
It's coherent. It's valid. It's informed. One must make up one's own mind about the 'general will', however. Buy, read, then dismiss. Or buy, read, then love. If you can find it in your soul to love a piece of political theory, that is.

Definitive Biography of a Great President, 01 Jan 2008
This book is a fantastic way to learn about John Adams and it's a great way to be introduced to excellent historical biographical writing.

McCullough is a brilliant and exciting writer. He truly makes Adams come alive, and when Adams inevitably dies at the end it is decidedly sad.

Adams is a hero of the Republic. First a great friend, then a great rival, then a great friend again of Thomas Jefferson. John Adams is undeservedly overlooked by many students of American History.

Adams the republican vs Jefferson the populist was the great debate in American history and still continues today. Adams saw the horror of the French Revolution for what it was and predicted that it would end in depravity and violence and likely cause a savage reaction which would bring about the end of the French Republic itself. He was right, Bonaparte quickly followed the French Revolution and war across europe was the result. Jefferson on the other hand embraced the French Revolution as an expression of the people's desire for liberty. How wrong he was.

Adams was a brilliant Statesman, and student of history. A wonderful family man and superb husband, Adams' correspondence with his wife Abigail is a classic in American literature.

As a child I spent many hours on the grounds of the Adams Mansion in Quincy, MA, soaking up all the history there as much as is possible. McCullough does so well what so many biographers do so poorly in that he captures the times of the subject and places the person in his rightful context. He brought me back to the grounds of "Peacefield" through his beautiful evocations of it as it hosted great people and great events.

History is best studied by understanding how historical figures lived and understood their own lives and times, as they lived them. Hindsight is an overrated tool in historiography.

Bringing the past to life in writing is a special gift and McCullough has it. Enjoy his talents and get to know the foundations of the American nation-- a story that is not fully known by so many. Adams' story deserves to be told. What a brilliant man, and McCullough does him superb justice in this highly readable biography.

So much can be said here about Adams, but it's not necessary as McCullough has written the definitive John Adams biography and says it better than I. Get to know John Adams through this superb book and you will be glad that you did. And your opinions on Jefferson will likely change, too! 10 STARS!!

biography at its best, 03 Nov 2007
McCullough isn't a historian, and this book (and his superb biography of Harry Truman) do suffer as a result. Fortunately, McCullough is one of the best biographers in the business, and his ability to bring his subjects to life more than compensates for the lack of depth of his historical knowledge. At times he is a little too uncritical of his subject; but this is a welcome antidote to the modern tendency to dwell on the faults of great men and women. Books like this should be required reading in our schools, if for no other reason that they show that great men are far more ordinary than you'd think, and that they usually suffer long periods of adversity before they succeed.

Perhaps even more importantly, our relativist age takes liberty for granted: the sanitised myths about America's founding fathers need to be replaced by honest accounts of how precarious and remarkable the revolution was. And whatever McCullough's shortcomings as a historian, he does understand that rare beast: the politician who passionately believes in limiting the power of the state.

Excellent, 07 Mar 2007

This novel was the first I'd read by David McCullough, I found the book to be both interesting and very enjoyable.

Whether you're interested in reading biographies or history, this is the novel for you.

David McCullough did an excellent job piecing together John Adam's life story. It was a compulsive read. :-)




A Biography Worthy Of Its Subject!, 04 Feb 2007
"John Adams" by David McCullough is talented rendition of a unique story. Despite being remembered as the pigmy sandwiched between two giants, Washington and Jefferson, McCullough portrays Adams as an immensely important and interesting character in his own right. Adams is shown as being at the heart of many crucial events of our revolutionary and early national history. It was Adams of the Continental Congress who was the prime promoter of Independence and the nominator of George Washington for the post of commander of the Continental Army. He then carried out a series of diplomatic assignments in Europe, in which he was the intimate collaborator with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Among his unique diplomatic accomplishments were the negotiation of a Dutch loan at a crucial stage of the Revolution and participation in the negotiation of the peace treaty ending the Revolution. Upon his return to America he wrote the constitution of Massachusetts before serving eight years as Washington's loyal vice-president.

Adams was one of those rare figures whose greatest for whom the presidency was not the office in which he rendered his greatest service. His mistake of retaining Washington's cabinet compounded his misfortune of having his prime political rival as vice-president and a deadly enemy, Alexander Hamilton as a leader of his won party. This left him leading an administration rife with sabotage. These factors handicapped him as he confronted issues of peace or war abroad and subversion at home. Having to function more as a sole actor than a leader of men, his administration is generally regarded as a failure. His term was influential, largely in the maintenance of peace and appointment of John Marshall to the Supreme Court.

Through much of this book the reader is treated to an interwoven mini-biography of Thomas Jefferson. Through this dual biography the reader comes to understand the dichotomy of these two friends, but rivals, collaborators and opponents and, ultimately, correspondents. Their timely demises on the Fiftieth Independence Day are seen as nothing less than providential.

As the readers of my reviews are aware, I have read very many biographies. Few match "John Adams" for quality.


Excellent work, 06 Sep 2005
This book is an astounding piece of non-fiction that should be read by anyone with even a passing interest in revolutionary America.
The details included by the author are superb including the very close relationship with Jefferson and the subsequent falling out, the love of his small home town and the simple life of farming and reading and the brilliance of his wife, perhaps the most underrated First Lady of all time.
Besides this, you also get a front row seat from Adams' extensive correspondence for some of the most important moments in American history from the Declaration of Independence, through the War and the succession to the presidency after Washington.
I cannot recommend this book more highly.

Insightful, 03 Aug 2008
The author has a depth of knowledge of events which are enlightening and entertaining. Much effort appears to have gone into unearthing contemporary accounts giving a refreshing and unbiased view of events with a ring of truth about them unlike the standard texts which can be misleading generalisations. Well worth the money, not only for a gripping read as well as an historical record .

A message for all aspiring officers..., 08 Jul 2008
I'm not sure whether Urban truly intended to write a narrative history that not only sets right many of the injustices of much of the scholarship on this era, as well as comment on the current operations in Afghanistan.

Whatever his intent, this book is brilliant, in many ways surpassing 'Rifles'. The characters are brought to life in vivid colours, their flaws and their strengths, the arrogance of certain 'Minden men', the self-righteousness on both sides, and the sheer hypocrisy of the ideologues. This is not a book for those 'Patriot' lovers; this is a very real history. The maps are first class, and Urban, as we have come to expect, cuts through the fog of war to deliver stunning detail on everything from the tactical, strategic and operational levels of war.

Any young officer, or aspiring officer, should take the lessons so clearly portrayed in it; learning organisations defeat insurgencies, as we so nearly did in the 13 Colonies. For those not in the military, take heed anyway; read this as a history of the American war, and apply much of the logic to Iraq and Afghanistan, and that is what we are up against. The lessons are clear: Doctrine, tactics, strategy, all have to work together.

An Engaging Picture of a Regiment at War, 22 Dec 2007
Mark Urban has sought to recreate his earlier success with 'Rifles' by following a single regiment through a war. In choosing the 23rd Regiment (Royal Welch Fusiliers), he has plumped on a unit that fought throughout the American War of Independence from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, and can therefore act as illustrative of the war as a whole. Unlike the 95th Rifles, however, the 23rd were a 'line' regiment with none of the glamour of 'special' troops, although much of the action surrounds their detached light company. And given the very fluid organization of the army it is easy to see problems trying to carry out a single regiment narrative thread. As his Royal Welch witnesses come and go, he has had to use eyewitnesses wherever he could get them; not all are Royal Welchmen, nor are they necessarily eyewitnesses to the actual events he is discussing.

Mr Urban's lack of military background and wider understanding is sometimes apparent. As Donald Graves has noted, his belief that Revolutionary War tactics were important in Europe is dubious, and he is unfairly harsh on David Dundas. The essential need to train the army on a common doctrine was not possible until the Duke of York became Commander-in-Chief, with the full weight of Royal authority behind him. If the correct solution was a fusion of the `German' and `American' schools, that was never possible given the stresses of service until Sir Ralph Abercromby got nearly two months to properly train his army in 1800-1 before Egypt. He was the first British commander to have that opportunity after the reserve of trained troops was dissipated in the West Indies in 1793-5.

Due to these reservations I was only going to give the book four stars, but as a former Royal Welchman myself I thought, 'How can I!' Because in all honesty, Mr Urban has written a very engaging book about the British army in the Revolutionary War, when there are not many others (Hugh Bicheno and Christopher Hibbert come to mind) to choose from. He has also done much to dissipate the many myths beloved by American authors, particularly concerning their own tactical effectiveness. This is the book's greatest strength; a unit level account of a forgotten period in the army's history when they were fighting a bad war in a bad place at a bad time, trying to carry on as professionally as possible.

Thorough work on a complex theme, 22 Oct 2007
Centred on the elite 23rd (Royal Welch) Fuziliers [sic] during the American War of Independence, this book also gives an excellent account of many of the other units involved, since the light and grenadier companies of regiments were often hived off and brigaded with those of other units.

As we have come to expect from Urban, the battle accounts are both accurate and stirring, but I particulary like the way he draws on personal accounts of the war from both men and officers of both sides, many of them never published before, making it a highly engaging read. I learned a great deal about commanders such as Howe and Cornwallis, Balfour and Calvert, and the role they played not only in the fortunes of the 23rd Foot, but also in the political and military heirarchy of the time.

Readers new to the period may be surprised to learn that although the war was lost, the British and their allies suffered few actual defeats in the field; on the contrary, it was the remarkable ability of the Americans to recover from defeat after defeat that ultimately brought them victory.

The AWI has always aroused passions on both sides of the Atlantic, and whilst he concentrates on the fighting and campaigning of this conflict, Urban does not shy away from examining the tragic atrocities committed by both sides that served to polarise opinion during the war. This is a sober and refreshing antidote to some of the one-sided episodes in movies such as Mel Gibson's "The Patriot".

Overall, a thorough and humane examination of Great Britain's first major humiliation on the world stage, and the effects it had on the army the British are still justifiably proud of today. Highly recommended.

The extraordinary story of black loyalists and indefatigable abolitionists, 14 Nov 2008
Simon Schama is not only one of Britain's leading historians but a story-teller par excellence. And he is not a historian with a political agenda; his compassion for the oppressed and the voiceless of history shines through every page of his writing. In this unashamedly populist account of the thousands of black slaves who chose to fight on the British side in the American War of Independence, he has fabulously rich subject matter. It is a tale of incalculable suffering, brutality, degradation and betrayal on one hand and of integrity, dedication, altruism and hope on the other. And it is not always straightforward. We learn of white men who risked their lives in the abolitionist cause and black men who became slavers when the opportunity arose.
Although we have been taught not to fall into the trap of judging past historical events with the values and concepts of the modern era I soon learnt that far from being universally accepted as a legitimate mode of commerce, there was a large body of individuals in England in the eighteenth century who were outraged by the obscenity of the transatlantic slave trade. Many of these were the celebrities of the day: man of letters Dr Johnson, actor David Garrick, pottery magnate Josiah Wedgewood and Darwin's botanist Joseph Banks. But Schama as ever concentrates on the unsung heroes and the hidden villains of history. He gives voice to many of the vocal, articulate blacks who, though understandably always reticent in trusting their white persecutors, nevertheless never lose faith either in British justice or in their abolitionist friends: Thomas Peters, Boston King, David George, Olaudah Equiano and the charismatic Frederick Douglass, even as many of them are buffeted between the Virginian and Carolinan plantations, freezing Nova Scotia and disease-ridden Sierra Leone.
Early in Rough Crossings we are introduced to obsessive abolitionist Granville Sharp who successfully defends in court James Somerset, one of London's thousands of black men who had escaped slavery in the colonies but who constantly faced the horror of recapture. The milestone decision of the court - that once a slave sets foot on English soil he becomes a free man - was to reverberate throughout the slave world. Concerned with the wretched plight of London's blacks Sharp then sets about resettling them voluntarily in a small community in Sierra Leone in West Africa, Sharp Town, the first such experiment but which faced monolithic political, social and environmental barriers to success. In spite of Sharp's best efforts, black-white hatred and suspicion constant bubbled beneath the surface.
Meanwhile, in America the result of the Somerset case had signalled to slaves there that British justice was honourable and fair and offered them their only hope of freedom. Consequently, thousands of them opted to abandon their masters and fight as loyalists on the side of the crown during the American War of Independence. Many of them joined the British Black Pioneers. They were encouraged by the struggling British government who had promised them land in return for military service. Of course, there were the usual disasters and betrayals, including one terrible incident when hundreds of blacks and their families weakened by smallpox were abandoned to die on the beach of the Virginian coast.
When the war ended in defeat for the British the black loyalists, far from being settled on arable plots of land to feed their families as they had hoped, instead found themselves freezing on a barren, rock-strewn wilderness in Nova Scotia maltreated and humiliated by the loyalist whites among whom they lived. Enter British naval officer and indefatigable abolitionist John Clarkson, brother of like-minded Thomas, incensed by the humiliation of the ex-slaves in the Canadian wasteland, most of whom were now servants or indentured labourers, shunned and maltreated by their white neighbours, little more than slaves again. Like Sharp, Clarkson felt that the only hope for them was a return to the warmth and cultural familiarity of West Africa and so the moribund Sharp Town community in Sierra Leone was kick-started again by a new influx of free black men. Much of the second half of the book describes the almost insurmountable problems faced by Clarkson as he prepares the voyage and resettlement of hundreds of black loyalists and the increasing number of white hangers-on; and then the hunger, disease, storms, squabbles, sabotage and treachery that constantly threatens to derail the project. We read of the unsteady growth of the beleaguered community, and the gradual emergence of an embryonic black democracy. From beginning to end this wonderful and moving historical narrative is empathetic, beautifully written and riveting to read. And for those who seek to supplement their knowledge there is a highly accessible and comprehensive reference list and a dramatis personae.


A Magnificent Piece of History, 20 Feb 2008
Simon Schama's Rough Crossings tells the story of the American revolution, the resettlement of slaves and others loyal to the British after the war. It covers a period from the 1770's up to the the turn of the century with a final part, up to the mid nineteenth century, that explores the beginnings and endings of history. The narrative roams three continents with a cast of characters that includes the bad and the good.

As a black man, I came to this book to learn about the experience of the slaves from yet another perspective. However, the book is so well written, the story told with such great style that I was quickly shifted from my narrow perspective and was drawn fully into the complexities of the revolution and its making.

The germ of the making of the revolution is clearly revealed by Schama. The scheming, the wheeler dealings and deceit are all there. An early passage in the book states: "In the experience of both David George and Boston King (the best sources we have for the experience of blacks in the Revolutionary War), the British could appear as both benefactors and theives, hard-hearted and kind-hearted; yet there was never any question about the ultimate allegiance of these two."

But Rough Crossings is more than a histoy of the American revolution; Britian's response and the experience of slaves, it is also a political and geographical history. In other works, it is also about the formation of 'states'. Schama's outline of the makings of settlements in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone is quite revealing of the politics of betrayal and brutishness that ensued. He clearly shows us life from the seedy to the pretentiousness of high civility. Pretentiousness to high civility that could never be obtained because these new societies carried within them the seeds from another place and time. In the early formation of these new colonies what begun to blossom again was racism. For example, in Nova Scotia, to keep the settlement of Shelburne free of the "frolicks" of negros the whites decided to create a settlement for the blacks - namely Birchtown. Here in lies the making of racial apartheid.

What also comes across clearly in this book is a history of greed and profitering at the expense of the slaves. One of the recurring themes was that the whole enterprise of the war and slavery was driven by profits. The drive for profits at the expense of human beings is painfully outlined in the story of captain Luke Collingwood. Rather than lose money by captured Africans dying during the passage from Africa to the Caribbean, during one passage Collingwood prepared and executed a plan to defruad his insures by casting live Africans into the sea.

Part two of this great history focuses on the efforts of John Clarkson to resettle "ex-slaves" and loyalist in Sierra Leone. In restrained almost understated language, Schama outlines how the hardships, the betrayals, the effects of indentured bonds and debts were experienced by "ex-slaves". It is a story of great human suffering, endurance and determination.

It is not just the content that makes the book highly readable. After all, the story has been told before in various guises. What also sustains the reading of this story is the way it is told. In part, Schama's style is rhetorical. This had the effect of sweeping me along with his narrative and persuading me into believing the content. Here is an example of Schama at the peak of rhetorical flourish as he describes how against poor conditions and experiences slaves were still prepared to join the British army: "For all the chaos and brutality; for all the untended sickness and the abandonment of the sick; for all the slaves forced on to public works, some of them even sent back to masters; for all the chronic uncertainty about their eventual fate; ... whereever the British army went, in big battalions or small, in North Carolina and then in Virginia, slaves still continue to pour into their camps by the score, then in hundreds and finally thousands."

Schama is detailed and scholarly whilst at the same time remaining sufficiently populist to allow his book to appeal to a broad readship. His command of the language is so great, his narrative flows so fluently that at times I had to read out aloud if only to hear an imagined voice and savour the text. Furthermore, Schama's descriptive passages are quite simply brilliant and dazzling. Take the long opening paragraph of part one. Here a vivid picture of aspects of life in London is presented. The reader can almost see the hustle and bustle of high and low life. As we read we can easily emerse ourselves into London life.

The truth is the apex to which the writer; whether historian, novelist or philosopher, must aim. In reading Rough Crossings, one is left with the clear impression that the truth is exactly what Schama achieves. He leaves no stone unturned, he shows us great acts of human kindness and the despicable, depravity of human behaviour. One example of the wide spectrum of human behaviour can be found in the story of Jonathan Stong, a London slave beaten almost beyond recognition by his master David Lisle, but rescued and rehabilitated by William Sharp. I was simply moved not just by the story but just as important Schama's ability to convey the pathos involved.

I think the best way to summarise Schama's achievement is to pay him a tribute. One senses that Schama's handling of his material and subject is second to none. He manages to achieve what I would think most historians aim at, that is the right balance between the narration of the story, description of scenes and events, and analysis of the underlying causes. This is a magnificent piece of history, please read it.

"A place like no other . . . ", 30 Oct 2007
Like the ships' journeys, this is a three part tale. For the ships, it was from some British port to the coast of Africa, thence - loaded with "live cargo" - across the Atlantic to the sales dock before returning to the British Isles. It is that "live cargo" that Schama deals with in this superbly written, but tragic, account of how Britain attempted to redeem itself for its role in the slave trade. When the British colonies in North America severed their link to the Crown, "liberty" was the ultimate cause. That "liberty" meant the right to make their own decisions, something the slave-holding colonists refused to apply to their African workers. If they could, slaves and free blacks thus bolted from certain captivity to a promise offered by the defeated imperial power.

The triad of sites in this book are London, North America - particularly Nova Scotia - and the African Coast. In London, a reformer group, led by Granville Sharp, arose to combat slavery and the trans-Atlantic trade in "live cargo". They were opposed by political inertia and the Caribbean sugar lobby of planters, shippers and agents. Escaped or manumitted slaves in North America had few refuges and London held as much promise as anywhere. Ghettos of black populations had grown up by the 1760s, and laboured under uncertain legal and social status. A colonist visiting the capital might seek a lost slave there, while press gangs could raid the black district of St Giles with near impunity. Schama depicts the twisted path of black status in England where Common Law declared that "no man might own another" with acerbic clarity. A court case that might have been a landmark decision resulted in mixed interpretations of the ruling.

Mixed or not, when the Thirteen Colonies rebelled a decade later, the British found it useful to entice slaves to desert masters. Projecting the idea that "no man might own another" at least to? the North American mainland, the British Army created black military forces and declared any soldier or civilian working for it, free. Defeat forced a massive relocation programme, with thousands of people transferred to Nova Scotia. In New York, "The Book of Negroes" was a catalogue of those newly emancipated people as a means of certifying their identity and status. One reason this remained necessary was that slave-owning Loyalists had no intention of releasing their property. Freed and enslaved was distinguished by certificates issued by the military and by such lists as "The Book".

Nova Scotia, as Schama well portrays, was not an unqualified success. The climate was anything but salubrious, nor was the economy ready for the influx of people. Pressures mounted until Birchtown became the first site of a race riot in North America. Another solution was needed and the London group found it in Sierra Leone. As tensions increased in Nova Scotia, Schama introduces the figure of John Clarkson, a Royal Navy officer who might be described as a principled navigator. In Schama's view, Clarkson became the Saviour of the Nova Scotia and some London freedmen. Clarkson's sacrifices were certainly worthy of sainthood - his career, his health and whatever income he possessed. The book's title is as applicable to Clarkson's journey from Halifax to Sierra Leone as any event related. Severe storms buffeted the fleet, while Clarkson lay prostrate in his cabin with what may have been meningitis. Sierra Leone was also beset by storms, of both weather and politics, as it struggled to gain the independence it had been promised. It never was truly free, as much as Clarkson and the settlers wished it so. Still, it was an enclave of hope, and at one point was actually the only place anywhere in the Atlantic world where free blacks had elected representatives and actually entered into the first black labour negotiations.

Schama's account of the struggles of black British subjects is long overdue. It will make uncomfortable reading for some - a testimony to its value and importance. The research foundation is impressively thorough. He handles personalities and situations with equal skill, and has no qualms about exposing the hypocrisies he encounters. The term "racism" doesn't appear in the book, but it doesn't have to. The statements and actions of those who would become leaders in "The Home of Liberty" are expressive enough. A fine, admirable and much-needed book, this needs a wide readership. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A Voyage of Historical Revelation, 17 Dec 2006
With so many historians writing about subjects already extensively covered, it is always a particular delight to find a book which tells a story unfamiliar to all but the the specialist. Simon Schama has found just such a subject in the chronicles of black Afro American slaves who fought for the British Crown in the American War of Independence in return for their freedom and the chance to start afresh in Canada and Seirra Leone.It is account full of exciting incident, vivid characters, idealism, betrayal, misfortune, courage and hypocrisy: it also makes for a cracking read. Those who might find the topic of slavery so immense as to be off putting will find this volume focussed, detailed and cleverly structured whilst some who find Schama's on screen persona irritating will find him a far more appealing on the printed page. Along the way we encounter the usual suspects: politicians who say one thing and do another, Southern plantation owners proclaiming their worship of liberty providing it doesn't apply to slaves and pious martinets who don't let humanity and commonsense get in the way of a moral sermon. Yet in the hard work and commitment of the freed slaves and the idealism of decent men like Granville Sharp and John Clarkson the story of struggle against enormous odds becomes inspiring. For those wanting an informed overview on the debate over the legality of slavery or differing transatlantic approaches to the notion of liberty or the roots of the quest for black political representation will find much of interest here, but if you just like a totally engrossing account of a fascinating historical episode, you cannot go wrong. One of the best popular history books of recent years without doubt.

How history should be written: accurate, interesting and accessible, 12 Oct 2006
Simon Schama's book deals with the history of a few thousand, in a war that concerned millions, while giving poignant examples from the personal few. He successful fits his story of the slaves who fought behind British lines into a larger picture of the civil war, and gives them a voice. To the reviewer who claimed this book is overcomplicated, I must simply argue that you're wrong. In this book, Schama writes clearly and is at all points captivating, if one wants an example of imaginative, yet no pretentious social history then one needs to look no further. With his unique style, he writes a book that could easily be a work of fiction were it not so thoroughly researched. Highly recommended to those with even the passing interest in history, it may win the subject some converts.

A quality publication, 30 Dec 2008
An excellent addition to my growing library on the American Revolutionary War. Good descriptive text and clear colour plates, ideal for the Wargamer/Figure painters out there.

Really pleased with the book so purchased the sister volume "Napoleonic Military Uniforms"

Worth the wait , 31 Jul 2008
I have been waiting for this book since November. I had pre-ordered it on the strength of its sister volume; Uniforms of the Napoleonic wars and its been worth the wait.

Its packed full of details of the uniforms and equipment used by all the main participants of the war; the Americans, the British, the French, the Spanish, the Hessians and the Native American units who like the Americans themselves were on both sides of the conflict.

The illustrations are fantastic and anyone interested in this war/revolution or military history in general will love this.

You'll never learn so much in such a small book, 28 Jan 2007
This book is a work of genius for the whole, exquisitely written it offers wisdom on most pages and nonsense on the others. It's been a very long time since I learnt such a large amount, the language has a poetic beauty to it and anybody interested in governance should read this. The thesis of the book is well known (as it indeed should be) but there are some startling facts about the author. Rousseau was serial child abandoner; he seems to have left five children in foundling hospitals and when attacked by his critic, a certain Voltaire, his defence was that the he would have been a poor father and his children would fair better in a foundling hospital. A slightly implausible fact given the high mortality rate at the founding hospital. Still, we judge him for his ideas, not his actions so this book receives a resounding five stars.

socialist precurser, 22 Mar 2006
this book is not, as other readers claim, endorsing dictatorship, but rather is criticising bad democracy. surprisingly persuasive and well written, as a blueprint to later socialist theories eg Marx, it is fascinating.

A Warning From History, 19 May 2004
This is an important book, perhaps one of the most influential ever written. Unfortunately its influence has been wholly pernicious in the extreme - the blueprint for totalitarian regimes the world over. Rousseau was a psychotic and self obsessed individual who elaborated a theory of human civilization at odds with the basic principles of common sense and reason. From the French Revolutionary terror to the Soviet Gulags - the hallmarks of Rousseau's absurd doctrines can be found. But a willfull disregard for reality seems to be the prerequisite for so called enlightened thinkers and those that provided the ideological bedrock for revolutionaries from the french revolution onwards. The most recent example of an attempt to throw off the 'shackles' of civilization occured in Cambodia - Pol Pot - a true disciple of Rousseau, nurtured in the intellectual salons of the Left Bank. Savage indeed, but noble? In the fevered dreams of Marxist intellectuals were the ovens and gulags first delineated - Rousseau was their precursor, an important document, handle with care.

Rousseau, we love ya!, 06 Mar 2001
It's coherent. It's valid. It's informed. One must make up one's own mind about the 'general will', however. Buy, read, then dismiss. Or buy, read, then love. If you can find it in your soul to love a piece of political theory, that is.

Definitive Biography of a Great President, 01 Jan 2008
This book is a fantastic way to learn about John Adams and it's a great way to be introduced to excellent historical biographical writing.

McCullough is a brilliant and exciting writer. He truly makes Adams come alive, and when Adams inevitably dies at the end it is decidedly sad.

Adams is a hero of the Republic. First a great friend, then a great rival, then a great friend again of Thomas Jefferson. John Adams is undeservedly overlooked by many students of American History.

Adams the republican vs Jefferson the populist was the great debate in