Well worth the time. ( )

This is a starry-eyed biography of a president who has spent too many years in obscurity. David McCullough has rightly replaced John Adams in the pantheon of American Heroes and Founders, and this book and the subsequent TV miniseries have rightly re-popularized this crotchety, no holds barred, sharp tongued, quick witted, devoted husband and public servant, also known as His Rotundity. ( )

I finished this book during the beginning of labor with Max--it was that good. Such a quirky man, and what a great love story with Abigail (a fantastic woman). I read that Obama's reading it on his summer vacation at Martha's Vineyard--I give it 5 stars, Mr. President! ( )

This is the biography of John Adams, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, a diplomat who won recognition for America from European nations, was elected as Vice President and then President of the United States. Following his life chronologically, both as a diplomat and husband, this book weaves the interactions Adams had, the friends he had and lost, and, importantly, regained. His marriage to Abigail was the base foundation he used to attain the major things he did for his and our nation.

I expected a long, dull account of a man whose name I knew, but whose life I did not. I was more than surprised when I was reluctant to put the book down. Adams' struggle to be always a man of integrity but not become vain with his successes was always with him. The author clearly had researched his topic and was able to provide a picture of John Adams, the man as well as a Founding Father of our nation. Besides the facts presented the writing was clear and easy to read. This book deserved the Pulitzer.

I would give this book 4 and one-half stars. ( )

I knew very little about the US Revolutionary War history before I started this book. Although I knew John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams had been presidents of the US, I don’t think I could have told anyone that the father was was the 2nd president and the son the 6th. And I thought that the late colonial and revolutionary war periods were sort of boring.

Well, I certainly was wrong about the boring part! McCullough’s splendid biography of Adams brings both periods to life and provides a fascinating account of the politics of the time (sleazy). He offers truly intriguing portraits of the prominent figures of the times: Jefferson ( a lot less noble than he is ordinarily made out to be); Washington (fairly inscrutable); and of course Adams himself along with his remarkable wife, Abigail. all these people and more and the times they lived in are vividly portrayed mostly though their own words. It was a letter-writing era, and some of the most important and most illuminating have survived. The correspondence between John and Abigail alone is worth reading the book. Abigail was no demure “little woman”, submissive and silent, leaving important matters to her husband. On the contrary, she was quite a match for John, who was one of the most erudite men of his age--more so, actually, than Jefferson.

Through these letters, between these prominent figures (and Abigail kept up a spirited correspondence of her own with Jefferson), we see the age and its issues in quite a different, more vibrant light than is usually taught in history books. Far from boring, it actually is thrilling; we know the end of the story, that US independence was won, a constitution framed and signed, and a young republic born. But how this was done--what the controversies were, the terrible odds against all of it coming to pass, the intrigues in England and France--are never exposed so thoroughly as in the letters that passed among all the principals.

I know that many times I’m tempted to think that US politics has never been worse than they are at the moment, that there have never been politicians of such low integrity, such partisanship as exist in our times. Actually, slander of all types--lies, smearing of reputations (the noble Jefferson was adept at this), blatant falsification of positions--was much worse right after the US was born that it is even now. And the US public was just as gullible, just as uninformed as it is now. McCullough does modern readers a service to point out the origin of these attitudes and behavior; while it may be depressing, it perhaps can give some comfort to know that modern US politics is no different from the way it’s always been, and that the basic issues have not changed. That may not be McCullough’s intent, perhaps; if not, then it is a serendipitous result of an affectionate look at the second president of the US.

It's also an account of a remarkable family--not just John and his wife, but their other children as well who, with the exception of the brilliant John Quincy, led tragic lives.

McCullough is not the best writer of the current crop of historians, but he is more than adequate for his subject. A very fine book--highly recommended. ( )