By weaving six generations of the Adams family history as a thread, Francis Russell ties the story of the American nation from its founding fathers to its contemporary citizens. It is a story with continuities and changes.
Rejecting New England Puritanism, John Adams started a progression from an honest search for the Biblical God through the generations who moved to Unitarianism to agnosticism to atheism. At times there was some attraction to the Roman Catholic faith, but there is no return to a God who is not silent. Covering two hundred years of American history, the Adams dynasty had a characteristic attraction to law (but without the passion for being a lawyer), for marrying "up," for lives split between American and Europe, for writing (especially history), for public service (without a passion for campaigning) and mixing with the notable of each passing generation. Even physical characteristics and personality quirks seem to reappear generation after generation. The book is not so much a biography as a bios-graphy, if I am permitted to create a word. ( )