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Title

John Adams

David McCullough

Review

Have you ever wondered why John Adams was the front center of the famous painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by John Trumball? I think it's because he was short, and you always put the shorties in the front row of group shots. On such tiny hinges does the narrative of history swing. That's a trivial example of a profound idea behind this book: it mattered who was there at the writing of the Declaration of Independence, and without all of them being there, the founding principles of the colonies would not have coelesced into the United States of America.

John Adams' life was devoted to his country, even if it meant being separated from his beloved Abigail for long periods of time, crossing the Atlantic 4 times in ambassadorial roles, and facing ridicule in England as the first ambassador of the US. He stuck with his assignment in England, even as he longed to be at home when the Constitution was being written. If he and Abigail had been back in the U.S., could he have persuaded the Constitution to include freedom for slaves? We'll never know. He was where duty called.

He could be dour, sour, vain, disapproving, pinched-faced, and narrow, and as chief executive he made more than one astounding blunder, but his rhetoric soared and inspired and his devotion was deep and real. David McCullough does an outstanding job of showing all the complicated facets of John Adams. I'm a fan.

Related:
The HBO adaptation of John Adams is fantastically good, even if it does skimp on some of the pivotal scenes - Bunker/Breed's Hill, for example - because they would have been expensive to film. There are unnecessary little inaccuracies that the film makers introduced for dramatic effect, like the details of how and when Abigail and the children were innoculated, but they're inconsequential. I saw this 7-part series in Blu-ray, which the library doesn't own, but the Blu-ray provides so much more detail that in my opinion it added approximately 20% more enjoyment to the experience. Approximately. The casting is brilliant, the dialog crackles, the scene sets are pause-worthy. It's fantastic all the way around.  ~ Abbey Warner

Review Date

Reviewed April 2011