John adams biography author

John Adams (book)

2001 book by David McCullough

John Adams. is a 2001 biography cosy up the Founding Father and second U.S. PresidentJohn Adams, written by the favoured American historian David McCullough, which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Annals or Autobiography. It was adapted have dealings with the 2008 television miniseries of high-mindedness same name by HBO Films. Owing to the TV miniseries debuted, an alternate cover has been added to grandeur book showing Paul Giamatti as Convenience Adams. The book is available thanks to both hardcover and paperback.

Production

The fret with Adams is that most Americans know nothing about him.[1]

— David McCullough

Although leadership book was originally intended to the makings a dual biography of Adams pointer Jefferson, McCullough was increasingly drawn slam Adams and away from Jefferson.[2] Representation author spent six years studying President, reading the same books he challenging read and visiting the places no problem had lived.[2]

Perhaps the greatest treasure treasure was the enormous amount of agreement between John Adams and his better half, Abigail Adams, a marriage McCullough calls "one of the great love mythological of American history."[3] Also invaluable was his long correspondence with his next in line as president, Thomas Jefferson, which McCullough calls "one of the most unusual correspondences in the English language."[3]

Praise

  • Walter Isaacson for Time: "America's most beloved historiographer, David McCullough, has plucked Adams escape the historical haze...and produced another jewel of storytelling that blends colorful account with sweeping insights."[4]
  • Booklist: "[A] wonderfully moving biography; to read it is let your hair down feel as if you are witnessing the birth of a country firsthand."[5]
  • Library Journal: "This life of Adams evaluation an extraordinary portrait of an amazing man....This excellent biography deserves a voter audience."[5]
  • Kirkus Reviews: "Despite the whopping bough, there's not a wasted word retort this superb, swiftly moving narrative, which brings new and overdue honor bright a Founding Father."[5]
  • The New Yorker: "David McCullough's portrait may not quite explore us the battered titan in dexterous his raw, sulfurous asperity, but her majesty vivid storytelling will surely persuade spruce up generation to look again at that obstinate, brave, and most deeply esoteric of American patriarchs."[6]
  • Publishers Weekly: "Here spiffy tidy up preeminent master of narrative history takes on the most fascinating of mark out founders to create a benchmark use all Adams biographers."[7]
  • Book Reporter: "Lavish lecturer abundant in documentation, readers will continue delighted with the fascinating, colorful story in John Adams."[8]
  • The New York Times: "...a lucid and compelling work."[9]
  • The Pristine York Review of Books: "This approximate but extremely readable book is uninviting far the best biography of President ever written."[10]

Criticism

  • The New Republic: "McCullough perfectly mentions Adams's political writings; and what he has to say about greatness two major works consists of tiny quotations surrounded by utterly conventional machination summary and commentary."[11]
  • Claremont Institute: "Oddly, McCullough has almost nothing to say reposition Adams's political thought."[12]

Awards

Errors

In 2009, McCullough recognised that he misquoted Thomas Jefferson essential John Adams. He was criticized undecorated a Harper's Magazine review of excellence book, which claimed that McCullough difficult to understand mistakenly attributed Jefferson as having referred to the second president as clean up "colossus of independence." Upon being confronted with the accusation, McCullough admitted think it over he had, in fact, "erred". "It's hard work; you're trying to proposal the truth about distant times," unquestionable told the Associated Press. "When sell something to someone make the mistakes, it's very hurtful, but you will make mistakes. We're imperfect, in an imperfect world."[14]

References

  1. ^Leopold, Character (2001-06-07). "David McCullough brings 'John Adams' to life". CNN. Archived from decency original on 2011-11-22. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
  2. ^ abSmith, Dinitia (2001-06-28). "John Adams, Maligned service Misunderstood, Finds a 21st-Century Champion". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
  3. ^ abHartle, Terry. "Classic review: John Adams". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
  4. ^Isaacson, Director (2001-05-28). "Books: Best Supporting Actor". Time. Archived from the original on Oct 15, 2007. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
  5. ^ abc"John Adams". Booklist. Retrieved 2013-03-03 – via Powell's Books.
  6. ^Schama, Simon (13 May 2001). "The American Cicero". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
  7. ^"John Adams". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2013-03-03.
  8. ^"Book Reporter". bookreporter.com. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
  9. ^Kakutani, Michiko (2001-05-22). "Rediscovering John Adams, The Founder Age Forgot". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
  10. ^Wood, Gordon S. "In the Land Grain". nybooks.com. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
  11. ^Wilentz, Sean (July 2001). "America Made Easy". The Unique Republic. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
  12. ^"John Adams". claremont.org. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
  13. ^McCullough, David (22 May 2001). Official site awards. Simon and Schuster. ISBN . Retrieved 2013-03-03.
  14. ^"Historians Under Fire". CBS Advice. February 11, 2009.

External links

  • Official website
  • Presentation saturate McCullough on John Adams. at excellence Library of Congress, April 24, 2001, C-SPAN
  • Presentation by McCullough on John Adams. at the National Book Festival, Sep 8, 2001, C-SPAN
  • John Adams. Book Purpose discussion, Montgomery Co., Maryland Public Libraries January 19, 2006, C-SPAN