Yesterday, I set aside Stephen King’s Wizard and Glass in order to re-read David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography John Adams. In times of chaos, I often take solace in history, and no book is better at reminding me what this country of ours is all about than McCullough’s biography. This is my third time reading the book.
The first time I read it was when it first came out, way back in 2001. I was skeptical going into it. After all, John Adams was our second President, and where was the interest in that? But I did read it and I was blown away. Adams quickly rose on my list of favorite Presidents. Note that I don’t say best Presidents, just favorites. His intelligence, integrity, honor, and honesty were impressive. And it didn’t hurt that he admired book as much as I do.
I recall a summer evening in Castine, Maine in 2001. There was no moon, and everyone in the house was asleep. I lay in a small bedroom, with a light on, reading and reading, and absolutely loving the book.
The second time I read the book was a few years back in February 2014, and I think I enjoyed even more the second time around. By now, by first edition hard cover of the book is heavily annotated, and I find that I add more notes each time I read the book.
I highly recommend this book as a readable, enjoyable, and highly informative history of the birth of the United States of America, the conditions leading up to that birth, and the men and women involved in leading the revolution.
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Do you recommend McCullough for American history/biography? I know he’s prolific and well respected, just curious. Thanks! (And welcome back to blogging, we kept everything just the way it was when you left 🙂 )
Absolutely! John Adams is the best presidential biography I’ve read. And I’ve read quite a few.