Yes - a little lyric from the musical 1776. An interesting portrayal of John Adams to be sure, but David McCullough's John Adams is a bit more authentic. Yes - it is a long book - but worth the read to discover Mr. J. Adams.
McCullough's smartest move was to let Adams explain things for himself. He was a prodigious letter writer and so was Abigail, and McCullough has used the Adams' correspondence to fill his book and let them tell the story of their times. It really is quite amazing when you realize all that Adams lived through, the Declaration of Independence, the Revolution, the French Revolution, and the vice presidency and being President of a newly formed nation that some people did not think would make it. And along the way, he was the nation's representative to England, Holland and France; he helped write the constitution of Massachusetts and established the U.S. Navy. Oh - yes he had six children, one of whom became president, too! Yeah, a busy guy. And all done with out computers and modern communication. Makes today's politicians seem like wimps in comparison.
McCullough mentioned in his press interviews for this book that he fell in love with Abigail, and the reader does too. It was remarkable the life she lead, while maintaining the homestead while John was traveling or overseas, but still keeping up on the politics of the moment. They had a unique and loving relationship for their time.
John Adams and Abigail come alive in this book. If you really want a sense of how the world was during this period, McCullough's prose makes you feel as if you were there, looking over their shoulders at their writings. He makes some of the more complicated issues, clearer and makes you care for these people and their passions for liberty. And he made me cry, when he wrote about John's twilight years. It is a talent to make someone care about a person who died over 180 years ago...
A book worth your time and effort.
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