John Adams By David McCullough



Today I purchased a copy of John Adams,this has become a very popular 7-part HBO miniseries. Anyway..I usually prefer the book to the film and thought I would read it before I see the series. McCullugh is perhaps the most respected presidential historian and I wanted to gain even more insight and knowledge regarding this great man,John Adams. This 751 page masterpiece is not a quick read and goes into great depth on the man and the period.I'm just getting started and I try to read a little every day.Springtime is a very busy time for me so I don't have the time to read 3-4 hours each day like I normally do. What I have read so far is stimulating and far from boring! I am excited to get into the mind of John Adams,a truly great American mind and patriot that endured unbelievable hardship to participate in the birth of our great nation! Sometimes to understand where we as a people and nation are, we have to return to the birth of our great nation and focus on the men and women who made it all possible and at no small sacrifice!

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

Thanks for the post.
Most of my life I have enjoyed world history till it got a little past our own shores and then it got boring for me. But several years ago I had to write a paper. It could be about anything and instead of picking a narrow, familiar subject, I chose Thomas Jefferson. Well I had to narrow it down as he was such a multi faceted creature! In the process I realized how fortunate we are to have had the founding fathers that we had. And that is one reason I still believe there was a spiritual hand in the design of this nation!
I just moved to a smaller town (population 400). One thing that intrigued me about it was as small as it is it still maintains a library. I'll have to check out it's rescourses when I get home and see if they can order this book for me. It sounds thrilling. I like finding 'something new under the sun'.

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I haven't seen the show, but I heard they take a lot of liberties when it comes to sexual contect and nudity...

In other words, they "HBO-i-fied" it...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

That makes me want to read it even more to see if there's any reason for that in the book.

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And that's why I almost always prefer the book and it's getting fantastic reviews. McCullough has an excellent reputation and brings Adams to life!

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

Obviously..I am a huge fan of Jefferson and I have read his papers and life history. I knew a lot about Adams or at least what they taught us in school but there is SO MUCH MORE to this great man! The book starts out with Adams on his way to Philadelphia..a 400 mile trip through cold winter snows.This he did on horseback..no carriage..no shelter from the winter storms.Today a trip like that would be a joy ride or mini vacation.I mainly wanted to see how our founding fathers interacted with each other and how they formed opinions and framed debate. The book reads much more like a story than a purely academic history...

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

Everyone knows history was G rated.

Every time I try to watch it its part 4. They had the whole series last weekend but its hours long. And what I saw looked depressing. That doesn't mean it isn't good.

All the more reason to read the 751 page book. I almost always prefer the book over the film.That time period was very depressing but also exilerating,the birth a freedom involves many emotions and great hardship and this is well documented in the book.Even at that time people were divided,some did not want war and believed freedom not worth dying for.

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

I think I read that at one time only 25% of the country was behind the Revolution...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd