Book Review: John Adams

This weekend I finished David McCullough's bestselling biography of the second president. The material is drawn almost exclusively from the extensive correspondence of John and Abigail. Though the text dutifully follows his life through from beginning to end, McCullough's skillful crafting brings it constantly back on itself, repeating the themes and painting an incredible detailed portrait of this quintessential New Englander.

I admit that I'm biased towards the book: I grew up within a mile of Adams' estate, and seen or entered all three of the houses he lived in. His apple trees used to be open to the public, so my family went apple-picking there; the street named for him (which he used to ride) was two blocks from my house growing up, and one of the houses still standing along it was constructed there when he was a young man.

Beyond the personal connections with the Adams heritage, any New Englander can identify with the values and approach to life taken by Mr. Adams. He was at the same time passionate yet immovably honest, well-traveled yet no man of the world, politically powerful yet guileless.

The power over America's future that he wielded, and the integrity with which he did so, are staggering, and should be the envy of every modern voter. In an age of image-driven politics, one who acted on conviction time and time again would have a lot to say to today's candidates.

The most profound theme of the book, though it is not repeated or worked in as much as it could be, is Adams words that "the revolution was in the hearts and minds of the people". In his view, the American Revolution, the shot heard round the world, was not an economically or politically motivated rebellion, but rather a symptom of a fundamental change in the worldview of a nation.