John Adams was an iconic figure of the American Revolution and the second President of the United States.
It took many years before any good books about John Adams were published but they quickly became valuable sources of information on this complex historical figure.
The following is a list of the best books about John Adams:
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John Adams by David McCullough
Published in 2001, this book is about the life of John Adams from his early days to his presidency.
The book explores John Adams adventurous life, work, marriage and his activities during the American Revolution as well as his presidency.
The book received positive reviews when it was published. Kirkus Reviews praised the book for its thorough and in-depth look at John Adams’ life:
“Despite the whopping length, there’s not a wasted word in this superb, swiftly moving narrative, which brings new and overdue honor to a Founding Father.”
The New York Times described it as a “carefully researched, lovingly written biography” yet the New Republic gave it a more mixed review, criticizing the book for praising Adams a little too much:
“It is a prudent but deeply admiring study of an enormously talented and remarkable patriot who was also one of the most suspicious, pugnacious, and at times pig-headed conservatives of the early American republic. In conveying so much about Adams’s goodness, in vivid and smooth prose, McCullough slights Adams’s intellectual ambitions, his brilliance and his ponderousness, his pettiness and his sometimes disabling pessimism. McCullough scants, in other words, everything that went into rendering Adams the paradox that he was: a great American who would prove virtually irrelevant to his nation’s subsequent political development.”
Publisher’s Weekly praised both McCullough as a historian and the book for its great storytelling:
“Here a preeminent master of narrative history takes on the most fascinating of our founders to create a benchmark for all Adams biographers. With a keen eye for telling detail and a master storyteller’s instinct for human interest, McCullough (Truman; Mornings on Horseback) resurrects the great Federalist (1735–1826), revealing in particular his restrained, sometimes off-putting disposition, as well as his political guile.”
The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2002 and was adapted into a television miniseries for HBO in 2008.
David McCullough, who died in 2022, was a historian and the author of numerous history books including Truman; 1776; and the Wright Brothers.
John Adams: A Life by John Ferling
Published in 1992, this book is an examination of John Adams’ life, career and personality.
The book discusses what a complicated person John Adams was, highlighting both his strengths and weaknesses as well as his successes and his failures, as a way to better understand him.
The book received positive reviews when it was published. The New England Quarterly praised it as one of the best full-scale biographies:
“Better than any other full-scale biography to date, Ferling’s book places Adams in the context of his swirling times and makes clear why he deserves our admiration for his political courage and stubborn independence.”
The William and Mary Quarterly praised it for its thoroughness:
“A comprehensive and readable exploration of a fascinating and important statesman, whose life continues to remind us that honesty, integrity, and independence can be political virtues.”
John Ferling is a professor emeritus of history at the University of West Georgia and the author of numerous books about the Revolutionary War era including Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution, Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800; and The First of Men: A Life of George Washington.
Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams by Joseph J. Ellis
Published in 1993, this book is about the legacy of John Adams.
The book explores John Adams in his later years, after his political career was over and he began reflecting on his public career and personal life, as a way to determine exactly who he was.
Ellis argues that John Adams is the “most misconstrued and unappreciated ‘great man’ in American history” and the goal of his book is to discover the true John Adams, assess his proper place in the American Revolution and to appraise his legacy.
The book received positive reviews when it was published. The New York Times described it as “Impassioned and erudite.…A captivating portrait of this Massachusetts native” while Publisher’s Weekly called it a “notable study” and Kirkus Reviews praised the book for providing “new perspective on an unfairly neglected Founding Father.”
Joseph E. Ellis is a historian who has written a number of books about the American Revolution era, including American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, which won the National Book Award in 1997, and the Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, which won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 2001.
John Adams: Party of One by James Grant
Published in 2005, this book is about John Adam’s political career.
The book delves into John Adams’ presidency, his struggles with political opponents, and his quest for a strong federal government.
The book received positive reviews when it was published. Publisher’s Weekly called it “eloquent” and declared that it “deserves a wide reading” while Kirkus Reviews called it “well-researched.”
The New England Quarterly stated that the book is good at exploring lesser known topics: “Grant’s book is at its best when explaining Adams’ often-overlooked role in the new nation’s financial affairs….Grant’s traditional biographical approach in John Adams: Party of One more fully analyzes Adam’s religious values, an analysis that constitutes one of the book’s main contributions.”
James Grant is a historian and financial journalist who has written a number of books on finance and finance history.
John Adams by Page Smith
Published in 1962, this two-volume book is a comprehensive look at the life of John Adams.
The book chronicles Adams entire life from his childhood to his death at the age of 90 and was the first biography written about Adams after his personal papers became widely available.
It is considered one of the earliest and most thorough biographies on Adams who had, up until that point, often been overlooked by historians in favor of more exciting Revolutionary figures like George Washington.
The book won the Bancroft Prize in 1963.
Paige Smith, who died in 1995, was a professor and author who wrote a total of 20 books including Jefferson: A Revealing Biography; The Constitution: A Documentary and Narrative History; Democracy on Trial: The Japanese-American Evacuation and Relocation in World War II.
Sources:
Beagle, Jonathan M. The New England Quarterly, vol. 78, no. 3, 2005, pp. 503–05. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30045571
“John Adams.” Kirkus Reviews, kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-grant/john-adams-3/
“John Adams: Party of One.” Publisher’s Weekly, publishersweekly.com/978-0-374-11314-8
Kakutani, Michiko. “BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Rediscovering John Adams, The Founder Time Forgot.” New York Times, 22 May. 2001, nytimes.com/2001/05/22/books/books-of-the-times-rediscovering-john-adams-the-founder-time-forgot.html
Kakutani, Michiko. “Books of the Times; The Vinegar of the Revolutionary Salad.” New York Times, 14 May. 1993, nytimes.com/1993/05/14/books/books-of-the-times-the-vinegar-of-the-revolutionary-salad.html
Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams.” Kirkus Reviews, kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/joseph-j-ellis/passionate-sage/
“Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams.” Publisher’s Weekly, publishersweekly.com/9780393034790
“John Adams by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster).” Pultizer.org, pulitzer.org/winners/david-mccullough-0
“John Adams.” Publisher’s Weekly, publishersweekly.com/9780684813639
Maier, Pauline. “Plain Speaking.” New York Times, 27 May. 2001, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/01/05/27/reviews/010527.27maiert.html?_r=1
“John Adams.” Kirkus Reviews, kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/david-mccullough/john-adams/