John Adams

By: David McCullough

Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jan Maxwell

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

In this powerful, epic biography, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life-journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution. Adams thought, wrote, and spoke out for the "Great Cause" come what might; he traveled far and wide in all seasons and often at extreme risk; he rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; he was rightly celebrated for his integrity, and regarded by some as "out of his senses"; and his marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the most moving love stories in American history.

Much about Adams' life will come as a surprise to many. His rocky relationship with friend and eventual archrival Thomas Jefferson, his courageous voyage on the frigate Boston in the winter of 1778 and his later trek over the Pyrenees are exploits few would have dared and that few listeners will ever forget.

McCullough's John Adams has the sweep and vitality of a great novel. This is history on a grand scale - an audiobook about politics, war, and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, it is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.

©2001 David McCullough (P)2001 Simon & Schuster, Inc., All Rights Reserved

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Non-Fiction (abridged), 2002
• Pulitzer Prize Winner, Biography or Autobiography, 2002

"The portrait that emerges is altogether fascinating." (Amazon.com)
"Brilliant...a winner." (Publishers Weekly)
"McCullough writes to be heard as well as read." (AudioFile)

Excellent!

This book is a masterpiece! It is very insightful with regards to the founding of our country.

Great way to learn about one of our founders!

This would be a tough read for me to get thru, but listening to it was easy. Even though it gets thru his entire life rather quickly there are some real gems of detail in here!

really good

this book is worth the price. very in depth. mostly grammatical and the reader has been in the US a number of years.

Spectacular

A spectacular book worthy of the subject, a great man, a great life lived indeed. For all the accomplishments of John Adams this book makes it clear that the greatest one in the story of his life was the relationship with his beloved wife, Abigail. While this shorter version obviously is missing some details, I felt it sufficient.

Review of John Adams

This book is wonderful. If you have read 1776 and grown up in the New England school system this biography adds so much more substance to our understanding of our founding. Especially important now is to see how even as John Adams became President how political parties made things more difficult. It helps to ease that this is not just something from our time. It is also great to learn what our founders thought our Nation should and could be. How he knew slavery was a problem our nation would have to deal with and what that could mean for us as a fledgling nation.

John Adams - Father of the Revolution

I listened to this book on a recommendation from a friend who read the book. I throughly enjoyed the writing style of David McCullough and his descriptions of our early history. I not only learned much about our history but also listened to the story like a novel. A must-read for anyone interested in the birth of the United States or anyone who likes a good novel.

Get the unabridged, by all mean

Bought the abridged version by accident. Loved this book, but I felt like I'd missed all the good parts. Get the unabridged version.

J.A. is underrated. Integrity and Honor.

John Adams is so far my favorite president. His story should serve as an example. We need more leadership like this now more than ever.

Excellent Biography

Great biography of a key founding father. Dovetails nicely with McCullough's 1766, American Spirit, an The Pioneers.

Great! Must have.

So well written, but what is expected with David McCullough. Edward Herrmann’s reading is my absolute favorite. RIP Mr. Herrmann, well done.