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)

where are chapters 5 and 7?

Overall, I really enjoyed the audio, love the book, but the audio didn't include chapter 5 and 7, just skipped right over them!

Amazing Story

I loved this audiobook. Jaw dropping ending to the story!! I am very inspired and want to listen again

great book

really enjoyed this book. excellent story. well written and well read. I assumed no less from this author and this narrator.

Beautifully Well Written about One of the Greatest Heroes

This is a must read! I recommend this to anyone who loves principle! God be thanked for the life of John Adams!

Wonderful Historical Work

I thoroughly enjoyed rehearing the story of John Adam’s, especially as it related to his wife Abigail and their children as well as his footprint into American history. His lifelong relationships with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are to be commended. His love for reading- a joy!

fantastic

great, book, and I loved the narration. Only qualm is I ended up buying full version, as there are huge gaps, which I you really want to understand the Adams-jefferson relationship, full length version is much better.

Well Done

Listening to this book is the best encouragement to make an impulse buy from time to time. At a book store or library, I would normally avoid a biography on John Adams. But, given the ability to listen to this book, I impulsively downloaded it....and, I'm very happy I did! I was reminded of American history I had long since forgotten, and learned new and fascinating facts. The author does a wonderful job of keeping the reader/listener's ears glued to his MP3 player. I never realized how great a man John Adams was, and what a colorful life he led.

A must for US history buffs

It's a long book, but it kept my interest to the last sentence.

McCullough is a wonderful biographer/historian. Two of his previous books on the Brooklyn Bridge and the Panama Canal were people-oriented histories; this is a history-oriented biography. It uses correspondence involving Adams, his wife Abigail, and several contemporaries who played a part in Adams's life to excellent effect. Both Adams and his wife were enthusiastic and thoughtful correspondents throughout their adult lives and McCullough knows how to mine this source to great effect.

The book handles all of the significant controversies in Adams's public and private life, and to this non-historian, does so quite even-handedly given that the biographer seems to truly like his subject. We are shown Adams's faults, but they are overwhelmed by his many virtues; his real self shines through the often-slanderous verbal fog created by his many enemies. In today's scholarship it sometimes appears that you have to be either for Adams or for Jefferson, but McCullough admires both and refuses to be drawn into that feckless enterprise.

It is a long book, but it could have been much longer and still held my rapt attention.

Overview of early American History

I think what I liked best about this book is that it gives an overview of the history of the events that took place during John Adams life in addition to his biography. It doesn't take the approach of being overly biased towards John Adams like a lot of biographies do for their subjects. It seems to be backed by a lot of research and includes fascinating information and almost mini-biographies of others in that time period as well, especially Thomas Jefferson. Although it took a long time to listen to, I never became bored with it and always looked forward to listening to it. I'd recommend it to most anyone.

Unforgettable

The nearly universal praise for David McCullough's book is very well deserved. Adams was an amazing gentleman and we owe so much to him for his service to our country. Listening to this excellently narrated (abridged) audiobook made me long to know more about our 2nd president and his remarkable wife and family. So much so that I went out and bought the book to read it unabridged. I especially enjoyed the extensive quotes from personal correspondence in the story line. It gave wonderful insight to who these people really were and what they thought about our country, each other and life. If you haven't gotten around to hearing this one yet, do not hesitate to hear it!