Friends Divided

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

De: Gordon S. Wood

Narrado por: James Lurie

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017

From the great historian of the American Revolution, New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer-winning Gordon Wood, comes a majestic dual biography of two of America's most enduringly fascinating figures, whose partnership helped birth a nation, and whose subsequent falling out did much to fix its course.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds, or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slaveowner, while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government. They worked closely in the crucible of revolution, crafting the Declaration of Independence and leading, with Franklin, the diplomatic effort that brought France into the fight. But ultimately, their profound differences would lead to a fundamental crisis, in their friendship and in the nation writ large, as they became the figureheads of two entirely new forces, the first American political parties. It was a bitter breach, lasting through the presidential administrations of both men, and beyond.

But late in life, something remarkable happened: these two men were nudged into reconciliation. What started as a grudging trickle of correspondence became a great flood, and a friendship was rekindled, over the course of hundreds of letters. In their final years they were the last surviving founding fathers and cherished their role in this mighty young republic as it approached the half century mark in 1826. At last, on the afternoon of July 4th, 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration, Adams let out a sigh and said, "At least Jefferson still lives." He died soon thereafter. In fact, a few hours earlier on that same day, far to the south in his home in Monticello, Jefferson died as well.

Arguably no relationship in this country's history carries as much freight as that of John Adams of Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Gordon Wood has more than done justice to these entwined lives and their meaning; he has written a magnificent new addition to America's collective story.

Friendship and Politics Can Work!

Excellent book! I recomend this to anyone who is into politics to see that even if you are left or right you can still be friends.
I loved seeing how their lives were parallel...

This was an excellent book.

Truly an excellent book. Many comparisons between 1800 and 2020. I read the Audible edition which was an excellent narration by James Lurie.

A masterwork in early American history

Beautifully conceived, researched and written, Friends Divided describes how two of the Founding Fathers of the United States worked to establish, reestablish and maintain a friendship of over 50 years. Prof. Wood artfully describes both the similarities and differences in viewpoint between Jefferson and Adams and how the debate over these differences stayed alive over decades of correspondence. Wood explains why one of the two remains revered over the centuries while the other, despite his significant contributions to liberty remains more difficult to appreciate.

Great contrast

Another great book and review of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Worth the time to listen to.

Excellent history and story of a friendship

I knew the basic outline of the Adams-Jefferson relationship but Wood adds so much depth, detail, and setting. He also explains why Adams star never shown as brightly as Jefferson's despite Adam's critical contributions to the formation of the nation.

Some repetition and at times the story dragged a bit. Elements like Jefferson's alienation of Washington were not mentioned even though that could have been tied into the story.

Excellent book, very well performed

If you liked the HBO John Adams miniseries (which, yes, was of course based on D. McCullough's book), you will love this one. It delves deeply into the two men's philosophies, political and otherwise, takes a deep dive into the historical and political milieux into which they were born and through which they moved throughout their lives . Drawing on both their extensive writings throughout (many lines of which you'll recognize from the miniseries), the author does a great job focusing on the two protagonists' lives and politics while also relating them to the wider story of the first century or so of our nation's history. The narrator has a pleasant voice and does a great job reading, making the at-times challenging text easier to understand.

Rich narrative of the psychology of founding fathers

This is an absolutely fantastic read! The detail and richness in describing the psychology of this great friendship is fascinating. It allows one to see and understand the thought behind many of the twists and turns of our fledgling democracy. Well worth the listen!

One of the best books i have read

It starts slowly. It’s tough keeping the characters apart until you know them. In fact at about chapter give, i started over. Now that was the ticket.

The characters opened up and the story their lives were telling became real to me.

America wasn’t a unified place in the late 18th century. It was a place where different minded people were deciding they didn’t want to live under British rule anymore.

People in the colonies didn’t hate England. Quite the contrary, many viewed it as the most functional -even democratic - government in the world. But it wasn’t the government of the colonies. It was too far away, too detached, and too parasitic. These were not ideological concerns but practical ones.

And the decoration of independence was not signed by a bunch of like minded men that bought into its every word and were willing to die for what it said. They may have been willing to die for the cause, but not that document - at least not when it was written.

This book by taking to patriots, two founding fathers, two friends, and two very differently thinking men, paints the period in all the colors of diversity of thought that we may not understand mirrors the country we have today.

Great Insights on Jefferson & ADAMS

Great performance and stirring writing about two of our interesting founders. Enjoyable and educational. Very much the read or listen.

Adams deserves a National Monument

I almost didn't read this book because another reviewer gave it 1 star, and claimed that the author was biased against Adams to the point where he held Adams in contempt. It is true that the author begins and ends the book explaining the FACT that Jefferson's reputation has soared in the past 200+ years, while Adams's has diminished. It is clear that Jefferson was more popular than Adams when they lived; he was more popular when they died; and he is more popular now. To point out these facts is not bias.

The author does not hold Adams in contempt. He goes to great lengths to show that Adams's knowledge on the nature of governments was second to none. He also points out that one of the reasons Jefferson was (and is) more liked is because he told people what they wanted to hear (that Americans are exceptional people), while Adams told people what they needed to know (that Americans are not exceptional, and that they are capable of losing their way of life if they are not vigilant about protecting it).

Reading the book made gave me a greater appreciation for Adams than I had before; and I firmly believe he deserves a National Monument alongside Jefferson's.

Lastly, this book does a great job in revealing that the founding fathers were just as divided on the issues as are the politicians of today. Too often people say things like "the founding fathers believed..." as if they all believed the same things. This book shows that their opinions differed greatly and that they were always in a state of flux, to the point where what they believed in 1776 was very different from what they believed later in life.