Take a photo of a barcode or cover
platte1836's review
3.0
Lots of recent John & Abigail books; not sure what this one contributes that the others didn't.
john_ridley's review against another edition
4.0
Very good look into a driven but somewhat troubled founding father and Abigail, an amazing woman, and their wonderful relationship. That's a lot of superlatives but I stand behind them :)
j_laws_tagg's review
4.0
A good, but not wholly great look at the Adams and their relationship. I'm sure it's due to the lack of historical record of women at the time, but I still felt that Abigail was underrepresented. Still on the whole it was an insightful look into the intimate lives of the most influential Revolutionary couple. It's sad to see how their (really John's) dedication to the revolutionary cause harmed their children's lives (two of their sons died of alcoholism) and it made me ask myself if it was worth it. I don't think I have a good answer to that question.
karakane's review
4.0
Another take on the Adams family- one.with a focus on the domestic side of their lives. Not as good as the mccullough book.
hcampbell28's review against another edition
4.0
If you are interested in the relationship between John and Abigail Adams this would be a great place to start. While the book does focus on the political atmosphere surrounding the Adams’ it always comes back to the family. Ellis uses many, many excerpts from John and Abigail’s letters to illustrate for us in vivid details their undying devotion to their family and to each other. We get to see how politically savvy Abigail was and how much of an advisor she was for John through her own words. These letters provided great insight into their lives from their own mouths without the need for interpretation.
This book definitely has a pro-Adams slant when it comes to looking at his presidency. Now he is often looked at as a somewhat ineffective president even though he had played a large role in the forming of the fledgling country. In his book, Ellis chooses to look at the Adams presidency from the perspective of the time in which he was living rather than from the present. This leaves the reader with a more positive viewpoint.
A great amount of time was spent on the intricacies of the Adams/Jefferson relationship. The author seems to portray Jefferson in more of a negative light than Adams. He even goes as far as discussing how Jefferson may have committed treasonous acts while Vice President. As I haven’t yet read his book on Jefferson I don’t know if this is a constant bias of if just in the situation of comparing the two men.
The one negative for me while reading this book was that the author seemed to beat the proverbial dead horse on the point of John and Abigail knowing that their letters and writings would be read by posterity and that they were posturing for history in their letters. This concept came up innumerable times – after the first two times I got it.
As I said before, this would be a great book for those who are looking for more on the relationship of the Adams family and to a lesser extent the politics. I plan on reading another book on John Adams to get more of the political, but I would certainly read more by this author.
I don’t really have a lot to say about the narration here. It was well read but doesn't stand out remarkably in my head even a few days after completing the book. It might be better off to read this one in physical book form.
This book definitely has a pro-Adams slant when it comes to looking at his presidency. Now he is often looked at as a somewhat ineffective president even though he had played a large role in the forming of the fledgling country. In his book, Ellis chooses to look at the Adams presidency from the perspective of the time in which he was living rather than from the present. This leaves the reader with a more positive viewpoint.
A great amount of time was spent on the intricacies of the Adams/Jefferson relationship. The author seems to portray Jefferson in more of a negative light than Adams. He even goes as far as discussing how Jefferson may have committed treasonous acts while Vice President. As I haven’t yet read his book on Jefferson I don’t know if this is a constant bias of if just in the situation of comparing the two men.
The one negative for me while reading this book was that the author seemed to beat the proverbial dead horse on the point of John and Abigail knowing that their letters and writings would be read by posterity and that they were posturing for history in their letters. This concept came up innumerable times – after the first two times I got it.
As I said before, this would be a great book for those who are looking for more on the relationship of the Adams family and to a lesser extent the politics. I plan on reading another book on John Adams to get more of the political, but I would certainly read more by this author.
I don’t really have a lot to say about the narration here. It was well read but doesn't stand out remarkably in my head even a few days after completing the book. It might be better off to read this one in physical book form.
carolineskokie's review against another edition
1.0
I was very disappointed in this particular Ellis book, which is a mere summary of the relationship between John and Abigail Adams. For those interested in this revolutionary couple, a much better read is David McCollough's "John Adams". Everything in the Ellis book on John and Abigail's relationship is in the McCullough book, as well as more information than Ellis included. I wish I had not bought this as an e-book. If I had the print version, I could sell it back.
rebecca76's review
3.0
A book that looks at the intimate relationship, partnership of one of America's founding couples. This book shows the private struggles and thoughts of a couple as a country is born. John's torn loyalty between family man and patriotic duty and the guilt he carried for choosing Country. Abigail's desire to have her partner home and her duty to his career and the new country, choosing country and accepting long absents and depression as the price . Showing people often seen as remote, flirting, discussing mundane topics, worrying about family and discussing the fate of a new nation. This book makes hisorical figures human, their grief as their children died before them, their joy in each other, their worry over the future and finally the loss of a spouse reminds us The Great Founding Generation were humans often making it up as they went along.
bargainsleuth's review
2.0
I was lucky enough to borrow this audiobook from the library's Libby app. I always enjoy reading about Abigail Adams and her husband, John.
Since I've already read David McCullough's masterpiece, as well as two biographies of Abigail Adams, plus Cokie Roberts' Founding Mothers, I really didn't think this book added much to the conversation. It was interesting to see the couple tackled as such, but I thought the author was a bit condescending toward Abigail. The woman took care of the household, farm, and all concerns ALONE while her husband was going about the business of building a federal republic.
Since I've already read David McCullough's masterpiece, as well as two biographies of Abigail Adams, plus Cokie Roberts' Founding Mothers, I really didn't think this book added much to the conversation. It was interesting to see the couple tackled as such, but I thought the author was a bit condescending toward Abigail. The woman took care of the household, farm, and all concerns ALONE while her husband was going about the business of building a federal republic.