Adopted Son: The Life, Wit & Wisdom of William Wirt, 1772-1834 [Paperback]

Gregory Kurt Glassner (Author), Eugene J. McCarthy (Foreword)

Product Details

• Paperback: 161 pages
• Publisher: Gregory K. and Hardy Glassner (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570873283
• ISBN-13: 978-1570873287
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,272,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A thorough, yet very readable biography., August 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Adopted Son: The Life, Wit & Wisdom of William Wirt, 1772-1834 (Paperback)

As a resident of New Hampshire and High School Guidance Counselor, I became interested in William Wirt because of his involvement in the Dartmouth College Case. (Wirt represented New Hampshire, Daniel Webster the College). After reading this biography, I discovered that there was much more to Wirt than the law. Orphaned at age 7, Wirt was self educated and became a practicing attorney at age 20 in Madison County, Virginia. There he became a friend of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe, who encouraged the young man to excel in many fields. Wirt wrote "Letters of the British Spy" and an oft-quoted first biography of Patrick Henry. Wirt also wrote thousands of personal letters which were preserved. The author excerpts the most interesting portions of these letters to Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Dabney Carr, St. George Tucker and others in this well-witten book. Before his death, Wirt ran for president in 1832 (winning only Vermont), and attempted to form a sugar cane "colony" (Wirtland) in Florida, using German immigrants as an alternative to African-American slaves. I found Wirt a fascinating historical figure and this book a well-researched and easy-to-read biography.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent study by an amateur historian, November 12, 2004

By 

Megan "Megan" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adopted Son: The Life, Wit & Wisdom of William Wirt, 1772-1834 (Paperback)

Though his name is unfamiliar today, in the early years of the 19th Century William Wirt was usually mentioned alongside Daniel Webster as the greatest orator of the day. This is only the second biography of him ever written (the first was written the the 19th century and is rather fawning, and I'm not including the excellent study of his marriage done a few years back), and it is about time that someone paid attention to this remarkable man.

Though I really got the impression that Mr. Glassner is an amateur historian, someone should just skip the preliminaries and give him a PhD. His research is impeccable, and his writing style is clear and concise. This is the type of book that amateur historians always assume that they're writing, though they rarely actually do.

Anyone who is interested in early American history, legal history, the early years of the Supreme Court, or Jacksonian politics should read this book. Please, please don't hold the fact that it's by an amateur and self-published against it... it is an excellent book and worth reading. William Wirt needs to be rediscovered!