From Publishers Weekly
Continuing the astonishing adventure begun in Both Sides of the Ocean (1982), Chalfant's towering biography follows indefatigable Henry Adams (1838-1915) in his diverse roles as a power-broker in Washington, D.C., Harvard professor, historian, muckraking journalist who exposed financier Jay Gould's swindles, diplomat, novelist, world traveler and ethnologist of Tahiti. In an often startling, continually absorbing narrative, professor emeritus Chalfant (Hofstra Univ., N.Y.) discusses the positive influence of Adams's egalitarian marriage to vivacious Marian ("Clover") Hooper, whose suicide in 1885, resulting from her mental illness, shattered him. Tapping family documents, Chalfant discloses that Adams respected his wife's decision to end her life; a professed agnostic, he remained a religious believer and prayed in secret. We also meet an unconditional democrat who quietly urged policymakers to initiate federal programs to redistribute wealth and close the widening gap between rich and poor. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This second of Chalfant's projected three-volume life of Adams appears more than a decade after the first ( Both Sides of the Ocean , LJ 10/1/82). Of the many single-volume treatments of Adams's intricate life that have appeared in the same period, Chalfant's is clearly the most comprehensive. Chalfant covers the core years of Adams's life and career, showing how Adams's work as a Harvard professor and the author of the influential History of the United States related to his personal and political lives. Unfortunately, the very depth of Adams's ideas and the author's immense accomplishment in detailing them will likely limit the readership of his biography to scholars. Nonetheless, the publisher deserves credit for sticking with this endeavor to enlighten us about one of the fascinating public and private figures of American history.
- Charles K. Piehl, Mankato State Univ., Minn.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Charles K. Piehl, Mankato State Univ., Minn.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
