History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson (Library of America) [Hardcover]

Henry Adams (Author)

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About the Author

Born in 1838 into one of the oldest and most distinguished families in Boston, a family which had produced two American presidents, Henry Adams had the opportunity to pursue a wide-ranging variety of intellectual interests during the course of his life. Functioning both in the world of practical men and afffairs (as a journalist and an assistant to his father, who was an American diplomat in Washinton and London), and in the world of ideas (as a prolific writer, the editor of the prestigious North American Review, and a professor of medieval, european, and American history at Harvard), Adams was one of the few men of his era who attempted to understand art, thought, culture, and history as one complex force field of interacting energies. His two masterworks in this dazzling effort are Mont Saint Michel and Chartres and The Education of Henry Adams, published one after the other in 1904 and 1907. Taken together they may be read as Adams' spiritual autobiography—two monumental volumes in which he attempts to bring together into a vast synthesis all of his knowledge of politics, economics, psychology, science, philosophy, art, and literature in order to attempt to understand the individual's place in history and society. They constitute one of the greatest historical and philosophical meditations on the human condition in all of literature.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1308 pages
• Publisher: Library of America (July 4, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940450348
• ISBN-13: 978-0940450349
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #500,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brings History to Life, July 2, 2000

By 

James P (Darien, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson (Library of America) (Hardcover)

In my mind, this is the best, most comprehensive, erudite and witty history of the administration of Jefferson. Although the length may scare some off, it is well worth the time and effort.

Adams spends a great deal of time examining foreign affairs. There are a few simple reasons for this. The wars between England, France and Spain had a direct and major impact on the growth of the US, and their conflicts were the conflicts of the US. Secondly, the federal government of the US, at the time, was devoted mostly to foreign affairs.

This is a political history. Do not look for descriptions on how the common people lived. Do not look for an inquiry into how women were treated, nor a disquisition on slavery. Do not expect much discussion on Sally Hemmings.

If however, you are looking for an in-depth analysis of a critical time in US history, a well-written, often funny book, read this book.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable achievement, January 26, 2003

By 

Michael Green "mrclay2000" (OKLAHOMA CITY, OK United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson (Library of America) (Hardcover)

Adams' work here ranks with Macaulay and Carlyle in terms of telling an intricate history through the private letters and conversations of the players involved. From the first pages where he describes the America over which Jefferson presided, Adams clearly defines idealogies and principles as they were defended and practiced by the Federalists and Republicans of the day. Throughout Jefferson's two terms, the president was forced to abandon favorite principles and to defend others that were ulimately (if not immediately) untenable. Through skillful hands we watch how moods changed and policies switched, and how the main characters attempted to reconcile their inconsistencies. Jefferson hoped to expose the wrongfulness of Federalist policies, yet wound up forwarding the same tenets in his management. The President who rose to such a height of popularity and power left the office as disgraced and as generally disliked as any Chief Executive before or after. A masterful work about eight important and formative years in the early republic.

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best diplomatic history of early America, November 15, 2001

By 

Jon L. Albee "Faulkner Wannabe" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson (Library of America) (Hardcover)

Even though it was written in the 1880s, this is the best history of early American diplomacy yet written. It is important to mention that this is primarily a diplomatic history, and it certainly reflects the author's interest and family history in foreign affairs. Adams has meticulously researched all matters of State and diplomacy, but he has reserved the topics of culture, economics, and education for far more subjective analysis. It becomes obvious early in the text that Adams is highly deferential to Great Britain, and the young American republic is constantly compared and trivialized, in contrapuntal regularity, against the great European powers. Adams has a lot to say about America's poverty, provincialism, and anti-intellectualism when compared to England, France, and Russia. American culture cringe pervades the text. While frequently accurate, he drives the point to excess: America becomes somewhat of a play-thing for the imperial ambitions of Europe. We're treated to page after page of material on the British ambassadors. In short, this is probably the kind of American history we would have expected Henry James and T. S. Eliot to have read, the kind that gets all the facts and dates right but can't conceal the author's sincere desire to be English.