Customer Reviews

John Adams: Party of One

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John Adams is going through a bit of a revival these days-a development about which he no doubt would be both pleased and puzzled. This is the third Adams biography I have read in the past year, also taking in the recent books by John Diggins and David McCullough.

All three books give Adams his due-something largely denied him in his own time. They capture the iconoclastic nature of his personality as well as his intellectual power and accomplishments. Diggins focuses on Adam's Presidency, so his narrative is somewhat restricted, and , in fact, his style is as well. McCullough on the other hand is his devilishly detailed self, sometimes to the extent of burdening the reader with more than he cares-or needs-to really know about things incredibly trivial and marginal to the story at hand.

For my money, this biography by Grant is the best produced so far. I believe it does the best job of truly capturing the essence of Adams-his powers, his struggles, his insecurities, as well as capturing the total picture of both his personal and professional lives.

At 530 pages, the book is expansive enough for the true historical aficionado without becoming tedious to the more casual historical reader. Moreover, grant is more oft able to put forward a fresher, more energetic view than is the more plodding and cumbersome McCullough.

In the end, once one has finished the book, it's truly hard not to admire Adams for his accomplishments and his truly unique story. At the same time, it's also hard not to admire Mr. grant for finally putting out such a spectacular biography for a man who truly deserved one.

An excellent book through and through.

Over the last decade or so there has been a great revival of interest in John Adams and a corresponding positive reevaluation of his accomplishments. Much of this renewed popular interest in our second president has been due to David McCullough's best selling biography and it is therefore hard not to compare this work to Mr. McCullough's excellent tome. Doing so would reveal that the McCullough book is more folksy, easier to read and gives the reader a much more warm feeling toward Mr. Adams while Mr. Grant is much more to the point, academic and does not hesitate to point out his subject's flaws.

John Adams' most notable fault, besides his well-known ego and stubbornness is his virulent anti-Catholicism which is notably absent from other biographies. The loathing he feels for all things Catholic is by no means an attractive feature of Adams' personality and Mr. Grant is to be commended for not glossing over this blot on the Adams legacy. While this kind of bigotry was by no means unusual for those times, especially in Puritan New England, a man of Adams' stature and intelligence should have risen above such sentiments.

Otherwise, Grant paints a very engaging picture of Adams, a man who in most respects I can relate to in many ways. Like Adams, I am most happy at home surrounded by my books and this love of books is a distinguishing trait of Adams' personality. As is his love for the simple life of a farmer, a trait that Grant brings to life with a story from London. It seems that during Adams' time as Minister to the Court of St. James someone noticed the diplomat walking along with his head down in what the observer took to be a state of deep thought. Grant checked Adam's diary for that day and found that the future president was looking down at the manure along the street and mentally comparing it's quality to the quality of the manure produced on his Massachusetts farm. He found the London manure to be inferior. While more academic than the McCullough book, this book is not without it's folksy stories.

Mr. Grant has concentrated on Adams' service during the Revolutionary period and there was plenty of service to concentrate on. Adams' work in the Continental Congress and as a diplomat clearly places him on a level with Washington and Franklin as a founding father. Moreover, Adams, unlike Washington and Franklin, was not a wealthy man and he sacrificed his most productive years to his country. At one point saving America from financial ruin while almost going under himself. Grant does a masterful job of portraying Adams' role in this period and shows that the Revolution might have had a very different outcome if it weren't for John Adams. The people of the United States owe this man a great deal more than most people realize and this book makes that fact abundantly clear.

All in all this is a good book that I found very enjoyable. There is very little time spent on the Adams presidency or his twenty-five years of retirement but that can be found elsewhere. There probably should have been a little more attention paid to Adams' complicated relationship with Thomas Jefferson for that relationship reveals a great deal about both men. That too however, can be found elsewhere. The writing is clear and easy to read except that the author has a tendency to rely a little too much on quotes, especially early in the book. There is nothing wrong with quotes but many writers have a tendency to string too many of them close together and to use some that are far too long. This tends to cause the text to bog down and despite what some writers think, it contributes nothing to the reader's feel for the times. Still, this is a very readable, informative and truthful biography of John Adams and is a book that I am happy to add to my surroundings.

One might not expect a veteran economic journalist to produce one of the best biographies of John Adams ever written. But JOHN ADAMS: PARTY OF ONE defies expectations again and again, just as John Adams did. Written with clarity and grace, with respect for the primary sources and the existing historical and biographical scholarship on Adams and his time, JOHN ADAMS: PARTY OF ONE is an excellent study of its subject. Grant is particularly astute in his analysis of a focus of Adams's diplomatic activities during the 1780s -- his negotiations and renegotiations of the many loans that helped finance the new nation's quest for independence and its struggles to survive in the community of nations. Grant's dubbing of Adams as "America's premier junk bond salesman" is both funny and precise. The main advantages that Grant's book has over that by McCullough are that Grant's book is shorter, clearer, not at all filled with its own importance, and willing to take John Adams seriously both as a politician and a political thinker. Grant is willing to do the hard intellectual and writing work to convey to general readers the context of Adams's thought, the substance of his ideas, and the differences between his political philosophy and those of his contemporaries, including Jefferson and Paine. Even if you invested in McCullough's tome, buy and read this book. It is one of the best books on its subject ever written, having a great deal to say to general readers and to scholars alike.

James Grant has written one of the most readable biographies I have ever come across. I was never interested in John Adams before (why I'm not sure) and even tended to make light of him in my own novel (if in no other way than that he only slightly appears), but a friend of mine is a big fan of Adams and when I saw this book, it seemed a good chance to spark conversation with him.

Rather than rehash what has been said by other reviewers, I want to commend Grant for placing his historical comments in context. Rather than trying to explain Adams from a 21st century perspective while pretending not to, when Grant injects a 21st century persective (i.e. Adams' stand on slavery or his "progression of faith") he says so within the text. This, I thought, was a more honest way for him to make such comparisons than is found in so many modern writings.

Grant is also an expert on finances and he made the fiscal problems of the Revolutionary era interesting in a way it never had been for me before. An excellent book!

John Adams: Party of One by James Grant is a different look at John Adams than the recent bestseller from historian David McCullough. Grant does often quote from primary sources, but not nearly to the extent that McCullough did. This should make the biography less challenging to readers that found the frequent shifts between McCullough's modern style and primary sources difficult. However, Grant makes the text less accessible by some use of vocabulary unfamiliar to the general audience.

The book is worth reading because it gives a look at Adams using primary sources that have not been available previously just as the next Adams biography will do (the Massachusetts Historical Society has spent years compiling Adams' papers and has yet to complete the task). Grant goes out of his way to give a balanced look at John Adams. In some matters, he is highly supportive of Adams' efforts and methods, such as securing loans in The Netherlands. In others, Grant is highly critical of Adams such as his lack of tact as a diplomat. Granted, that particular opinion will not get much argument. One thing that is unusual for most recent biographies, Grant often discusses Adams' faith and religion, keeping its presense throughout the biography unlike, for example, Walter Stahr's biography of John Jay where his noted strong faith disappears for chapters at a time.

As already mentioned, Grant's style does not lend itself to a general audience, at least one that does not wish to have a dictionary handy. Grant brings a highly analytical style, which makes this biography more than a simple narration of Adams' life. The danger with this is that the objectivity can be lost in favor of only citing sources that support a particular point of view. Grant slips into this commentary several times, which could be a distraction if one does not enjoys this style of biography. The stylistic issues raised in the preceding can be considered positives or negatives depending on the reader's own personal preference.

In this reviewer's opinion, this biography of John Adams will not appeal to everyone. It will be heartily enjoyed by some for its analytical and direct style, but may be a disappointment to others who are looking for a milder approach. However, this reviewer endorses an attempt at reading this biography because of the quantity and perhaps quality of what it has to offer.

Written with clarity and grace, supported by thorough research, and characterized throughout by scholarly care and respect for both primary and secondary sources, this is the large biography of John Adams to read. It is half the length of David McCullough's tome, but far more scrupulous in its treatment of Adams, especially in its engagement with the rich historical scholarship on the subject. Even an expert can learn from this admirable book, and I did.

James Grant is a wonderful story teller. In a single book he explains the reasons for the American Revolution, the complex politics of the new country, and the genuis and failings of stubborn, idealistic man who desperately wanted his new country to succeed. On top of that, he manages to make his readers undertand the warmth, humanity, and determination of John Adams, and his family. I had never read a book about Adams before, but I was fascinated. I sent a copy to my 78 year old mother who has never read a history book before. She could not put it down, and finished it with tears in her eyes. Grant's account makes you love Adams and love America.

James Grant provides a refreshing new analysis of John Adams that captures his role in the revolution accurately. Adams developed as his own party throughout the years following the revolution. This book can truly stand on its own and covers all the years of Adams life. From his law days in Boston, to the drafting of the Massachusetts constitution to his years as a diplomat in Europe the early years are well covered. The second half looks closer at his time in high political office from vice presidency to presidency to the retirement years. Overall it tracks closely the integral characters of his life. From Abigail to John Quincy to Alexander Hamilton the author develops each well and shows how they impacted John Adams. The one drawback is there are a lot of modern references which are not needed however they are not enough to knock a full star off. If you want a new perspective on John Adams this is a great way to go.

After David McCullough brought the second president into vogue with his wonderful "John Adams," one might wonder what James Grant could contribute in "Party of One." McCullough is a superb writer who has a knack for narrating history as a series of engaging stories. While Grant doesn't top him in this area, he's no slouch. He lacks McCullough's literary flair, but those who prefer a straight biography (without so much adoration for the subject) will likely be happier with "Party of One."

Grant manages to do his work a few hundred pages faster than McCullough. He gives more emphasis to Adams' importance as a diplomat and--as he calls him--a junk bond trader. Grant gives rich, yet clear, descriptions of the loans Adams brokered and provides an understanding of how vital those loans were to the illiquid new nation. He examines Adams' writings and his political philosophies. He also discusses Adams' personal finance and points out how much a life of civil service cost a man who would have otherwise been quite wealthy.

Because of the areas they emphasize and their manner of doing so, Grant and McCullough provide complimentary portrayals of "His Rotundity." There's room enough for both of them.

I found a lot here not available in other recent books about John Adams, and I read one chapter in this book then a chapter in a longer book. Two examples on information covered only here are details of the loans he arranged in Europe after teaching himself the financial trade, and his role in the beginning of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

This is not a shorter version of a more detailed book, but a complete biography by an author with expert knowledge of the financial world of John Adams. I recommend this book to anyone interested in John Adams.