Customer Reviews

Samuel Adams: The Father of American Independence

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My wife and I like to read books on American history to our sons (ages 7 and 8) and were absolutely delighted with this book. Samuel Adams was one of the most important of the patriot leaders, but one about whom little is said these days. That is too bad because no one was a truer, more consistent believer in freedom than he was. Samuel Adams opposed England's taxes and mercantilist trade restrictions; he was just as vociferous an opponent of slavery. Fraidin's writing is clear and easily understood by children, but this is not a childish book. The parents enjoyed and got as much out of it as did the children did. If you think it is important for young Americans to know the history and philosophy of our independence, this book is one give them.

Although this is a children's book, it is "must reading" for any adult who wants to re-energize their enthusiasm for the origin of America. I got this book for my grandchildren, but after reading it myself, decided that it's an adult book as well.

The author has succeeded in making the reader understand the genius of Samuel Adams of Boston. The type of grassroots politics practiced by Adams and other patriots, clearly is as valid today as in theirs.

Always focused upon the ultimate goal, "the last Puritan" was given the title by his peers of "the father of American independence". Author Fradin has been successful in pointing out why Adams deserves the title.

The story is breathtaking. If I had one wish regarding this wonderful book, it would be that every American child hears or reads the story. They would be better Americans for it.

Thanks to Dennis Fradin for writing it. I was so impressed with it, that after reading it I called the author to personally thank him.

An exciting experience awaits young and old when they pick up this book.

Although this is a children's book, it is "must reading" for any adult who wants to re-energize their enthusiasm for the origin of America. I got this book for my grandchildren, but after reading it myself, decided that it's an adult book as well.

The author has succeeded in making the reader understand the genius of Samual Adams of Boston. The type of grassroots politics practiced by Adams and other patriots, clearly is as valid today as in theirs.

Always focused upon the ultimate goal, "the last Puritan" was given the title by his peers of "the father of American independence". Author Fradin has been successful in pointing out why Adams deserves the title.

The story is breathtaking. If I had one wish regarding this wonderful book, it would be that every American child hears or reads the story. They would be better Americans for it.

Thanks to Dennis Fradin for writing it. I was so impressed with it, that after reading it I called the author to personally thank him.

Dennis Fradin's book on Samuel (as he was known in his time, not "Sam") Adams was a pleasure to read. Although it seems to have been written for high school students, its 170 pages of text really got to the heart of who Samuel Adams was and why we owe him a debt of gratitude.

In short, more than any other colonist, he worked the hardest and most effectively to convince the colonies that they needed to obtain independence from Britain. He successfully orchestrated the Boston Tea Party raid as a propaganda stunt and published thousands of letters during his lifetime advocating independence. He also convinced the super rich John Hancock to join the independence effort and was responsible for organizing the first Continental Congress more than any one else.

The book also begins to explain who he was a a person and what happened to him after we won the war and his personal fame diminished. These aspects of his life were just as interesting.

The book is very well written, and read easily.

This was a great book for a teenager or an adult looking for a fairly quick overview of the life and work of Samuel Adams. I read it in a few nights, and several house guests enjoyed it as well. Anyone with an interest in the American Revolution, and the ideas that inspired it, will benefit greatly from this book. This book makes me want to read more, which I'd say is a good thing.

Reading some other comments, I will note that the portrayal of Samuel Adams as a terrorist is wildly unfair and unfounded (this is not the assertion of this book's author, by the way, but other historians have made this point). Rabble-rouser? Yes. Revolutionary? Of course! But, from what I've read, some have tried to connect every barbarous tar and feathering, every street fight in Boston over the course of a decade, to Samuel Adams, because of his leadership status in the city, but this is without evidence and fits a "neat" template of those that wish to paint a certain picture of this man. God only knows the full story, but don't believe assertions that are not based on fact!

This is a biography of Samuel Adams for young readers and it is, quite properly, a "hagiography" - the tale of a saintly hero of radical values, including freedom and social equality. Adams's unhesitating commitment to the cause of American Independence is aligned with his opposition to the slave trade and to other acceptable socially liberal positions. On that basis, it's a fine book for those young readers, especially those whose parents or teachers have tried to tell them that the American Revolution was essentially conservative.

However, not only was the American Revolution fomented and conducted on radical anti-hierarchical principles, but also leaders like Sam Adams and John Hancock were far from temporizing conservatives. The shortcoming of this book is the failure to accurately portray the "extremism" of the Sons of Liberty, not just in Massachusetts but throughout the thirteen colonies. Adams's leading role in the Sons of Liberty is qualified and minimized, and his role in the destruction of property called The Boston Tea Party is made to seem quite jolly and respectable. (Take a look at the book "The Shoemaker and the Tea Party'). The effigy burnings, the ransacking of government officials' homes, the brawls in the street, the burning of the British ship Gaspee, etc. before 1774 were followed, in the early years of the Revolution, by tar-and-featherings, arson, and innumerable acts of intimidation directed against "loyalists" and legal British authorities, as the Sons of Liberty transformed themselves in "Committees on Safety". In short, the American Revolution was launched by a calculated campaign of terrorism, and Samuel Adams was the Founding Terrorist.

Time to rinse off the whitewash!

Seeing some of the things he did, in the light of the modern media, shows it's not just a modern problem. Mr Adams would make things up to incite the colonies to rebel.

Who would have thought that a man with such an image was a gang leader, an instigator, a trouble maker and by todays standards could be charged as a terrorist. This was Samuel Adams as this biography tells it. This shows that one man's terrorist is another man's hero. It is amazing that Samuel could get so many people to follow him in such an idealistic venture as a countries independence. I do not think he could do it today, in America, because of the attitude of the populace. We are complacent now, maybe then they weren't. I think the were of the bent of Australian prisoners in Australia. They would fight over the smallest thing, thinking they were being persecuted. It is a well written book full of the history of one man who will live in history.

I'll admit that I picked Sam Adams to do my report on for my American Political Thought class because well, the man made beer! But as it turns out he not only made beer but he founded the United States as well. WHO KNEW?! Here I thought I was buying this book to learn about a totally rock'n dude that partied with Spud McKenzie and George Washington and I got a well devised thesis of an extraordinary man's life. I would recommend buying the book and drinking it up.