Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution [Paperback]

John Ferling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2002

Setting the World Ablaze is the story of the American Revolution and of the three Founders who played crucial roles in winning the War of Independence and creating a new nation: George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Braiding three strands into one rich narrative, John Ferling brings these American icons down from their pedestals to show them as men of flesh and blood, and in doing so gives us a new understanding of the passion and uncertainty of the struggle to form a new nation.
A leading historian of the Revolutionary era, Ferling draws upon an unsurpassed command of the primary sources and a talent for swiftly moving narrative to give us intimate views of each of these men. He shows us both the overarching historical picture of the era and a gripping sense of how these men encountered the challenges that faced them. We see Washington, containing a profound anger at British injustice within an austere demeanor; Adams, far from home, struggling with severe illness and French duplicity in his crucial negotiations in Paris; and Jefferson, distracted and indecisive, confronting uncertainties about his future in politics. John Adams, in particular, emerges from the narrative as the most under-appreciated hero of the Revolution, while Jefferson is revealed as the most overrated, yet most eloquent, of the Founders. Setting the World Ablaze shows in dramatic detail how these conservative men--successful members of the colonial elite--were transformed into radical revolutionaries.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting the World Ablaze is the story of the three men who, perhaps more than any others, helped bring the United States into being: George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Weaving their three life stories into one narrative, John E. Ferling delivers a genuine and intimate illustration of them and, in doing so, gives us a new understanding of the passion and uncertainty of the struggle to form a new nation.

The three sections of Ferling's study chronologically examine major epochs in the lives of the three men: youth and early adulthood, the years surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and finally, defeat of the British in the Revolutionary War. Through the medium of comparative biography, Setting the World Ablaze attempts to link personal and impersonal elements in the contours of the American Revolution and the war that accompanied it. A professor of History at the State University of West Georgia and a leading scholar of the Revolutionary era, Ferling draws on a firm command of primary sources and his own expertise of the period to examine fundamental issues critical to our understanding of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, as well as of the historical period. He abandons the standard iconography and focuses instead on what motivated and inspired these three men as human beings. For example, what forces shaped each of the three during his youth, what was each like as a mature young man before public affairs and fame changed everything, and what determined their behavior as activists? John Adams emerges from the narrative as the most underappreciated hero of the Revolution, while Jefferson is revealed as the most eloquent but also most overrated of the Founders. Personal anecdotes from all periods of their lives add to Ferling's already rich portrait and give the reader a unique sense of how Washington, Adams, and Jefferson negotiated the many challenges they encountered throughout their lives. --Bertina Loeffler Sedlack --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In barely more than 300 pages of text, Ferling (history, State Univ. of West Georgia; The First of Men: A Life of George Washington; John Adams: A Life) manages to offer a solid and interesting comparative biography of the three men who were, in his view, the most important leaders of the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson was the "pen," John Adams the "tongue," and George Washington the "sword." Ferling's command of the material is sure-footed, though note everyone will agree with is views. Admirers of Benjamin Franklin will wonder why he is not ranked with these three men; moreover, Franklin will wonder why he is not ranked with these three men: moreover, Franklin scholars will object to the denigration of their man and the elevation of Adams in Ferling's discussion of the most peace settlement at the end of the hostilities. Ferling maintains that John Adams is the most underrated of the Founding Fathers, whereas Thomas Jefferson is the most overrated. He argues his point well, and his book is sure to cause some lively debates among general readers as well as specialists. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
T.J. Schaeper, St. Bonaventure Univ., NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195150848
• ISBN-13: 978-0195150841
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #519,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( A ) > Adams, John

More About the Author

John Ferling is a leading authority on late 18th and early 19th century American history. He is the author of many books, including Independence, The Ascent of George Washington, Almost a Miracle, Setting the World Ablaze, and A Leap in the Dark. To learn more, please visit his website: www.johnferling.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jeffersonians Beware!, August 27, 2000

By 

Galvin (S.I., New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution (Hardcover)

An excellent biography of the three leading fugures of the American Revolution. Ferling makes a compelling case to restore the reputation of John Adams to its rightful place. Adams deserves to be remembered as more than a grumpy counter-figure to Jefferson's optimism. The author also strongly attacks Jefferson by calling into question the lack of leadership evidenced by Jefferson throughout the Revolutionary years. Committment was provided by Adams and Washington when things looked bleak. When Jefferson was tending his vines at Monticello, Washington led troops and Adams served around the world. If you are interested in the Early Republic, this is a must read! You may disagree with his conclusions but they are well argued and refreshing.

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incendiaries of Freedom, November 15, 2000

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution (Hardcover)

So many books have already been published about the American Revolution as well as about Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. Ferling brilliantly analyzes all three towering figures within a specific historical context, to be sure, but also in terms of each other. He creates and then explores a matrix of juxtapositions between and among them, comparing and contrasting all three in relation to each other but also in relation to the historical context on which each had such a profound impact. What Ferling has created is both a history book of panoramic scope and a trilogy of interrelated (and to some extent interdependent) biographies. It is so well-written that I often thought I was reading a novel.

Since childhood, I have viewed certain books as "magic carpets." I include Ferling's book among them. It transported me back more than 200 years and deposited me amidst the brave and brilliant men who were about to set the world "ablaze" with their incendiary passion for an independence soon to be declared and eventually to be achieved. Ferling guides his reader through this highly combustible process. Of special interest to me is Ferling's presentation of Adams (characterized as the "Bulwark" of the American Revolution), a founding father not always mentioned in the same breath with Washington and Jefferson. With all due respect to Jefferson's accomplishments, Ferling concludes the final chapter with this observation: "To the end, he was incapable of accepting the reality of his culpability in the perpetuation and expansion of African slavery and the danger it now posed to the achievements of the American Revolution." And then in the Epilogue, Ferling asserts that the Revolutionary generation "was indeed fortunate to have had Washington and Adams as its greatest stewards and shepherds."

If you have a keen interest in the War for Independence and, especially, in those who led the new nation through and beyond that war, there is this magic carpet I know about....

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, Great on Adams, But Fundamentally Flawed, February 27, 2001

By 

C. Perelli-Minetti (Old Greenwich, CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution (Hardcover)

This is a book that most readers will thoroughly enjoy, especially as it purports to bring a new 'twist' to our views of the revolutionary period. For the most part, it is well written, and Ferling annotates heavily to primary source material. So, why don't I love the book? Two, perhaps three, major flaws stand out in my view:

1. Ferling attributes to the protagonists characters motivated primarily by a desire for 'social mobility' - a concept which would surely have been alien to all three of Washington, Jefferson and Adams since the term first appeared in an essay of Frederick Jackson Turner (of the famous 'frontier thesis') published around the turn of the 20th century. Ambitious, they surely were, but as Christopher Lasch points out in some of his late essays, notions of advancement in the 18th & 19th centuries were very different from what we think of as social mobility today. This, I think, detracts from an otherwise insightful read on Adams, and to some extent, Washington.

2. In the end, Ferling evaluates the characters of the three men primarily in terms of there reaction to and views of slavery. Surely, it was an issue, but to pass judgement on the founders based on modern notions of what consititute politically correct views of slavery seriously mars Ferling's work as professional history.

3. The book is highly partisan against Jefferson -- whether this is because Ferling is an Adams partisan or dislikes Jefferson on slavery or what-have-you, it is as negative a case against Jefferson as one will see since he was attacked while in office by the Federalists. I suppose whether this is a flaw or not depends on ones view of Jefferson, but I think a more balanced and nuanced treatment of Jefferson would significantly improve the book.

I recently reread Gore Vidal's Aaron Burr, which was exceptionally vitriolic on both Washington and Jefferson (being told from Burr's viewpoint) and Ferling is hardly easier on Washington (other than attributing better motives) and as hard on Jefferson. Those seeking historical balance won't find it here, but only those who already have a good command of the material will be able to see where Ferling strays from judicious use of original source material into blatantly partisan analysis based on modern categories and political agenda.