John Adams and the American Revolution (Hardcover)

~ Catherine Drinker Bowen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

In these loving pages Adams comes to life once again...It is a great achievement. -- Henry Steele Commager, New York Times Book Review

Product Description

In this highly praised biography of the formative years of the America's second president, Mrs. Bowen portrays John Adams within the context of colonial America and examines the momentous events that forged a new nation and the character of our second president. This is an old-fashioned biography, beautifully written, passionately interested in its subject. Mrs. Bowen's primary aim is to convey the temper of mind and intellectual curiosity of a man who many consider the most brilliant individual to have ever held the high office of the presidency.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 698 pages
• Publisher: William S. Konecky Associates (December 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568523734
• ISBN-13: 978-1568523736
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,134,854 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent biography of John Adams, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: John Adams and the American Revolution (Hardcover)

This book was an excellent portrait of how John Adams matured over the years from age 10 up until the signing of the Declaration of Independence, particularly how a loyal British subject became one of the primary movers of separation from the British Crown. It is a great narrative describing the slow movement from loyal individual colonies to a united country. Significant historical figures are included with more than a passing mention since they were colleagues of his, including Sam Adams, Thomas Hutchison and many more. It reads like an historical novel, not a textbook. If you want to get an interesting flavor for this portion of American history, I highly recommend this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Biography!, March 26, 2003

By	Nathan Buchanan - See all my reviews

John Adams and the American Revolution by Catherine
Drinker Bowen is a great biography of John Adams.
Ms. Bowen spends a great amount of time on the childhood and young manhood of Adams. She also touches on his great marriage life. This is a book that I enjoyed perhaps even more than David
McCullough's biography titled John Adams, though this book was good. I usually stay away from biographies and read more of the reference type books, I'll have to say though that this book kept my interest to the end.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dazzling, January 2, 2009

By	William J Higgins III (Laramie, Wyoming United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Catherine Bowen's 1950 version of "John Adams and the American Revolution" is a fascinating portrayal of one man and his resolute passion for independence from England.
Mrs. Bowen's approach to writing is descriptive, embracing and above all, instructive.

This book covers Adams' life from the age of ten to his early forties when, in 1776, we declared independence from England.
We read of his early childhood on the Massachusetts farm, college days at Harvard, law practices, defending the British soldiers from the "Boston Massacre" due to his obsession with proper law ideologies, speaking out against the Stamp Act and other numerous injustices from England, his election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and finally, the almost never ending debates, arguments and reasoning's for declaring independence. An amazing man. He simply never quit even when ¾ of the country were either pro-Crown or hesitant for independence.

While reading this outstanding narrative of John Adams, I now and then found myself asking, how many of our former presidents actually had a thorough knowledge of the American Revolution...beyond a fifth grade level (?) This book will enlighten.