John Adams

Very well written book that cover much of Adams life from his youth through the Revolution

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.

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.

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.