John Adams: A Life

A fantastic biography, that is more all-encompassing of Adams' psychology and relationships that the more-popular McCullough biography. This one deals now with Adams' faults and is clearly no hagiography, though you'd respect for Adams is evident. The prose is clear, though he glides over moments and times that I wish he had more detail on (Adams' first meeting with George, he and Jefferson's road trip in the english countryside, what exactly happened to Jefferson over time), though the moments he does zoom in on are fascinating portrayals of the time (his Boston Tea party and colonial Philadelphia reconstructions are fantastic). This, I feel, is the smoothest and most coherent read among the Washington biographies, and again, is a more penetrating and full portrayal of Adams the man and not just the specific events of his life. McCullough's is better at vividly portraying specific moments and their drama, but it flows less easily then Ferling's work. This is a shorter book, and it's astonishing how comprehensive it is for it's length. If you have to choose one biography of John Adams, I'd probably choose this one.