John Adams (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: David McCullough
- First Published: 2001
- Type of Work: Biography and history
- Time of Work: 1735-1826
- Setting: Boston, Braintree, and Quincy, Massachusetts; Paris; The Hague, Netherlands; Philadelphia; New York City; Washington, D.C.
- Principal Characters: John Adams, Abigail Smith Adams, John Quincy Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, New England, American Revolution, Eighteenth century, Politicians, Presidents, Massachusetts
- Locales: New York, NY, Boston, MA, Paris, France, Philadelphia, PA, Washington, D.C., The Hague, Netherlands, Quincy, MA, Braintree, MA
If ever the author of a historical biography ran the risk of having too much primary material at his disposal, David McCullough ran such a risk in researching John Adams, one of the most carefully documented biographies in recent years. The Adams papers, held in the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, contains a “full collection of letters, diaries, and family papers of all kinds, ranging from the year 1636 to 1889.” The items, copied on 608 reels of microfilm, results in a full five miles of microfilm records. McCullough has searched this collection diligently and...
[The entire page is 1896 words long]
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