John Adams
By David McCullough
Simon and Schuster 2002
ISBN: 0684813637 Hardcover
Nonfiction / Memoir

Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, MyShelf.Com
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Facts You Didn't Know About Your History

Fact Reads Like Fiction
With Surprises Galore

There is lots that will seem familiar to you about this book. The author, David McCullough, is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Truman." The portrait on the cover is the familiar one of Adams by Gilbert Stuart. We all know our American history so what we would read between the cover won't be new, right?

Well, for me, the answer is "no." I went off to Colonial Williamsburg with my grandchildren over Labor Day and felt that it wouldn't hurt to brush up. Something on Jefferson or Washington might have been a better pick, since I was going to be in Virginia but this book, "John Adams," is the on the best-seller lists right now so I bought it. It turned out not only to be good review, but a fascinating, novel-like read.

Not only that, but, as my grandson said, "This is not your grandmother's history any more." The books have been written since I was in school. I learned (or re-learned) little tidbits like:

1. The first celebration of the birth of our country didn't occur on July 4th but on July 6th. That was in Philadelphia. Word didn't get to South Caroline or Virginia for their celebrations until August!

2. There were only seven teachers in the hallowed halls of Harvard when John Adams was a student there.

3. Harvard students in those days had to take their own cutlery which they wiped on the table linen after each meal in preparation for the next meal. How gross!

There was also wonderful advice given to Adams that might prove useful today -with modifications, of course! Col. Josiah Quincy told him "…nothing so helped me gain command of the (English) language as the frequent reading and imitation of Swift and Pope." Regarding investments, Adam's father said he had never known a piece of land to run away or break. A thought to ponder in these days of stock market turmoil.

At any rate, I think that this book should have a wider appeal than "For History Buffs" only. I highly-very highly-recommend it.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of "This is the Place" and "Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered"