Reviews
"John Quincy Adams was agreat statesman and a heroic crusader for freedom, whose finest hours,ironically, came both before and after his time as president. James Traub doesus a service by bringing him to life again for a new generation. With ajournalist's touch, Traub paints a vivid portrait of the man in all hiscomplexity."-- Robert Kagan, author of Of Paradise and Power, "Traub depicts a fullyfleshed character, an extraordinary man driven by his birthright principles, avoluminous diarist, scholar, poet, polymath, eccentric, and iconoclast. Theauthor also offers a masterly portrait of Adams' wife, Louisa. An impassionedbiography of 'a coherent and consistent thinker who adhered to his corepolitical convictions across his decades of public service.'"-- Kirkus, "In lucid prose and withcanny insight, James Traub illuminates the life and political career of JohnQuincy Adams. Driven by grim purpose and consistent values, Adams was hard tolove but demanded respect as he matured into a champion of liberty for all.Traub admires Adams [and is] tinged with sadness for the absence of his type inour own times."-- Alan Taylor, author of The Internal Enemy:Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832, "A splendid new biography.... Reliably thorough, blissfully bereft of jargon, and nicely paced."-- Joseph J. Ellis, New York Times Book Review, "[An] excellent biography....[John Quincy Adams'] life is worth meditating on, and Traub's biography is anindispensable resource for doing so."-- Washington Free Beacon, "James Traub does justice to both the man and his times, with a historian's sense of complexity and a writer's eye for drama and detail."-- Sean Wilentz, "James Traub's new biographyof John Quincy Adams is exceptionally strong. Adams was a complicated hero, apatrician visionary but also, as Traub puts it, a militant spirit, one of themost important diplomats in all of American history and, finally, slavery'sgreatest enemy in American politics."-- Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of AmericanDemocracy: Jefferson to Lincoln, "James Traub has admirablycaptured the man inside the public figure, giving us a view of a typical NewEngland grandee, puritanical at his core, molded as a traditionalist republicanwith no love for pure democracy, convinced that governing was intended for theclass born and bred for it."-- The Arts Fuse, "By rights, John Quincy Adams should be one ofAmerica's most famous presidents. His life story is remarkable, the son of oneof the nation's founding presidents, the only one to serve in an elected officeafter leaving the White House, and a man of vast intelligence and politicalcourage who died while debating in the House of Representatives. Yet he's anobscure figure. James Traub hasrectified this in a book worthy of its subject."-- Fareed Zakaria, Fareed Zakaria GPS, "[An] essential biography ofa complex man.... Traub shows that without imperiling national unity, Adams'spersistent, perspicacious opposition to slavery 'shattered the overweening confidenceof the South' and confirmed his place in America's history."-- Publishers Weekly,starred review, "Traub thoroughly, even quiteengagingly, follows Adams through the years during which he served in thediplomatic corps, building up the reputation as the new republic's bestrepresentative abroad."-- Booklist,starred review, "Traub'swork is a reminder to Americans that politicians can be devoted to nationalissues, promote their principles, and still maintain their integrity."-- Choice
