Download Description

MARIE ANTOINETTE JOSEPHE JEANNE DE LORRAINE, Archduchess of Austria, daughter of Francois de Lorraine and of Maria Theresa, was born on the 2d of November, 1755, the day of the earthquake at Lisbon; and this catastrophe, which appeared to stamp the era of her birth with a fatal mark, without forming a motive for superstitious fear with the Princess, nevertheless made an impression upon her mind. ... Read more

Book Description

While John Adams' career in law kept him away from his wife, Abigail, and their five children for long periods of time, Abigail wrote him hundreds of letters. These vivid and eloquent letters illuminate the daily life of a family during revolutionary Colonial times and speak of the exceptional character of our nation's second First Lady. Abigail Adams: An American Woman is the story of this woman, told by Charles Akers through the vivid legacy of Abigail Adams' letters. She was one of the first to speak up for women's rights, frequently calling on her husband to "remember the ladies" when forming his policies as president.

Akers brings to life how Adams resolutely fought from the shadows of her husband's distinguished political career, at the same time developing one of the earliest voices of revolution among women. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Boring
I question whether it's Abigail's life or the writing of it that had me so bored I was looking around for a sharp object to end my misery. This was required reading for a history class. I have never read Adams' letters, so I can't say whether this accurately depicts her life from her letters. I can only say that I have no interest in reading her letters after this.

Let me sum up the book for you: Abigail married Adams. She wrote lots of letters. She had lots of babies. She worried about her babies. She worried about Adams. She worried about morality. She believed women should be educated. She got sick a lot and was medically "bled" a lot. She was alone a lot. She died.

Adverage Read with Interesting Facts
Akers does a great job of placing the information from Abigail's letters into a story, without directly quoting the letters line by line.A story is presented to the reader through the eyes of the First Lady.It was a required text for an American History class, though I did enjoy reading it.The story itself; however, can be deeply depressing while still communicating the accounts of the famous political family.I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about the other side of politics.

HI
HI H

An altogether injustice to Abigail Adams
Akers is limited by the series he is writing for so very little can be blamed on him, in fact he does a good job with what little he is allotted but his use of her first name throughout is not only taboo for historians but could also be considered sexist -- would you call Thomas Jefferson, "Tom" in a biography?Also,major figures inAdams' life have merely the depth of cardboard cutouts.Possibly suitable for the high school freshmen, probably not undergraduate and certainly not for the graduate level.

Akers doesn't do the "Adam's Letters" justice
Unfortunatly, Akers has spent a fair amount of time depicting Abigail Adams in a Demigog light.Although this was the first biography to be published after the "letters" were made public, the volume barely gets off of the ground when it crashes in the political plights surrounding John and the newly formed Union. A fair read, suitable for High School at best. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A juvenile biography of John Quincy Adams, 6th President
Zachary Kent provides a more than solid introduction to John Quincy Adams in this volume in the Encyclopedia of Presidents series. The story begins with Adams as the most hated man in Congress because of his insistence on presenting the House of Representatives petitions by citizens demanding an end to slavery. Kent then covers Adams's distinguished career as a diplomat which saw postings in Prussia, Russia and Great Britain before he became James Monroe's Secretary of State. His one term as President actually becomes the least important part of his political career. Adams actually died in the House of Representatives, collapsing before a vote in 1848.

Kent does a nice job of making it clear that for John Quincy Adams duty and character were more important that popularity. When he was elected to the Senate as a Federalist, Adams often supported the policies of President Thomas Jefferson, such as the Louisiana Purchase. When his party actually nominated somebody else to run for the Senate in his place, Adams immediately resigned. This episode is certainly representative of the quality of the man.

This is not a slick looking book but it does provide more than adequate coverage of the life of its subject, which is supposed to be its purpose. There are better looking juvenile biographies of Adams, but they do not provide the amount of information students will find here. This volume is illustrated with dozens of black and white illustrations, mostly engravings and paintings from Adams's lifetime, as well as maps, pamphlets and signatures. The book contains a detailed Chronology of American History that lists virtually ever year from the birth of Washington in 1732 to the crash of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, when this book was published. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Queen of France by Andre Castelot
"For all its careful scholarship and judicious balance of judgment," says The Listener, "it has the readability and grip of a good novel.It deserves the wide public that it is likely to attract."

She was Marie Antoinette, a lovely Austrian princess.She was fourteen when she first met her fifteen-year-old husband, the Dauphin of France.He was a shy, heavy young man, overshadowed by his grandfather, Louis XV.

The girl had many problems to cope with at the French court, among them her husband's lack of interest, the King's spinster daughters (almost her only companions at first) and Madame du Barry, the King's favorite.Yet she soon won everyone's heart and had all of Paris at her charming feet.

But as time went by, not only the court but the country as a whole and Marie Antoinette's mother (Maria Theresa of Austria, four hundred leagues away, and constantly advising her daughter by mail) were alarmed by the fantastic parties, wild extravagances, and excessive pleasures of the Dauphin's bride.

Then Louis XV died, and the courtiers coming to salute the new nineteen-year-old king found him and his queen on their knees weeping bitterly."Oh, God," they cried, embracing each other, "protect us, we are too young to reign."

Andre Castelot, a distinguished French scholar and historian, has in this book written one of the most brilliant of recent biographies, which makes Marie Antoinette, from her arrival in France to the day she rode to her death in a cart, amazingly alive for the reader.We are carried from the intimate chambers of the young queen, through the incredible splendor and shocking discomfort of life at Court, to the awesome sounds of the rising mob, the last desperate flights, and the ultimate imprisonment and execution.

The author has had a mass of decuments at his disposal while writing this book, many of them newly discovered in Viennese and Parisian archives, and never before presented to the public.
Robert Pick says, "I admire this book immensely.Familiar with the Marie Antoinette story and its grim climax, I yet found myself in suspense to the last."

France
Great! Not only the negative side of the Marie Antoinette was mentioned but also a good analysis ... Read more

Book Description

Garry Wills's "sizzling" (The New York Review of Books) renditions of Saint Augustine's prose in his Penguin Lives biography of the great thinker foreshadowed his translation of Saint Augustine's Childhood, the first book in Augustine's Confessiones. Now, in Saint Augustine's Memory, Wills brings his superb gifts of language and intellect to this important chapter. Acting as the hinge volume of Augustine's confessional opus, Saint Augustine's Memory makes the turn between the writer's life before and after baptism and stands as a meditation on the Confessiones's central concept.

Here in private, Augustine seeks to fathom himself-to emerge later as a visionary for others on a large public stage. To him the "vast treasure store of memory" is where identity is forged, the context of present and future in which we continually relive original experience and refashion everything we remember. It is a place where we remake ourselves, interact with others, and glimpse God. Masterfully rendered and beautifully designed, Saint Augustine's Memory is sure to fascinate academics, Christians, and the general reader. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

good book
This is a good book, I learned a lot about prophet muhammed`s(PBUH) life his cleverness and his wisdom about managing and controlling people and solving very tuff problems...
I like this book but I would offer you another book with this . The book is called "Infinite Light" by fethullah gulen. It has a lot of real seen from prophet muhammed`s life, it cover all the aspects of prophet muhammed`s life, there are a lot of specific evets explained how Prophet muhammed actec in those tuff situation...so I strongly recommend that book... ... Read more

Book Description

I Shook Up the World is an illustrated tribute to Muhammad Ali written by his oldest daughter, Maryum. The book tells Ali's story from the beginning to the present — how he started boxing, earned an Olympic Gold Medal, won the heavyweight championship, worked for civil rights, and made a principled stand against the Vietnam War. Ali’s trademark rhyming, the joy of his fans and the bane of his opponents, is interspersed throughout the "rounds" (chapters). Young readers will appreciate Patrick Johnson’s colorful illustrations, and the introduction provided by the great man himself. An historical timeline on Ali's life is included. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

My Elementary School Students Love This Book
My son first used this book for a biography for fifth grade. I then added I Shook Up the World to my classroom library. The book is always displayed for Black History Month. Students ask me to read it to them, over and over. Boys love hearing about the boxing and especially like the funny poems Ali was famous for. The illustrations are big and colorful, just what children like. Every elementary classroom should have a copy of this book.

Muhammad Ali's daughter tells kids her father's story
Inspired by the life of her famous father, Maryum "May May" Ali wrote "I Shook Up the World: The Incredible Life of Muhammad Ali" as an encouragement to children to follow their dreams.This oversized volume is divided into "rounds" instead of chapters and illustrated by Patrick Johnson.The author, the oldest of nine children, starts with how her father began his boxing career, his success at the 1960 Olympic games, his most famous fights, and his activism during the civil rights movement.Through the book some of Ali's most famous fight poetry, including "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee."Muhammad Ali wrote the forward to the book and the back of the book includes a Chronology of his life (which does contain an error: it says Ali lost his Heavyweight title to Joe Frazier in 1971, but since he was stripped of the title in 1967 it was no longer his to defend).With Ali showing up more often in television commercials again, it is time for the next generation of readers to learn about the man who named "Sportsman of the 20th Century" by "Sports Illustrated."

Young readers will find Ali's story to be a nice example of the power of determination.The moral of the story actually comes from Ali's father, who told the young boy: "Always remember, Son, do what's inside your heart, and never give up on your dreams."Older readers, of course, grew up with Muhammad Ali being one of the most controversial and eventually one of the most admired and beloved sports athletes in American history.Consequently, we are likely to find the coverage of his conversion to Islam and his stance against the Vietnam War to be rather simplified.However, these are certainly complex issues that would be quite difficult to explain to young readers in this type of book and you cannot fault the decision to make Ali's life about overcoming adversity and rising to challenges without making race a large part of the equation.Johnson's artwork evinces what I believe is called the primitive style; there is quite a difference between the cover painting of Ali, the best illustration in "I Shook Up the World," and the final two-page spread showing the Champ and his nine children.

A Knockout. A Must for all...
A beautifully written and illustrated book. A fresh and fun look at the life of one of the worlds most famous icons. Kids will love the pictures and poems. Of all the books for kids on Ali, this one stands out. If you love Ali; then this is a book you will appreciate for years. Thank you May May for a GREAT book. It was nice meeting you in Chicago. Your friends, Jorge,Christine,Lexie and Joey. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Read this to get a more balanced view of John Adams
This book came out in 1930 but I found it interesting to read. David McCullough in his bio of John Adams is one has to admit pretty hagiographical, as is Page Smith. I agree with both of those biographers, but I found it of interest to read this book which is less admiring of John Adams, though it says a lot of good things about John Adams, and his descendants. ... Read more

Book Description

These concise and enlightening explorations of our greatest thinkers bring their ideas to life in an entertaining and accessible fashion.Philosophical thought is deciphered and made comprehensible and interesting to almost everyone.Far from being a novelty, each book is a highly refined appraisal of the philosopher and his work, authoritative and clearly presented. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Augustine summarized almost to abstraction...
St. Augustine is a subject that cannot be covered in 90 minutes, particularly in under 100 pages with large font. Still, this book serves as a great introduction for those who have ABSOLUTELY NO knowledge of the great philosopher.

If you're only looking for a brief thumbnail sketch of Augustine, or want to know the basic reasons (without details) why he's considered important, then this book will serve you well. If you're looking for details on his life, his theology, or philosophy, you'll have to look elsewhere.

It's important to realize that this book comes at Augustine from a philosophical perspective, not a theological or religious one. It aims to outline why he's considered important to the field of philosophy. So, if you're interested in Augustine's theology or importance from the standpoint of the Catholic church, you'll find almost nothing useful here (in fact, some of it may offend you depending upon your religious bent).

What does this book teach about Augustine? It can be summed up quickly: Augustine brought together the thought of Neoplatonism and Christian scripture, thus preserving philosophy for about 800 years (until Thomas Aquinas took it further in the 13th century); he had troubles with lust; his mother was overbearing; he liked to flagellate himself in his books; he had some interesting ideas how procreation worked in the Garden of Eden. There are a few more facts, but those are the main ones. It is a fun read; it's humorous in places (again, depending upon your background) and you will leave the book with an appreciation of who he was. Other considerably more bulky books will have to flesh out the inevitable nagging questions that this one will leave you with.

Augustine is a towering figure in western philosophy. His work presages Descartes, Kant, and others. He deserves a higher stature than he currently enjoys, but this book will only give you a tiny eency weency snippet of the reasons why.

Completely useless
In this book you will not find useful information that you would not find somewhere else. But you will find many unfounded and biased judgments that allegedly correspond to a "critical" appraisal, but that only reflect the author's own prejudgments. I do not recommend this book.

Too editorialized to be worthy of objective scholarship
It is compelling to want to learn about a prominent figure like Augustine in ninety minutes. Certainly ninety minutes is doctoral level reading in a world where our spans of attention have been greatly diminished by thirty-minute television sitcoms, thirty-second commercials and thirty minute guaranteed pizza delivery. But the real problem with Strathern's work is not so much that it implies knowledge of a man's life and thoughts in a short period of time, but that it is so editorialized as to make it nearly worthless. A better solution, and one requiring LESS than ninety minutes (should that be the criteria for your education), would be to read several different encyclopedia articles about the man. Another excellent encyclopedia-like resource for a succinct overview of Augustine is found in the 'Oxford Companion to Christian Theology'. Better still, pick up a copy of Peter Brown's, 'Augustine of Hippo: A Biography', and spend a little more than ninety minutes to get a decent education.

Plenty of gossip; little information
Well, Strathern is certainly entertaining, if not informative. He gives us the dirt on each philosopher, tells us who was overweight, cheap, pushed people around, etc. This would be great if we were reading about movie stars or politicians but I bought these books in order to understand something about what these philosophers thought. He does reserve a few pages at the end of each volume to tells us one or two of their ideas and gives us a handful of quotes. A total waste of money unless you hate your philosophy classes so much that you want to hear how awful the personal lives of the philosophers were. A new low in publishing.

"Augustine in 30 Minutes"
Paul Strathern's concise overview of St Augustine's life, thought, and influence upon the world will be an invaluable introduction for anyone seeking to begin a study of the man whose doctrines and aspirations changed the face of Christendom. Strathern sets the stage by discussing some of the various philosophies prevalent in the Roman world during St Augustine's time and constructs a quick run-over of Augustine's battle with sin, struggle with the problem of Evil, and final journey to truth. Augustine's epic and exhaustive conflicts with heresy in order to edify and preserve the tenets of Catholic doctrine will be found here as well. Finally, Strathern closes this sharp, to the point work, with a succinct survey of some of the later Christian philosophers up until St Thomas Aquinas and the downfall of the Platonist tradition. This work serves its purpose well; even average readers will be finished and find much useful information at their leisure in at the least thirty minutes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

"The Greatest"
Born Cassius Clay in segregated Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad Ali grew up to become one of the greatest heavyweight boxing champions ever to step into the ring. Author, Ntozake Shange, details some of the highlights of Ali's life in this very spare, bare-bones biographical sketch. Each two page spread touches on an event in Muhammad Ali's life: his upbringing during the Jim Crow era in a solid, nurturing family; the bike theft that turned him towards boxing..."Somebody stole my bike, and I'm gonna whup 'em good."; his Olympic gold medal; the conversion to Islam, and his fights against Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier. Ms Shange is obviously an avid Ali fan, and the book comes off more as a tribute or hero worship than real biography. There's no meat here, no depth or understanding, just a short timeline of a few unconnected, important events in his life. The strongest part of Float Like A Butterfly are Edel Rodriguez's action-packed, comic-book-like artwork. His big, bold, and appealing illustrations are evocative and dramatic, and often tell more about Ali's life than the text. Written for youngsters 4-8, Float Like A Butterfly is a weak addition to the picture book biography genre. Kids interested in Muhammad Ali and/or boxing would do better to read James Haskin's Champion: The Story of Muhammad Ali. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Broken Friendship Can Be Repaired
Merrill D. PetersonÕs Adams and Jefferson: A Revolutionary Dialogue is a well-documented study of how two men of differing characters and political views met and became life-long friends. Drawing heavily on the Adams-Jefferson letters and other primary sources, Peterson does a satisfactory job of explaining why these two men became friends and traced the very course of their friendship. In reading this book, I have learned that even though political events like the Election of 1800 and the French Revolution can overwhelm and destroy a friendship, a faithful friend can act as a go-between and help repair a friendship.

Wonderful Little Book
This book is a brilliant account of the fascinating relationship between two of the most brilliant minds in American history. It is a highly enjoyable read, and a welcome companion to the "The Adams-Jefferson Letters." ... Read more

Book Description

The best of Davis Miller’s essays and memoirs – including the award-winning “My Dinner with Ali.”

Collected here for the first time are the best of Davis Miller’s essays and memoirs. The volume contains the celebrated trilogy of award-winning Muhammad Ali pieces, including the classic “My Dinner with Ali,” together with a provocative new essay called “The Yin and the Yang of Muhammad Ali.” The title story “The Zen of Muhammad Ali” was nominated for the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing and was included in the 1994 edition of The Best American Sports Writing. There are also two pieces about Miller’s unusual relationship with another boxer, “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and he continues to explore the Bruce Lee phenomenon – as he did in his acclaimed bestseller The Tao of Bruce Lee.The book concludes with a section of compelling essays about Miller’s own life - “filled with the clarity of ordinary human experience.” (TLS about The Tao of Muhammad Ali).

The Zen of Muhammad Ali tells us about fighting, living, friendship and love. The pieces are arranged - each with an illuminating new note – to form a unique and haunting book. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

beautiful
The four Ali stories are the most intimate I've read about any celebrity. They possess a seemingly timeless beauty. The ones about Davis Miller's own life are sad and lovely and we feel ourselves inside his life. A wonderful, highly recommended read.

Not What I Signed On For, But Enjoyed 2/3
Read about two thirds of this book - 114 out of 166 pages.

I don't recommend this for the Ali fan looking for the Zen of Muhammad Ali

The book is divided into 3 sections.

Part One - Ali
Part Two - Zen Fisticuffs
Part Three - Personal Battles

In part one - a story titled My Dinner With Ali - is one of the greatest Ali stories I've ever read - this story is also in The Muhammad Ali Reader (by the way - THE BEST book about Muhammad Ali - if you're an Ali fan and don't have it - GET IT) - anyway - this story is such a great and heart warming story about the Champ - you feel like you're right there with them. It's truly inspired writing and a must read for any Ali fan and for anyone who has an idol or hero from any walk of life...it's just fantastic.

Part One is about Ali. Part Two is about Sugar Ray Leonard ( 2 articles) and Bruce Lee (1 article)- the Sugar Ray stories are good and the Lee story is interesting and sobering.

I didn't read Part Three as they are fictional stories.

My intent on getting this book was to read about Muhammad Ali - get more of Miller's perspective - as I've read a story of his before and wanted more of that.

The title and cover are a bit misleading in that it doesn't represent the whole book.

I really enjoyed the first 2 sections, but again - this wasn't what I was looking.

Review - The Zen of Muhammad Ali
Keen to find out a little about boxing, I bought 'The Zen of Muhammad Ali' by Davis Miller on a whim and was pleasantly surprised on a number of levels.

Davis Miller's enthusiasm for his subject is contagious - He's followed/studied Muhammad Ali with an adoring, but objective eye since 11 years of age.

Also (and this can sometimes be rare in this genre) Davis Miller can really write! It's truly wonderful, even as a part-time, half-arsed martial artist, to come cross an author who can write in a beautiful, concise and honest way about this stuff we spend so much of our time (and money) doing. Using Sugar Ray Leonard as an example, the chapter 'Rapture' adroitly plumbs the depths of what motivates people to study boxing (and other martial arts).

The book is subtitled 'and other obsessions' - These obsessions include an informative chapter on Bruce Lee, a short story entitled 'American Video', and a beautiful chapter called 'Ellen's, December 1971'. Read it and weep.

This is well crafted, sensitive writing with a distinctly American flavour - Good Americana of the Jack Kerouac/Norman Mailer/Steely Dan variety as opposed to the other rubbish that is trotted out daily to us in 'The Rest of The Free World'.

Worth a read.

Simply mind blowing
Buy Zen of Muhammed Ali, and all of Davis Miller's other books! They are amongst the most important pieces of literature to have been published in the last 100 years! Simply mind blowing. And incredibly fun.

Excellent!!!!!
This book is a collection of Davis Miller's best essays ranging from boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, martial arts king Bruce Lee right through to his own moving stories, some fiction and some more personal experiences of his life. An example is Ellen, which is a very moving story and is written with so much emotion.

The Ali articles are my faves - they are all excellent pieces of work. The 'Zen' word is a most appropriate title for this book as a lot is written about legendary boxers and why they do what they do and why many carry on for far too long - they live for that moment to moment excitement which they cannot seem to find no where else. To them, it's like they're living in a different space of time, a different world when they are in that ring. Zen has no real truth, it is just living moment to moment, being natural which is something which cannot be put down. This has to be experienced and Miller expresses these experiences with very well thought out words and fascinating insight.

What i like most about this book is the articles on Muhammad Ali (4) and the one on Bruce Lee. It seems that Muhammad Ali's people are doing exactly the same as what happens to other many great world idols, they are bullying and exploiting the fans for their own greed and saint like image agendas. Miller writes wonderfully about all of this in his new essay on Ali, 'The Ying & Yang of Ali'. He also writes about my first boxing idol when i was very young, Sugar Ray Leonard which for me is very interesting and enjoyeable to read. Ray was influened a lot by Bruce Lee which is revealed in Miller's excellent book. I give this book top marks. I hope it reaches a much larger audience as it certainly deserves to be. ... Read more

Book Description

Paul Nagel's Descent from Glory was an extraordinary critical and popular success, a Book-of-the-Month Club main selection hailed by reviewers as "magnificent" (The New York Times Book Review) and "splendid" (The Christian Science Monitor).That book focused on the men in the Adams family, but many readers--and Nagel himself--felt that the most interesting and stirring part of the Adams family saga was the story of the women.Here at last is the book many readers urged Nagel to write: the full story of some of the most interesting and important and articulate women in American history.This is no mere sequel to the first book; it is an attempt to do justice in their own rightto some extraordinary individuals in their own right who happened to be women and whose personal lives and outlooks have been eclipsed by the famous men who surrounded them.

Nagel portrays his subjects as they saw themselves and each other. This is possible because of the abundant comment and confession they shared with each other, much of it surviving in the Adams Papers.They spoke to one another about their existence with a frankness and detail which is unmatched in American historical sources. We find them in the joy, sorrow, dreariness, and peril which came to females of that era, no matter who they were.Thus this intimate and candid portrait may be our nearest approach to how American females actally lived and thought between 1750 and 1850. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A Most Interesting Study!
Co-dependent relatives? Disfunctional families? Yes, these are modern pop-psychology terms. But Paul Nagel shows that these things existed at least two centuries ago, in one of America's most prominent families.

Most of the book discussed the Smith sisters --- Mary, Abigail, and Elizabeth. What struck me most about these three is how much they came to rely on each other. This has a good side --- i.e., there's always a sympathetic ear to listen, or a shoulder to cry on, or a pair of hands to pitch in when help was needed. It has a 'bad' side too --- for often one sister's 'concern' for or about another bordered on interference. And it seems that the first rule of the Smith Sisters was 'Never raise your own children when they can be passed on to a relative.' But who knows, maybe that was just the eighteenth century form of 'day care.'

The other major chunk of the book describes John Quincy Adams' wife Louisa: a very fascinating, intelligent, and educated woman ... whose husband probably did not appreciate her. If anything, John Quincy appeared rather wimpy compared to Louisa.

The final generation discussed in this book is that of Charles Francis Adams and his wife --- also Abigail.

Throughout the book we are treated to accounts and anecdotes about the various Adams relatives and in-laws. It is amazing how the behavior of these people came so close to disgracing or embarrassing the sitting presidents, John or John Quincy. If it happened today, the Press would be all over it!

This was the second of Paul Nagel's books on the Adams family that I've read. Like his John Quincy Adams, The Adams Women was informative and well-researched, if a bit pedantic in tone. It brought to life this fascinating family and the era in which they lived.

Fascinating Study
Author Nagel has done a wonderful job of bringing the lives of the Adams women to life. The first part of the book concentrates on Abigail Smith, wife of John Adams and her sisters. Their letters describing their daily lives are fascinating. The various daughters of these women are also highlighted. The only daughter of John and Abigail, Abigail (nickednamed Nabby) is a particularly heartbreaking story. Pushed by her mother to marry a "promising" young man, she becomes the abandoned wife of a cruel alcoholic, living in near poverty. Unable to break away because of the strict moral codes of the time, she succombs to cancer, dying in her father's arms. Almost all of the women of the family were tortured by the alcoholism of either their husbands or sons. Louisa Johnson, the wife of John Quincy Adams is also highlighted. Her unhappy marriage to a difficult man is portrayed sympathetically.

Even though thiese women lived almost 200 years ago, their stories are timeless. Unable to contol their own destinies, these women nevertheless contributed greatly to their families and communities.

Nagel takes another potshot at the Abigail Adams
Nagel starts his book with a discussion of how happy he is to write another book on the Adames, specifically on the women. He then proceeds to tear the best of them, Abigail Sr., to shreds. Portraying her as shrewish, domineering, and just distasteful, he paints an inaccuratly biased view of an amazing woman who was far before her time. Although I don't know enough of the other women to critque his evaluations of them, I have read Abigails letters at the Mass Historical society and have read countless books on her during the last six months in relation to an intensive research project. I have seen many different "reads" of Abigail from feminist to domestic to maternal...but none so blatantly anti-Abigail. I suppose the world needs dissent to continue to have interesting discourse, but Nagel quite obviously hates Abigail Adams. If you read his book, please temper it with something like Portia, which is admittedly dry, but will give you a good counterpoint to Nagels criticisms.

Another winner for Nagel & the Adams!
Another winner for Nagel. This book is as good as his other two about the Adams family. I still don't find Abigail very likeable. The pressure she put on her children to achieve broke 3 of them and the lone successful child (John Quincy) turned around and did the same with his children. I really enjoyed the writer's descriptions of Louisa. I hope to see a full blown biography of her someday...she deserves it! I gained a true understanding why John Quincy had the personality he did. Abigail was extremely intelligent and ahead of her time. I enjoyed reading of her true partnership with husband John. ... Read more