- Paperback: 442 pages
- Publisher: Harvard University Press (5 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0674479408
- ISBN-13: 978-0674479401
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.7 x 2.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
890,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Books > Biography > Political > United States > Adams, John Q.
- See Complete Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £2.70
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.70, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Nagel has set out to explore his hero's inner life...It is a story told largely from the vantage point of the subject. Wall Street Journal Nagel offers a rich portrait of the moody and anxiety-ridden Adams...This biography remov[es] the dust from his portrait and restor[es] the glow of historical significance to his splendid and troubled life. Washington Post Paul C. Nagel focuses on the sources of Adams's curious mixture of duty and defiance...It is the character of the man, his personality, that dominates this biography...Nagel has given us a John Quincy Adams with a heart as well as a head. Los Angeles Times Book Review Nagel clearly knows his topic inside out, and his account of Adam's eventful life--from diplomat to professor to President--is eminently readable...This book is thoroughly engaging. We glimpse a side of Adams that he preferred to keep private: his eye for the ladies, his self-lacerating depressions, his contempt for what he referred to as the 'crazy' orations of Ralph Waldo Emerson...What emerges from Nagel's book is a more fully rounded character. -- Paul Giles Times Literary Supplement
Product Description
John Quincy Adams was raised, educated, and groomed to be President of the USA, following in the footsteps of his father, John. At 14 he was secretary to the Minister of Russia and, later, was himself Minister to the Netherlands and Prussia. He was US Senator, Secretary of State, and then President for one ill-fated term. His private life showed a parallel descent. He was a poet, writer, critic, and Professor of Oratory at Harvard. He married a talented and engaging Southerner, but two of his three sons were disappointments. This is a biography of the man.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Paul C. Nagel makes the correct observation that no work on John Quincy Adams has ever focused on the man behind the statesman. Nagel seeks to correct this oversight with JOHN QUINCY ADAMS: A PUBLIC LIFE, A PRIVATE LIFE. Unfortunately, in the pursuit of the private man, Nagel neglects one of the most successful careers (except for his presidency) in the history of American statesman. If a man is truly defined by his actions, then a biography of John Quincy Adams that largely neglects the Monroe Doctrine and the Trans-Continental (Adams-Onis) Treaty is sorely lacking. Read as a counterpart to Samuel Flagg Bemis' two part biography, Nagel's work is an outstanding compliment. Unfortunately, since Bemis is out of print and most people do not have the time to find and read him anyway, a definitive single volume biography, combining the career and personal life of John Quincy Adams, is still necessary. Despite this latest attempt by Paul C. Nagel, the definitive work on this incredible statesman has yet to be written.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Most Americans spurn the idea that any politician could be admirable -- but, then again, most Americans don't know as much about their political history as they should. They should read this sensitive, thoughtful portrait of John Quincy Adams. Building on extensive research in John Quincy Adams's public and private papers, including his mammoth diary (most of which remains unpublished to this day), and on his previous landmark studies in family history -- DESCENT FROM GLORY (Oxford 1981) and THE ADAMS WOMEN (Oxford 1988), Nagel has written one of the best and most exciting biographies of recent years. He devotes equal attention to Adams's public career as politician, diplomat, scholar, orator, Secretary of State, President, and "Old Man Eloquent" in the House of Representatives and to his private life and personal crises. Especially memorable is Nagel's riveting, sometimes horrifying portrait of Abigail Adams as an intolerant, domineering mother. This fine study has only one real flaw: scholars will cavil -- and rightly so -- at Nagel's decision not to append endnotes or other documentation beyond a sketchy bibliographic essay. Nonetheless, Nagel's book is a worthy counterpart to the definitive two-volume study of John Quincy Adams's public career by Samuel Flagg Bemis (Knopf, 1949, 1956). -- Richard B. Bernstein, Adjunct Professor of Law, New York Law School, and Daniel M. Lyons Visiting Professor in American History, Brooklyn College/CUNY (1997-1998)
Format:Hardcover
Few American presidents enjoyed a career as varied and accomplished as that of John Quincy Adams. As early as his teenage years he played an informal role in American diplomacy, and soon after college he rose quickly in American politics. His years as a state legislator, United States Senator, diplomat, and Secretary of State would be crowned with election to the presidency in 1824 and followed with an extraordinary post-presidential career in the House of Representatives. Yet such achievements can often overshadow the man who made them, reducing him to a series of decisions with little sense as to the motivations of the man who made them.
It is for this reason that Paul Nagel's biography of Adams stands out. Rather than providing another book that seeks to understand Adams through his professional accomplishments, Nagel instead concentrates on Adams's personal life. This has the effect of humanizing Adams, turning him from the stern and oftentimes forbidding figure from paintings and old photographs into a real human being to whom the reader can relate. The problem with this book, however, is that this is pretty much the limit of Nagel's examination. Adams's public career receives nowhere near the degree of coverage that his private life receive; in this respect, the subtitle is only half correct. This diminishes the value of what Nagel has done, as there is no effort to connect his insights into Adams's personality with any analysis of his public achievements.
Because of this, Nagel's book is only a qualified success. Though well written and valuable for its exploration of the inner Adams, Nagel's book is at best only a partial portrait of the sixth president of the United States of America. To get a complete picture of this fascinating man, it is best read in conjunction with one of the more comprehensive examinations of Adams's public careers, such as Samuel Flagg Bemis's award-winning two-volume study of Adams's life, John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy and John Quincy Adams and the Union, or Marie Hecht's shorter John Quincy Adams: A Personal History of an Independent Man.
It is for this reason that Paul Nagel's biography of Adams stands out. Rather than providing another book that seeks to understand Adams through his professional accomplishments, Nagel instead concentrates on Adams's personal life. This has the effect of humanizing Adams, turning him from the stern and oftentimes forbidding figure from paintings and old photographs into a real human being to whom the reader can relate. The problem with this book, however, is that this is pretty much the limit of Nagel's examination. Adams's public career receives nowhere near the degree of coverage that his private life receive; in this respect, the subtitle is only half correct. This diminishes the value of what Nagel has done, as there is no effort to connect his insights into Adams's personality with any analysis of his public achievements.
Because of this, Nagel's book is only a qualified success. Though well written and valuable for its exploration of the inner Adams, Nagel's book is at best only a partial portrait of the sixth president of the United States of America. To get a complete picture of this fascinating man, it is best read in conjunction with one of the more comprehensive examinations of Adams's public careers, such as Samuel Flagg Bemis's award-winning two-volume study of Adams's life, John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy and John Quincy Adams and the Union, or Marie Hecht's shorter John Quincy Adams: A Personal History of an Independent Man.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Outstanding, Outstanding, Outstanding
My desire to read is never ending and this book was one that I could not put down. There are books and there are books that are truly worthwhile. Read more
Published on 24 Mar 1999
Entertaining, informative, reveals innermost person of JQA
I have read 100s of books on American History and biographies and feel that this book weaves extremely well the family life and political and the trials and tribulations of both. Read more
Published on 15 Mar 1999
Despite his many accomplishments, a rather sad life.
I enjoyed the insight into his life. My prior knowledge of him was from school; all I really knew was that he was John Adams' son & was a rather grumpy president. Read more
Published on 2 July 1998
Excellent Review of JQA, via his personal journals
The figure of JQA was one of the most striking and prolific of the 19th century. Prof. Nagel has made judicious decisions in developing the character of Adams from his diaries. Read more
Published on 3 Mar 1998
Fascinating book about an often neglected American
This book is excellent. Some reviews I read in the press complained that it contained too much detail, but that detail is what give the book its richness. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 1998
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
