COURSE EXPLANATION
Welcome to a new online book club. We are using “John Adams” by David McCullough as the book. I am selecting this title as it is an enjoyable read, and you don’t have to be a historian to appreciate it. McCullough’s book won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. It was adapted into the 2008 TV miniseries of the same name by HBO Films.
This page will include thought-provoking questions posted in relationship to each reading assignment. Readers will offer up their reactions and thoughts via the Comments section. Each week a new post will appear on the page while retaining the previous week’s posts. This allows participants to keep track of the discussion and refer to past posts if need be.
I am calling this project “John Adams 101” as it will ultimately result in a learning experience. John Adams is a complex figure and there is much to learn about his life and legacy. Readings will be relatively light as the goal of this project is to enjoy the book and learn something new while we are at it. The book’s description follows:
In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as “out of his senses”; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history.
This is history on a grand scale—a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
If you are interested in participating email me at ma@pinstripepress.net. Once we have enough participants you will receive an email directing you to this page. We will proceed from there. I look forward to sharing this experience with you.
The NAKED HISTORIAN 