Book : John Quincy Adams Militant Spirit - Traub, James

-Titulo Original : John Quincy Adams Militant Spirit

-Fabricante :

Basic Books

-Descripcion Original:

Penetrating, detailed, and very readable. . . . A splendid biography. -- Wall Street Journal Few figures in American history have held as many roles in public life as John Quincy Adams. The son of John Adams, he was a brilliant ambassador and secretary of state, a frustrated president, and a dedicated congressman who staunchly opposed slavery. In John Quincy Adams, scholar and journalist James Traub draws on Adamss diaries, letters, and writings to evoke his numerous achievements-and failures-in office. A man of unwavering moral convictions, Adams is the father of foreign policy realism and one of the first proponents of the activist government. But John Quincy Adams is first and foremost the story of a brilliant, flinty, and unyielding man whose life exemplified admirable political courage. Review A splendid new biography.... Reliably thorough, blissfully bereft of jargon, and nicely paced. Joseph J. Ellis, New York Times Book ReviewJames Traub does justice to both the man and his times, with a historians sense of complexity and a writers eye for drama and detail. Sean WilentzBy rights, John Quincy Adams should be one of Americas most famous presidents. His life story is remarkable, the son of one of the nations founding presidents, the only one to serve in an elected office after leaving the White House, and a man of vast intelligence and political courage who died while debating in the House of Representatives. Yet hes an obscure figure. James Traub has rectified this in a book worthy of its subject. Fareed Zakaria, Fareed Zakaria GPSTraubs work is a reminder to Americans that politicians can be devoted to national issues, promote their principles, and still maintain their integrity. ChoiceWell-written and highly readable biography...highly accessible work. Chronicles [An] excellent biography.... [John Quincy Adams] life is worth meditating on, and Traubs biography is an indispensable resource for doing so. Washington Free BeaconJames Traub has admirably captured the man inside the public figure, giving us a view of a typical New England grandee, puritanical at his core, molded as a traditionalist republican with no love for pure democracy, convinced that governing was intended for the class born and bred for it. The Arts FuseTraub thoroughly, even quite engagingly, follows Adams through the years during which he served in the diplomatic corps, building up the reputation as the new republics best representative abroad. Booklist,starred review[An] essential biography of a complex man.... Traub shows that without imperiling national unity, Adamss persistent, perspicacious opposition to slavery shattered the overweening confidence of the South and confirmed his place in Americas history. Publishers Weekly,starred reviewTraub depicts a fully fleshed character, an extraordinary man driven by his birthright principles, a voluminous diarist, scholar, poet, polymath, eccentric, and iconoclast. The author also offers a masterly portrait of Adams wife, Louisa. An impassioned biography of a coherent and consistent thinker who adhered to his core political convictions across his decades of public service. KirkusJames Traubs new biography of John Quincy Adams is exceptionally strong. Adams was a complicated hero, a patrician visionary but also, as Traub puts it, a militant spirit, one of the most important diplomats in all of American history and, finally, slaverys greatest enemy in American politics. Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of AmericanDemocracy: Jefferson to LincolnJohn Quincy Adams was a great statesman and a heroic crusader for freedom, whose finest hours, ironically, came both before and after his time as president. James Traub does us a service by bringing him to life again for a new generation. With a journalists touch, Traub paints a vivid portrait of the man in all his complexity. Robert Kagan, author of Of Paradise and PowerIn lucid p