I usually don’t like history books but this book was good to see the friendship that John Addams and Thomas Jefferson were able to have even though their thoughts were so politically diverse.

“The reconciliation of Adams and Jefferson in 1812…brought about a rich and voluminous correspondence that has no counterpart in any other period of American history.” P XLIV

Adams to Jefferson, Oct. 9, 1787: “I have long been settled in my own opinion, that neither philosophy, nor religion, nor morality, nor wisdom, nor interest, will ever govern nations or parties, against their vanity, their pride, their resentment or revenge, or their avarice or ambition”

Jefferson to Adams, Aug. 1, 1816: “For, at the latter period, for most of us, the powers of life are sensibly on the wane, sight becomes dim, hearing dull, memory constantly it’s frightful blank and parting with all we have ever seen or know, spirits evaporate, bodily debility creeps on palsying every limb, and so faculty after faculty quits us, and where then is life?”

Adams to Jefferson, Dec.? 16, 1816: “I fear there will be greater difficulties to preserve our Union, than you and I, our Fathers Brothers Friends Disciples and Sons have had to form it.”

We’re these men flawed? Aren’t all men? They were thinkers, readers, writers, courageous. And those today who criticize them are not people of worth or character at all. Oh, poor America, who can’t find a leader who deserves admirations and loyalty.

Incredible insight into early American thinking. Genuinely loved reading this.

Love these letters. This isn't something I sat down and just read like a normal book, but read 1 letter at a time.

I use this as a daily read and not something to finish quickly.

An collection of letters written between friends who both had what we now call a "classical education". They learned and used rhetoric to an astonishing degree to explain and reiterate to each other things important to the establishment of a new government and a new way of giving all the people a say in it--bear in mind they did not outright subscribe to equal suffrage for all people...at least not out loud. Adams wife, Abigail, did ask John Adams to ..."think of the ladies..." and maybe Jefferson really meant it when he said "...all men are created equal..." but the burden of satisfying slave owners was a bit too hard for him to completely go against. He ( and maybe far too many others ) decided to let the matter be resolved later--I don't think that they expected a civil war to occur.

OK I am far too far away from my original point--this stuff is so well written that I found myself reading some of the letters OUT LOUD and totally savoring the ring and rhythm of this lovingly composed prose between two dear friends who hashed out a lot of what Americans inventing a new type of government needed to think about.

Their literary expression makes me proud to be able to read the English language. This stuff is worth reading because it is written so well that it may take your breath away. Once you get into the 18th century style, you will be amazed at the richness of this writing.

This was my "big read" for 2014 - I read a letter or two every day starting in January and here I am, done a month ahead of schedule. The letters between these two men make for an amazing read, especially after they retire from the public eye. Other reviews will do a better job explaining the context and times of the correspondence, so let me leave you with part of Jefferson's condolence letter to John Adams upon the death of his wife Abigail:

I will not, therefore, by useless condolences, open afresh the sluices of your grief, nor, although mingling sincerely my tears with yours, will I say a word more where words are vain, but that it is of some comfort to us both, that the term is not very distant, at which we are to deposit in the same cerement our sorrows and suffering bodies, and to ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved and lost, and whom we shall still love, and never lose again.

Probably the most complete, comprehensive collection of the vast correspondence between these two men. Be mindful that this is not an easy read as you are reading language that was quite common for it's day but certainly not used now. However, it was never meant to be presented any other way. It is a collection of authentic letters showing differences of opinion but working towards the common good, then the wide split between the two as they ascended to the highest office of the land (a time where their correspondence suddenly fell short), and then a decision to reconnect their friendship with a respect for (and understanding of) their differences.
This is more of an academic piece; well worth the time and effort if you want an understanding of their complicated friendship, but stay away if you're looking for an author's biographical work on the two.

I started reading the during the last class of my Graduate's studies. I have always been interested in history. Having watched a few countries around the world rewrite their history at the sake of losing their overall character, I want to read for myself what "Our" early fathers thought. By reading their personal letters to each other one can see for themselves what Adams and Jefferson believed. We all need to step back a read the history from those that were there and lived it and not have someone else 200 years (or more) tell you what they believe history was like. I truly great book.

300 pages of this was enough to count for me. Abigail's letters were by far the most interesting. This was for school, not pleasure.

I would love to tell you what I think, but I'm unable to read this book. What does it mean when it asks "what shelf?" Please help.

I was motivated to buy this by the John Adams miniseries. The letters that were read in the final episode were very moving. I imagined I would have to hunt around in the volume for letters as good as the ones read in the series. That was mostly wrong. Not every letter is as good as the best letters, but most are quite readable. And many could have been as entertaining as the ones read in the series. (I loved where the former presidents compared notes on the cranks who came in to deliver their apocalyptic opinions to the president. That would have made a great scene.) The letters also tell me that I would not want to be on the other end of a correspondence with an angry Abigail Adams. That said, Jefferson was able to clear himself of the charges better than the series might have led a viewer to believe. The miniseries is accurate, but sometimes misleading, though in ways that are almost inevitable when brevity is an issue.

It took about a year, but what a rich book. I vastly prefer the John Adams, who has a childlike spirit to him. His letters are full of life and curiosity, where Jefferson is self serious. Also was surprised to encounter Adams’ religious views as being way closer to a kind of Deism/Humanism like Jefferson than I would’ve imagined.