Brilliant, detailed, vital exploration of making a new universe.

Not a book about History, this IS History

Have you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall and to be able to share in the thoughts and happenings of important places and people? Well, if your desires in that regard include the office of the Presidency of the United States and the early days following the American Revolution, that is exactly what this book provides.

As was typical of statesmen of that day, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams maintained a lengthy personal and professional correspondance the subjects of which were both mundane and highly intellectual. This book takes that correspondance, chronologically arranges it and then groups it according the characteristics of the time and the themes of their correspondance. As an additional bonus, John's wife Abigail Adams is included as well.

My attraction to this volume was to seek clarity and focus on several questions that are quite relevant to today. What was meant and intended by the concept of Separation of Church and State and what was the philisophic and religious thinking of there two important figures? There's no shortage of resources out there to tell you what these men thought, the context of their society and usually as an added bonus how these matters in one way or another support the agenda or perspective of the one putting the source together.

At some point however, if you really want to grapple with these issues or just understand the times and importance of these two men, there is no substitute for simply reading and allowing them to speak for themselves.

The added benefit of reading it through in its entirity is that you are not subjected to the judgement of another as to what is significant, what isn't and you aren't relying upon snippets and quotes that may or may not be in context and may or may not be representative of all that either man had to say upon a certain matter.

Certainly, this is just a small cross-section of all that these two men wrote and by itself there is much more that should be added. However, more than any other correspondance preserved from that day that these men engaged in, this was an exchange between men who considered the other his equal and for whom, with exceptions in time periods that are noted, mutual respect and a desire to explain themselves to one another motivated a candor and depth of intimacy that is difficult to find in other sectors.

Certainly, any student of American History needs this resource as a reference and as such it affords a ready means to add information and topically flip through the pages to see what each man had to say on a particular subject.

Every such student though, in my opinion, owes it to themselves, at least once, to just sit down and read the entire volume. Do this, and you'll have a handle upon the style of communication of the day, a feeling for many of the issues of the day and how they were viewed by the participants who did not have the advantage of knowing at the time how something would resolve. Idiosyncrasies in language and social custom will become more self-evident and the chances of being mislead by a quote isolated from its context will diminish considerably.

In short, for anyone who loves History, this is an experience not to be missed.

The footnotes and introductory passages to the different sections in my opinion do a remarkably good job of providing the reader with just enough context and outside information so that the letters themselves make sense and are not misunderstood. The reader is not told what to think about the letters per se, but rather equipped to make a better informed evaluation and come to their own conclusions. Those elements make the book valuable as well.

5 stars if ever there was a book worthy of 5 stars; again, this IS history.

Bart Breen

While I loved getting to read these letters, I realized that this would more be a reference book than one you read through.

So I'm setting this aside for now, but am grateful that I have it to reference.

This book collects the letters exchanged between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson over the course of their 50 year acquaintanceship. Allies at first, friends, then political rivals, and finally comfortable old souls, these letters reflect their political, philosophical, theological and intellectual discussions and disagreements, as well as reflections on the common moments of their lives. It is certainly the most remarkable exchange of correspondence in American history, and among the most remarkable in the history of western civilization. These letters demonstrate epistolary writing at its finest, an art form that our society has lost.

In addition, this book includes letters between Abigail Adams and Jefferson. Perhaps lacking in the epistolary style of her husband, Abigail's thoughts and reflections are absolutely fascinating.

Nothing less than an achievement of the highest order.

The Revolutionary period and early American Independence is such a dense era of our country's history, and reading letters really brings this history to life in a way unparalleled by many historical narratives. I very much enjoyed this book as a follow up to my reading of John and Abigail Adams' correspondence last year. The things to which these incredible men and women were witnesses boggles the mind.

I am always fascinated by the founding fathers. And no, I don't think of them as "Old White Guys". I think our founding fathers were brilliant and far more educated than we are in this age. This book compiles their letters to each other from May 1777, when they were in England (Adams) and France (Jefferson) doing the business of the fledgling new nation until April of 1876. I found the first years harder to get through as they mostly pertained to introductions of one person or the other, or matters of state business, which take place until 1790. From 1790-1801, they conversed and then there was a misunderstanding until 1804, when the correspondence renews. It was interesting to see them go back and forth on European rebellions and philosophers etc. My favorite part was the latter years, when they looked back on the nation that they had such a large part of founding, and heading, each in his own way. It was endearing to me to read of their end of life years where they were looking forward to moving on to Heaven and their thoughts about that and letting go.
***Poignant fact: Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and our founding. Jefferson. at noon on July 4th 1826, and John Adams shortly after noon. Jefferson was 83, Adams was 90.

This is a collection of the correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. It may sound boring, but it is actually quite interesting. Adams and Jefferson started out their association as the best of friends, only to see that friendship fall apart when both men campaigned to become president of the new American republic. Their friendship was then renewed during their retirement years. It is a wonderful story to read about, and this book gives you the chance to read their ACTUAL words instead of some author's interpretation.

This was a difficult book to read that was made harder by COVID 19 shutting me down for months.

This is the first book of letters I have read. If I had not recently read autobiographies of Adams, Washington, and Hamilton, I would not have appreciated the pictures painted by these letters. I wish I had also read a biography of Jefferson. Of course, many of these letters informed the authors of these books, but reading the actual letters was mostly interesting. I must admit though that some periods of time the letters were really not that interesting.

They served in the Second Continental Congress, collaborated on the Declaration of Independence, served as diplomats overseas, and served as the second and third vice president and president of the United States. They were learned men with very diverse interests and struck up a great friendship, only to see it become smashed to pieces over differing political visions. Cappon, on one of the greatest letter editorial accomplishments of the twentieth century (it was originally published in 1959), assembles their vast correspondence -- including Abigail Adams, wife of John -- and carefully annotates it through the highs and lows of their relationship.

There are only a few people in the world today who have both patience and the inclination to read 600 pages worth of 200-year-old letters. If you are one of these people, do yourself a favor and read this book now. If you are not one of these people, try really really hard to become one of these people and read this book now. And if you can't possibly imagine ever being the kind of person who reads this kind of book, then do the rest of us a favor and don't go all over the Internet popping off about what "The Founding Fathers" believed about stuff based on something that you heard on the radio. Because it is probably a lot more complicated than that.

Lester J. Cappon's Adams-Jefferson letters were first published in two expensive, hardbound volumes in 1959. Cappon was a historian and professional archivist who worked with these documents all of his life, and his edition is a model of good scholarship: it is thorough, it footnotes nearly everything that the modern reader would have trouble with, and it situates the letters in their historical context with 13 excellent, succinct section introductions to various series of correspondence. In 1988, the University of North Carolina Press did us all a favor and published a complete, one-volume paperbound edition of the letters.

The letters themselves trace all extant correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and both John and Abigail Adams beginning in 1777, the year after both men worked on the drafting committee for the Declaration of Independence, up until 1826, when both men died, within five hours of each other, on July 4, on the 50-year anniversary of the document in which they both pledged "[their] lives, [their] fortunes, and [their] sacred honor." From the very beginning, these letters give us a view of America's founding by two of the people who had the most to do with it. Letters between Jefferson and Abigail Adams (along with John) begin after the Jeffersons and the Adamses served together as America's minister to France in 1784.

In 1800, Adams and Jefferson were on opposite sides of one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history. Adams, a Federalist, stood for strong military preparation, a powerful federal judiciary, and an effectively pro-British foreign policy (though it was Adams, against the wishes of his own party, who secured peace with France in 1800). Jefferson, the leader of the emerging Republican Party (no relation), stood for stronger ties with France, a weak judiciary, and the abolition of standing armies and navies. The two sides savaged each other, and each other's standard-bearers, and Jefferson and Adams stopped communicating with each other. From 1796 through 1812, all we get are a few very formal letters between the two of them around the time that Jefferson was moving into Adams' house (The White House).

And then, in 1812, something remarkable happened. Through the agency of friends, Jefferson and Adams began corresponding again. And, over the next 13 years, they exchanged almost 60 letters about the past, the present, religion, politics, books, France, England, slavery, Native American culture, and, well, everything else. This is one of the most remarkable stories of reconciliation in our history and proof that severe political differences do not have to be an absolute bar to respect, civility, and friendship.

There are so many people talking and writing about history these days. But history itself has never been as available and accessible as these letters make the early days of America. Instead of reading other people's books about the Founding Fathers (including mine), take the time to read what they actually had to say for themselves. Really. You won't be sorry.

Michael Austin, author
That's Not What They Meant!: Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from America's Right Wing

Because I seriously need more Adams books.... *grins*


This is an amazing book thusfar.

Sigh, when will we again grace with Statesmen like Adams and Jefferson.