John Quincy Adams, Paul C. Nagel
John Quincy Adams, Paul C. Nagel
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John Quincy Adams
A Public Life, a Private Life

Author: Paul C. Nagel

Narrator: Jeff Riggenbach

Unabridged: 18 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/24/2009

Synopsis

A United States minister, senator, president, and congressman in turn, John Quincy Adams was one of the most prevalent and dedicated Americans in history. Drawing from Adams seventyyear diary, author Paul Nagel probes deeply into the psyche of this cantankerous, misanthropic, erudite, hardworking son of a former president whose remarkable career spanned so many offices. We learn about his passionate marriage to Louisa Johnson, his personal tragedies, including two sons lost to alcoholism, his recurring depression, exasperating behavior, and brilliant diplomacy. We see his frustration with the political life and the pleasure he drew from being a poet, critic, translator, essayist, botanist, and professor of oratory at Harvard. Nagels great achievement, in this first biography of Americas sixth president in a quarter century, is to finally portray Adams in all his talent and complexity.

About Paul C. Nagel

Paul C. Nagel  was a professor of history, a college dean, and a university vice president before devoting himself to writing. The most notable results of his writing career are his books about the John Adams family, Descent from Glory (1983) and The Adams Women (1987), and another about the family of Richard Henry Lee and Robert E. Lee, The Lees of Virginia (1990). He has been president of the Southern Historical Association and a trustee of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and is a fellow of the Pilgrim Society, a fellow of the Society of American Historians, a cultural laureate of Virginia, and a contributing editor of American Heritage. He and his wife live in Minneapolis.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Mara

If I were John Quincy Adams (oft' referred to as JQA), much of this review would likely consist of chastising myself for not having the discipline or talent to write a better review. I mean, this was a guy who wasseriously full of self-reproach. If he didn't have an internal proclivity for finding f......more

Goodreads review by Bill

Hey, remember the 90's? This book was written less than a quarter-century ago, but somehow seems older. The writing can often be somewhat stiff and starchy, in the style of a book that might have been written decades earlier. And author Paul Nagel famously purchased and took physical possession of m......more

Goodreads review by Springs

I'm one of those cynics who will first read the poor reviews. If they have merit, then I don't buy. This if my assistant cynic first assures that they are not the work of dolts and/or headcases, which will prompt me to then consider the glowing reviews. If the glowing reviews are not the obvious wor......more

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