John Quincy Adams, Harlow Giles Unger
John Quincy Adams, Harlow Giles Unger
5 Rating(s)
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John Quincy Adams

Author: Harlow Giles Unger

Narrator: Johnny Heller

Unabridged: 9 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/04/2012


Synopsis

He fought for Washington, served with Lincoln, witnessed Bunker Hill, and sounded the clarion against slavery on the eve of the Civil War. He negotiated an end to the War of 1812, engineered the annexation of Florida, and won the Supreme Court decision that freed the African captives of La Amistad. He served his nation as minister to six countries, secretary of state, senator, congressman, and president. John Quincy Adams was all of these things and more. In this masterful biography, award-winning author Harlow Giles Unger reveals Adams as a towering figure in the nation's formative years and one of the most courageous figures in American history-which is why he ranked first in John F. Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning Profiles in Courage. A magisterial biography and a sweeping panorama of American history from the Washington to Lincoln eras, Unger's John Quincy Adams follows one of America's most important yet least known figures. "[Unger] eloquently details the diplomatic headaches caused by both the infamous XYZ Affair and ever-changing Gallic governments. Spare prose clarifies the overview of political complications and intricate family dynamics, revealing Adams as a historically overlooked yet key transitional figure who witnessed the birth of the nation and endured its nearly irreparable geographic squabbles of the 1840s."-Publishers Weekly

About Harlow Giles Unger

Harlow Giles Unger was the 2008 Distinguished Visiting Fellow in American History at George Washington's Mount Vernon. A veteran journalist, broadcaster, educator, and historian, he is author of sixteen books, including five biographies of America's Founders.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean on July 02, 2019

Harlow Giles Unger’s new biography of John Quincy Adams is well-written and superbly researched. The book is fast paced and supremely readable while not missing any aspect of JQA’s life. Unger seamlessly weaves the words of Adams into his narrative and Unger’s always solid research augments the stor......more

Goodreads review by Jay on May 27, 2021

"I fear I have done little good in the world and my life will end in disappointment of the good I would have done had I been permitted." This quote by John Quincy Adams about sums up his one-term presidency, but not his whole lifelong career. Born into diplomacy as the oldest son of our second presi......more

Goodreads review by Tim on January 15, 2024

I liked that this biography wasn’t very long (384 pages, about 9 hours audio). It made for crisp reading, since Adams led an eventful life. What a life. As a youth, he had a front row seat to the revolution and founding of the country. In his 70’s, as a Congressman and one of the fiercest anti-slaver......more