Descent from Glory

by Paul C. Nagel

Book Overview

There has never been any doubt that the Adams family was America's first family in our politics and memory. This research-based and insightful book is a multigenerational biography of that family from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195031725
• ISBN13: 9780195031720
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A complex subject, masterfully disected

I read this book in about one week. I found it very well written with logical conclusions and theories based on an extensive primary and secondary source material study, complex yet readable and extremely well researched. This is a book that anyone interested in American history and the complexities of the first 4 generations of the Adams family will appreciate. A masterful undertaking by the author...never boring and highly informative.

History Comes Alive

(...) An insightful and interesting study of four generations of complex and often contradictory personalities. I especially appreciated the author's manner of hinting at future developments and bating the reader to read on and on...in my case, well into the night. His analysis of the Adams' strengths and weaknesses is what sets this book apart so I am perplexed that anyone would describe it as dull and a mere listing of events. But don't take my word for it -- if you have only a few moments to browse through it, check the index for the passage dealing with the death of the tragic first generation daughter, Nabby. The writing is poignant and wrenching. Anything but routine.

A Must-Read For Early Am. Hist Buffs!

Four generations of the John Adams family of Quincy are brilliantly covered in this detailed, yet concise, 400 page study. The lives and work of 2 presidents, 3 major diplomats, cabinet officials, and great scholars are outlined within the context of their remarkable history as an American family. This book touches upon the topics of Colonial America through the Revolution and Civil War on into the 20th Century. One can't help but be interested with such personalities as Adamses John, Abigail, John Quincy, Charles Frances, Henry, and Brooks. Their triumph as a family, depite problems financial and personal (alchoholism, depression, etc.), makes for inspirational reading.