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Many great artists have had at least intermittent doubts abouttheir own abilities. But The Education of Henry Adams is surely one of thefew masterpieces to issue directly from a raging inferiority complex. The author, to be sure, had bigger shoes to fill than most of us. Both his grandfather and great-grandfather were U.S. presidents. His father, a relative underachiever, scraped by as a member of Congress andambassador to the Court of St. James. But young Henry, born in Bostonin 1838, was destined for a walk-on role in his nation's history--and seemedalarmingly aware of the fact from the time he was an adolescent.

It gets worse. For the author could neither match his exalted ancestorsnor dismiss them as dusty relics--he was an Adams, after all, formed fromthe same 18th-century clay. "The atmosphere of education in which he livedwas colonial," we are told,

revolutionary, almost Cromwellian, as though he were steeped, from his greatest grandmother's birth, in the odor of political crime. Resistance to something was the law of New Englandnature; the boy looked out on the world with the instinct of resistance; for numberless generations his predecessors had viewed the world chiefly asa thing to be reformed, filled with evil forces to be abolished, and theysaw no reason to suppose that they had wholly succeeded in the abolition;the duty was unchanged.

He was not, by any measure but his own, a failure. And the proof of the pudding is The Education of Henry Adams itself, which remainsamong the oddest and most enlightening books in American literature. Itcontains thousands of memorable one-liners about politics, morality, culture,and transatlantic relations: "The American mind exasperated the European asa buzz-saw might exasperate a pine forest." There are astonishingglimpses of the high and mighty: "He saw a long, awkward figure; a plain, ploughed face; a mind, absent in part, and in part evidently worried by whitekid gloves; features that expressed neither self-satisfaction nor any other familiar Americanism..." (That would be Abraham Lincoln; the "melancholy function" his Inaugural Ball.) But most of all, Adams's book is a brilliant account of how his own sensibility came to be. A literary landmark from the moment it first appeared, the Autobiography confers upon its author precisely that prize hefelt had always eluded him: success. --James MarcusBook Description
UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOK IN MP3 FORMAT.Download Description
A story of education -- seventy years of it -- the practical value remains to the end in doubt, like other values about which men have disputed since the birth of Cain and Abel; but the practical value of the universe has never been stated in dollars. Although every one cannot be a Gargantua-Napoleon-Bismarck and walk off with the great bells of Notre Dame, every one must bear his own universe, and most persons are moderately interested in learning how their neighbors have managed to carry theirs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

Is the emperor wearing any clothes?
It took me a few months to grind my way through this, and I must conclude that unless you are a serious student of history--a professor or grad student, or highly-motivated undergrad--you are not going to get much out of this book.

I've got undergraduate and masters degrees (in computer science), am fairly widely read, and have a pretty good knowledge of history. Nevertheless, I usually could not figure out what Adams was getting at in his overly poetic abstractions. As other reviewers have pointed out, Adams can never simply describe concretely what he sees, but instead has to formulate some sort of generalization, as when the "dynamo"--a machine he sees at a World's Fair--becomes a symbol for the sweeping forces of mechanization and industrialization. That sounds insightful, but did he really need an entire chapter to describe how it upheaved his soul?

Adams wrote this book for his close circle of friends, not the general public. This manifests when he casually tosses around the names of obscure people without explaining who they are, as if we are just supposed to know. I often kept Wikipedia open as I read.

Unless you are already an expert on 19th-century U.S. history, be prepared for a hard slog and, I regret to predict, a lack of fulfillment.

A complex first-person history of America as it became a super power
"The Education of Henry Adams" is a difficult book to review.But be forewarned: "The Education" will not appeal to many readers.It is hardly a book you'd bring to the beach or try to read for leisure.I first came across the book in a foreign policy seminar I took in college.While my professor took great pains to tell us how important "The Education" was -- it was named by Modern Library as the greatest non-fiction book written in the 20th Century -- the book was just boring to a 19-year, and almost certainly beyond my limited means and interest.Recently inspired by a blog series on the New York Times web site about "The Education", I decided to dust off my old copy, hoping that a few years wiser, I would be able to get through the whole thing, and even more importantly, have a better appreciation for Adams' book.After finally finishing it -- including the many detailed footnotes in the Samuel' edition -- I can safely say that while several parts of the book were very interesting, I would not recommend "The Education" to everyone.

"The Education of Henry Adams" is for all intents and purposes, a very unusual autobiography of Adams -- though I am sure Adams would disagree with that label -- told in the third person, chronicling the interesting life of a man born into an extraordinary family history, who led a fascinating life, but who never quite fit into the changing America as the 20th Century began to dawn.Henry Adams was a historian and one-time professor of history at Harvard.Born in 1838, Adams was the great-grandson of John Adams, the grandson of John Quincy Adams, and the son of Charles Francis Adams, the esteemed Minster to England during the Civil War.The book is written in such a manner that each chapter covers a year or series of years in Adams' life, beginning in 1838 and ending in 1905 (though Adams himself died in 1918, he ended the book in 1905; further, the book does not cover the 20-year period of his marriage to Marion "Clover" Hooper, who tragically killed herself in 1885 following a long depression).

Part of what makes "The Education" so compelling -- at least to me, is that the book serves as an eyewitness account of some of the most important events and periods of American history between 1840 and 1900.Adams offers very insightful and sharp observations of many of the great events of his time; though, it is important to note that Adams was in Britain for the entire Civil War, serving as a private secretary to his father, so Adams does not offer great analysis of what was going on in America during the Civil War.Perhaps not coincidentally, some of the most boring chapters in "The Education" are those covering the years 1860 to 1870.

More than anything else, however, "The Education" is a story of a man who felt out of place in the fast-changing America of the late-19th and early 20th Century.From Adams' perspective, the book is a tale of his pursuit of an "education" in life that would help him adapt to, understand, and live in the new America.Throughout the book, Adams laments his abject failure in accomplishing this objective, and generally considered himself a failure unable to live in the United States as it entered onto the world stage as a super power.Reading the book, it was very interesting to me how Adams conceived himself as a man of the 18th Century, and I think his inability to live up to the political successes of his ancestors -- who could?! -- was hugely depressing to him as he went through life.

"The Education" has several chapters on numerous recurring themes which Adams well examines and often lampoons, such as American politics and the U.S. Senate (his chapters on the pitiful Grant Administration and the state of U.S. politics are extremely funny and pretty much on-the-mark, even 130 years later), the conduct of diplomacy (given Adams' family history and his own interests, he had a tremendous background in diplomatic issues, and was best friends with Secretary of State John Hay), and the rise of technology and its affect on the United States (his chapters on the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the 1900 Paris Exposition are two of the best chapters in the book).Regarding the latter area, Adams was both intrigued by and terrified of emerging technologies like the faster locomotives, cars, and other devices, which he called the "dynamo".In several passages, he predicted that while new technologies would advance civilization and America's standing, they would also reap devastating results for the world.Given the birth of the Atomic Age and what has happened since, one could argue that Adams was incredibly prescient.

Despite the book's many pluses, it is not without its considerable flaws.Perhaps I am just not educated enough myself, but the book is extremely hard to read today.First written by Adams around 1903, "The Education" does not all translate well to 2008, and I had to read many of the passages and pages multiple times to understand what Adams was trying to say.Further, while Adams' wit and self-deprecating humor are amusing at first, it becomes very grating as Adams seems to refer to himself as a failure on every single page.Finally, there are certain periods of Adams' life -- particularly his lack of service during the Civil War and his marriage (which he does not mention once in the book) -- which he disappointingly did not discuss much at all.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my review, "The Education" is not a book for everyone.It takes a good deal of time to fully read and digest, and its themes are fairly nuanced and not always terribly exciting.That being said, if you're a student of history and interested in learning about American development between 1840 and 1900 from one of the 19th Century's great historians (Adams wrote a nine-volume history of the U.S. during the Jefferson and Madison Administrations, which, to this day are considered the gold standard in early American history books), you should consider checking the book out.If you do want to read "The Education", I strongly recommend that you purchase Ernest Samuel's edition.Samuels wrote a three-volume biography of Adams, and knew more about Henry Adams than anybody else.Samuels also included a wealth of detailed footnotes throughout the pages; while many people like to avoid footnotes, they are quite valuable with a book like this where Adams is constantly referencing old German words and 15th Century French figures as if his readers were all supposed to know them!So, the Samuels edition (the one with the green cover and published by Riverside Editions) is the edition you want.

I liked "The Education" and I would like very much to read his forgotten histories of the Jefferson and Madison years, but I have to admit that I don't know if I could ever make it through them considering Adams' writing style!

Three stars.

Interesting Read
This book wasn't the greatest book I've ever read, but I had huge expectations for it because the only reason I read it was because the "Modern Library" list ranked it #1, but I still thought the book was very good.I wasn't familiar with Henry Adams and didn't know why I should care what he did during his life, but the further I got into the book the more interesting it became.I've been traveling through Europe for a year and thought that Adams and I shared similar opinions about traveling and other things about Europe, so that was interesting due to the large time gap.But I enjoyed the story because I thought it was an interesting depiction of America, Europe and how one has difficulty understanding the world and the challenges one experiences during life.A book worth reading.

Not what I had hoped for...
I had heard of the importance, and significance of "The Education of Henry Adams" for a long time. I finally determined I needed to read it.

I acutally read it twice, and found less in it the second time than the first.

I am sorryI missed the greatness of this book. I am sure there was something wrong with me, but I found it to be incredibly unimpressive.

Perhaps this came from the fact that Henry Adams was not a likeable man. He was famous for holding court in his home near the White House, and making caustic and negative comments about every President who lived there.

Granted, he lived in Washington at a time when there were plenty of second-rate occupants of the White House. But the thought of people wasting their time trying to pleasea blue-blooded snob like Adams depresses me. Why did anyone bother? He lived in an atmosphere of snobbery, sharp-tongues, clever remarks, and brilliant conversation. The world went on without him, truth be told, and he contributed less than the people who walked by his house each day.

He was a very good historian in his time. But who reads his books now? Not very many. In short, his own work was not as long-lasting as he would have wanted it to be. Maybe the influence of some of the Presidents he mocked lasted longer than the published and purchased work of Henry Adams.

"The Education of Henry Adams" does not have much real information. He got education in one place, none in others. Surely, the suicide of his wife provided some very painful education for Henry--but he wrote nothing about it in his book.

When Eric Sevareid wrote "Not So Wild a Dream," it was compared to "The Education of Henry Adams." That was meant as a compliment. Oddly, I think Sevareid's book is much, much better. Sevareid wrote of America, the common man, the war, and what it all meant to him. Adams needed to get out more. He did not see America--not the America built by the common citizen who put it all together, and defended it.I gained a trememdous amount from Sevareid. I cannot say the same for the work of Henry Adams.

Again, a lot of this might be me. Perhaps I read the book at a bad time. Maybe I needed to read it a third time. I do not know. I do know I do not think this is a great American classic. Forgive, please, my ignorance.

Anyone interested in American History will love this book!
In 1885, Adams wife Marion committed suicide.Upon her death, Adams took up a restless life in trotting around the globe and travelling extensively.For years, he spent summers in Paris and winters in Washington, DC.In 1907 he pubished this Pulitzer Prize winning autobiography.This work contains the birth of forces that Adams saw as replacing Chrisianity and has the reputation of being the the most important non-fiction work of the 20th century and I am hard pressed to disagree! ... Read more

Book Description
The major works of Henry Adams, one of the most powerful writers of the late nineteenth century, collected in one volume for the first time. Contains "The Education of Henry Adams" and "Mont Saint Michel and Chartres," his remarkable works of nonfiction combining philosophical and historical speculation with autobiographical musings on his famous heritage. Also includes his two novels of American politics and religion, "Democracy" and "Esther." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Henry Adams, Democracy, Esther, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, The Education of Henry Adams
Henry Adams should be required reading for all US students.This version of his writings - Library of America series includes all his best writings in a small book.Amazon delivered as agreed.

Greatest hits
The Library of America is one of the best organizations.Here at last are both novels, his interesting autobiography, and Mont St Michel all under one roof.

"Democracy" is one of the best political novels of all time and speaking as a denizen of the nation's capital, very little has changed.Esther is attempt deal with the "woman question."Clearly the inspiration of both books is Mrs. Henry Adams.Known as "Voltaire in petticoats" (Henry James), she later tragically took her own life following a period of depression.The death of his wife led to Henry Adams' retirement from public life.This subject is covered in Ernest Samuels' wonderful biography (which I also recommend).

I suggest a look at his biography since the subject of Marion Clover Adams is avoidedentirely in "The Education of Henry Adams." Henry Adams may not discuss his wife, but he does touch on nearly everything else of importance in his autobiography."Growing up Adams," life in Europe with Garibaldi's forces, life at the British legation in London during the Civil War are all addressed.The best and probably the most key chapter in the book is the one entitled "The Virgin and Dynamo."Adams uses the 1876 cenntenial fair as a departure to meditate of the impact of theindustrial revolution. Adams believed with the growth of technology that man would somehow outgrow the simple humanity of the Middle Ages (it would have been interesting if Adams had lived long enough to meet someone like Carl Jung to see what he would have to say on this subject!). One of the foremost historians (the Library of America has also issued the history of Jefferson and Madison's Administrations, which is a classic), Adams became interested in the Middle Ages and his survey of the two great cathedrals of France Chartes and Mont St. Michel is the final book in the volume.I cannot recommend this book too highly, it is a must for all fans of Henry Adams and those who would like to experience him for the first time.

one of the most brilliant minds in American literature
While Adams novels (Democracy and Esther) may be lightweight, the other two works included in this volume are two of the best non-fiction American books ever.Adams has the kind of intellect that seems capable ofencompassing everything.Like Joseph Campbell or Harold Bloom, Adams oftenleaves the reader in awe of how much he knows and how he is able to makethe connections that so clearly illuminate everything he touches upon. This is one of my favorite volumes in the Library of America series, and Iknow that anyone who appreciates intelligence, wit, and charm in a writerwill enjoy reading it. ... Read more

Book Description
Pulitzer Prize-winner Garry Wills makes a compelling argument for a reassessment of Henry Adams as our nations greatest historian and his History as the "nonfiction prose masterpiece of the nineteenth century in America." Adams drew on his own southern fixations, his extensive foreign travel, his political service in the Lincoln administration, and much more to invent the study of history as we know it.His nine-volume chronicle of America from 1800 to 1816 established new standards for employing archival sources, firsthand reportage, eyewitness accounts, and other techniques that have become the essence of modern history. Ambitious in scope, nuanced in detail, Henry Adams and the Making of America throws brilliant light on the historian and the making of history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Interesting look at 3rd and 4th presidencies (4.2 *s)
This book examines the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison as seen through the eyes of Henry Adams and his nine volume history written in the later nineteenth century. It is an attempt to rescue Adams' history from the dust bin, claiming that it has been misinterpreted by even academics who have failed to appreciate its uniqueness and incisiveness. The author makes much of the fact that Adams was one of the first historians to base his work on archived material. The fact that he was from the prominent Adams family and had posted to England during the Civil War as a deputy to his father facilitated his access to materials as well as an interest in history.

Foreign relations dominated the early nineteenth century with the US being forced to deal with European hostilities, especially the impact of Napoleon. Also, the expansionistic tendencies of Americans butted up against the North American presence of Spain, France, and England at various times. Adams was mindful of personalities, ineptitude, and miscommunications both with foreign offices and within US government circles, especially the cabinets. Jefferson was in a fairly constant tiff with Chief Justice Marshall over such issues as John Adams packing the federal judiciary with Federalist judges, impeachments, and the trial of Aaron Burr for treason. The War of 1812 was the single most important event of the era beginning with the antagonisms engendered by Jefferson's and Madison's Embargo Act of 1807.

Both Wills and Adams remark on the irony of small government Republicans accruing sufficient national government powers to survive against European powers. They find the pragmatism of Jefferson to exceed any ties to ideology.

A mild criticism of the book is that it attempts to be both a work of history itself as well as commentary about a book concerning the same period. The narrative gets a little bumpy at times. There does seem to be a shortage of good histories of this particular period, unlike the last twenty-five years of the previous century. So it is a welcome book. It's doubtful that it would inspire many to pick up Adams' original work, however.

Thankfully I never read Adams'History
Garry Wills has relieved me of any possible guilt for never having read Henry Adams' History of the United States.It appears to be a boring piece of work.The attempt to show how events in Adams' life led him to take certain positions about events in the period 1800-1816 only creates difficulty in reading and makes the whole enterprise very unpleasant.I did enjoy Adams' comments on the two Adams presidents, both of whom were martinets.But my biggest reaction is to the incompetence of both Jefferson and Madison, even though they did accomplish many things despite their intentions.When we today see the inability of our leaders to do any good or avoid evil we often think back to the wonderful presidents we had in the beginning.Well, they weren't so wonderful after all.Jefferson was an accomplished intellectual but a pretty mediocre president.The foreign policies of Jefferson and Madison demonstrate childishness and arrogance in the face of European sophistication and experience.It is perhaps a miracle this country ever survived in such hands.

Henry Adams: Who Knew?
I was one of those who had only read "The Education" and found Adams a bit gloomy -- though his chapter "The Dynamo and The Virgin" I've found endlessly fascinating (see below). So, when I heard an NPR interview with Wills I bought the book. This is the point of the book: that historians and readers totally misinterpret Adams' view of America. He was a major and optimistic proponent of a United (!) States -- not a bunch of disparate states. So, another excellent book by Wills. Very good summary of the revolutionary period and especially the military problems (read Ellis' "His Excellency" on Washington soon after -- good combination).

As a side note, what's always fascinated me about Adams is here's a guy born into a 19th century life of letters (dark wood paneled libraries, quill pens, science only just separating from philosophy); heir to some serious 18th century heavy hitters, who lives to see Einstein's papers on light and relativity published. I think Adams might qualify as the last true American man of letters; someone whose mind could encompass (almost, but maybe not quite) all of science, literature and philosophy. When science took off at the revolution in physics, I don't think such a broad understanding of intellectual life was possible anymore.

Anyway, highly recommended.

g.

Great book even for a casual history reader
You've read what the academic types think of this book.Now for the opinion of someone who has never used "polymath" or historiographical" in a sentence.

I loved this book!I read The Education of Henry Adams in college and am an avid reader of US history as an adult.I have been reading biographies of each president in order, having recently completed John Tyler.So I have read a lot about the period covered in Adams' history of the Jefferson and Madison Administrations, but I am certainly no expert.And I still loved the book.It will definitely whet your appetite for reading the real thing.

As another reviewer said, it was really interesting to read a book about a book.It was like having an art historian explain a famous painting to you.You have your own ideas about it and don't necessarily agree with everything they say, but it brings you new perspective, understanding and background you would not have otherwise had.

Wills' work was lively, interesting and well-written.If you are not up to tackling the history, you learn a lot of history of the period vicariously by reading Wills' work.

This is an accessible work that rightly brings back into consciousness one of the all-time great pieces of American scholarship and literature.

A Gloss it is not!
This is an extraordinary book.Ignore the condescending New Yorker review.Methinks, like Wills' "ill-read" historians who never actually read Adams' Histories, the reviewer never finished reading the book he or she reviewed.

Wills does a great job illuminating the preciousness with which many historians dismiss the work of their earlier peers.He also highlights the significant role Adams played in extending the use of original source materials in writing history.In this case Adams' connections played a huge role in gaining access to documents that would have been unavailable to many others.

I particularly enjoyed Wills' exposition of Adams's treatment of the 1812 Naval War, where he traces the similarities and differences among Cooper, Mahan and Roosevelt's histories of the same engagements.

Finally, Wills highlights Adams' interest and understanding of Government Finance which led him to emphasize the naivete of Jefferson's anti-Hamilton financial policies which in turn both helped trigger the War of 1812 and then brought it to an end.

The book is a great read.The only down-side is that it is so good that readers may have an almost legitimate excuse for not finishing Adams' original Histories. ... Read more

Book Description
Judged to be one of the greatest histories in English, this monumental work culminated Adams' lifelong fascination with the intertwined pasts of his family and his country. Carefully researched and written in a strong, lively, and ironic style, the "History" chronicles the consolidation of American nationality and character amidst the dangerous conflicts of the Napoleonic era. The original 9-volume edition, long out-of-print, is complete in these two volumes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Adams: History of the US - Madison Administration (2)
Although dated, these volumes remain a must. They are dated (1889-1991) but they provide a glimpse about the past history of the US. Following this time, with the end of the Spanish-American war documents came to light providing sometimes different views of historical moments such as the role of Gen. James Wilkinson with the Spaniards.

American stature grows with Madison in the background
It is hard to write a concise review of a volume of 1500 pages, and I did read the whole volume.When I subscribed to Library of America this was a volume that really interested me.I can say that it exceeded my expectations as a marvelous narrative history of an overshadowed era of American history.This volume has filled in my knowledge of this period and at the same time provided hours of entertainment.
The book covers two primary topics.The first is the diplomatic history that led up to the War of 1812 and the second is the story of that war. James Madison is a background character who does not dominate the action as Jefferson did in Adam's previous volume.The scholarship is excellent as each event is covered in great detail.Adam's writing has a unique style that compares well to Edward Gibbon.
The diplomatic history is covered in great detail with excerpts from letters and conversations telling the story of the arrogance of Napoleon and the British that culminated in the war.Napoleon is portrayed as a power seeker who lied to the Americans and stole their property with no compunctions.The British are even more villianous.They are portrayed as very thorough and practiced in their diplomatic dealings, treating America as a child with less status than when they were colonies.The studied contempt poured on the Americans made me angry.
The war movement was led by Congress over the opposition of Madison.Britain became the object of war based upon the nearness of Canada and their continual impressment including the attack on an American warship before the war.The attacks of the Indians on the frontier stirred up by the British also fueled the aggressiveness of the Congressional War Hawks.
The war of 1812 brings out Adams chauvanism.He continually praises the American soldiery despite their lack of any real success and saves his highest compliments for the American navy.I am not a military historian but given the fact that Washington was sacked and burned it would not appear that the American military was very effective.I did enjoy the portrayal of the Battle of New Orleans and have read it several times.The British got their ass kicked by their own admission and even though the war was over this victory made the nation proud.The naval exploits are supported by quotes from the British and it does appear that one on one the Americans were superior.
The book closes with some interesting social history and concludes with Adams analysis of the effect of the war.He states that the war established the unity of the nation and assured the success of the American experiment.The ascendacy of New England that had given rise to the first secession movement was ended.The end of the fear of the European powers allowed America to concentrate on building their own nation.The people of America had gained the necessary confidence to strike their own way building a unique nation.
1500 pages is a lot of work.It was worth it to me.My knowledge and understanding of our history in this era was greatly increased.The writing is excellent and the LOA editions are always first rate.If you have the curiousity and make the investment of time I am sure you will find it worthwhile.

A Pivotal Age in American Politics
Unlike the first volume where Jefferson dominated every page, Madison is virtually invisible in the first 400 pages. During his administration, his principles and acts were either thwarted by a bungling 13th Congress, or superseded by an energetic 14th Congress. As well (according to Adams) this was the last age in which ambassadors and envoys carried so much weight in the administration. Afterwards the Congress became the premier power in the United States, with ambassadors playing important but less conspicuous roles, and the President becoming less of a political force. In the first 400 pages, Adams painstakingly describes the diplomatic engagements that embroiled us into a war with England and France, and then brilliantly describes the naval and land battles that occurred during the War of 1812. After Washington was burned (for which Madison was jeered and vilified when passing from village to village), the United States broke into an economic vitality not known before (which tended to make the public forget the burning of Washington). Massachusetts, which had threatened secession with Connecticut and Rhode Island, was humbled by the new Republican Treasurer, whose autocratic policies helped to reduce one state's superiority over another. An interesting and energetic portrayal of life in early America, and the sudden maturation process of our diplomatic and economic infancy.

A classic, lovingly researched and written
This book is a dignified piece of historical writing.Although it is long, it manages to be significant throughout.The personality profiles are interesting, the battle descriptions are gripping, and the political analysis is acute.Before reading this volume (and its companion), I did not realize how pivotal the events of this era were in shaping the rest of 19th century US.Recommended to those with time to ponder, especially if they are fond of Adams' writing style. ... Read more

Book Description
Both a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and at the head of the Modern Library's list of the one hundred best English-language nonfiction books of the twentieth century, The Education of Henry Adams has long been revered as a great work of literature. Written by Adams in the third person, the book became known for founding a new genre best described as "an education" -- an account not of life, but of learning. A tireless historian, politician, and traveler, Adams was from first to last a dedicated learner capable of great originality. In this text, Adams uses his background information (such as place of birth, voyage destinations, and alma mater) but little else, placing his protagonist in front of life's various pitfalls with the object of providing those stepping out into the world with the tools they need to handle themselves in the face of adversity. By inventing his own fictional missteps, Adams allows readers to educate themselves on how to approach life's curveballs.

Although The Education of Henry Adams has long been considered a classic, until now the only editions available were those from 1907 and 1918. The former, which appeared in Adams's lifetime, was a private printing of only one hundred copies, containing hundreds of printer's errors and editorial inconsistencies. The latter, printed by the Massachusetts Historical Society and Houghton Mifflin Company after Adams's death in March of 1918, amounted to a wholesale modernization of Adams's work, leaving telling defects, including stylistic inconsistencies and incomplete sentences. With The Education of Henry Adams: A Centennial Version, editors Edward Chalfant and Conrad Edick Wright have at long last returned this celebrated book to the author's vision. Combining close attention to the private printing's typesetting and editorial shortcomings with valuable insights into the history of the book and Adams's reasons for writing it, they have also inserted marginal corrections by Adams in his working copies of the 1907 printing. With an introductory note, an invitation to readers, and a postscript, they have both traced the text's own story and offered a compelling interpretation of the author's motives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The New Standard
I have just had a chance to look at this book.It is obviously a labor of love.

Long one of my favorites, this edition is the new standard.

It should be read by all lovers/students of American literature/culture.

best of available
If you have any interest in this subject, then this version is the best available. It has been carefully edited to reflect the original version and has an excellent introduction. ... Read more

Book Description
This novel was published anonymously in March 1880 and soon appeared in various unauthorized editions. It wasn't until the 1925 edition that Adams was listed as author. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

My favorite book EVER
Its not going to win reviews as a paper back book. This is the best history book I have ever read. I have looked at some of the reviews here stating its too long. I would have liked it longer, it is a serious history book to make is shorter would remove some very important facts regarding our history. Well put together and edited. If I could I would give it 10 stars. This is a must read for any teacher who calls him or herself a history teacher, However sadly I doubt many of our public school teachers have ever read it.

not to be missed
Although I usually do not like to review books which have been extensively reviewed, this one I will.

Adams did a wonderful job here, a better example of classical history is hard to find, well documented (even after almost 100 years), with a magnificent literary style, reading better than most action novels, it is an indispensable read to anyone that wants to learn the origins of this country.

It is hard to find negatives here, the only onethat should be mentioned is the lack of info regarding some actors of the drama and some incidents that happened before the time of the period covered.

This is probably the fact that, at the time he wrote it, Adams was well aware of the level of knowledge and education of the people he wrote it for. Unfortunately, today, the general knowledge of American history ofthe majority of the population, leaves a lot to be desired, specially compared to his contemporaries.

Specific cases include, but are not limited too, the main cases of Chief Justice J. Marshall, the XYZ affair, etc. These are mentioned without an explanation, taking for granted the reader's knowledge of them.

With the relevant info just a click away, this should not be a problem.

If you love Americen history, If you are looking for material for a thesis, if you simply enjoy great adventure, this is the book for you.

I simply have not enjoyed an American History book as much as this in a long time.

Warning: If you start, you will be hooked and your social agenda will suffer, you just will not be able toput it down.

In here you will find answers to todays US problems, it is more current today than when it was originally published, a must read for all intelligent, articulate citizens.

As to the other critics emphasis of the dominance of foreign policy in the book, Why not? Both of Jefferson's terms were 98% foreign policy, there was little to report on the home front there.

Go for it, you will not be sorry

Gaston Magrinat

Underrated Classic
I don't understand previous reviewers comments that this book is 'too long'. This book and the second volume 'Madison' should interest any genuine lover of early American history. Adams works are gems. Though, they may be dated, he sets the stage of early America in detail that can never be duplicated. You'll see his works in the footnotes and indexes of modern historians books because they know most of early American history can be traced back to Adams works. Yet, these authors will rarely point out how important Adams history is to the early American historical record. Do yourself a favor and familiarize yourself with Adams before going out and buying the latest flavor of the month best seller. If you read up on Adams work, you know you'll be one step ahead of the contemporary American history writers.

Very Informative and a good read
The two volumes by Henry Adams on Jefferson and Madison give great insight into the formative years of the United States and of politics in general. Adams writing style is a real breath of fresh air for a history of this magnitude. He clearly sets out to make sure you understand what is going on despite the huge number of events and different people. This is no easy task when you are reading this massive work. He has a very modern style unlike some other authors of the period.

Some parts of the text are very amusing like Jefferson's self inflicted wound during the Merry affair. Jefferson's faults and the stupidity of many of the elected leaders are laid bare at times leaving your mouth agape.Too bad Adams never did a similar project on the Washington and Adams administrations.

If only our political leaders could be made to read these volumes. They could learn something.

A remarkable achievement
Adams' work here ranks with Macaulay and Carlyle in terms of telling an intricate history through the private letters and conversations of the players involved. From the first pages where he describes the America over which Jefferson presided, Adams clearly defines idealogies and principles as they were defended and practiced by the Federalists and Republicans of the day. Throughout Jefferson's two terms, the president was forced to abandon favorite principles and to defend others that were ulimately (if not immediately) untenable. Through skillful hands we watch how moods changed and policies switched, and how the main characters attempted to reconcile their inconsistencies. Jefferson hoped to expose the wrongfulness of Federalist policies, yet wound up forwarding the same tenets in his management. The President who rose to such a height of popularity and power left the office as disgraced and as generally disliked as any Chief Executive before or after. A masterful work about eight important and formative years in the early republic. ... Read more

Book Description
The United States in 1800 by Henry Adams comprises the first six chapters of his magnum opus, History of the United States of America during the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. In this volume, Adams explains how personalities and events of the period shaped American national development. Adams's historical masterpiece (most specifically the first six chapters) so fittingly presents what America is all about. It not only explains what Adams and others in his time described as the revolution of 1800, but it also offers a key to two other national revolutions that were to come, those of 1860 and 1991.By exploring the origins of American democracy, we can learn what Adams knew in the 1880s-that a pride in democracy and a willingness to make it prevail were all that people needed to free them from the chains of the past and perils in the future. ... Read more

Book Description
A comprehensive personal survey of the district's history and culture providing a revelation of the eternal glory of mediaeval artDownload Description
This first paperback facsimile of the classic 1913 edition includes thirteen photographs and numerous illustrations of the great cathedrals of Northern France. Henry Adams referred to this book as "A Study of Thirteenth-Century Unity," and its expansive scope, together with the author's deep understanding of the period, makes it a classic in arthistory as well as in American literature. He wrote, "I wanted to show the intensity of the vital energy of a given time, and of course that intensity had to be stated in its two highest terms--religion and art." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A Great Book about a Great Civilization during the Middle Ages
Henry Adams' MONT SAINT MICHEL AND CHARTRES (MSMC) is simply a great book.Adams' lucid writing styleand his insights are impressive, and this book should be read by every supposedly "educated" individual.Adams deals with complex topics such as Gothic Architecture, Medieval poetry and mysticsim, and Scholastic Philosophy with clarity and ease.

The early sections of MSMC compare the church of Mont Saint Michel with the Catholic view of St. Michel who was militant and was the perfect example of the Medieval hero defending the Catholic Church against all enemies.The comparison with this church with that of Chartres which was the examplar of God's mercy via St. Mary is insighful and facinating reading.

Such embellishment of St. Mary or Notre Dame(Our Lady)is further investigated in Adams book by Adams' careful treatment of Medieval Poetry.Adams's translations of Medieval French and Latin are good and give those who are not familiar with these languages a better understanding of both the poetry and the Medieval devotion to St. Mary.

Much of this peotry was mystical, and Adams demonstrates the attempt of St. Francis and the Franciscans to use such mystical thought in their missionary efforts to help the very poor.St. Francis' mysticism is revealed in Adams' translation of St. Francis' poem titled BROTHER SUN AND SISTER MOON.

Henry Adams then compares and contrasts Medieveal mysticism, which bordered on Pantheism, with Scholastic Philosophy.Adams gives the reader an insight to scholastic debate when he summarizes the debate between William of Champaux and Peter Abelard(1079-1142).Here Adams demonstrates his understanding of how students and masters argued and learned.He also shows the careful balence the Catholic authorities tried to impose between reasoned debate and heresy.

The last section of the book deals with the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274).Adams careful treatment of Aquinas' thought is worth the price of the book.Adams gives the Angelic Doctor high praise for both his clear thinking and liberality.Adams also effectively deals with the liberality of the Medieval Catholic authorities who canonized so many men whose views were apparently contradcitory.

Henry Adams' MONT SAINT MICHEL AND CHARTRES is intellectual history at its best.The book deals with complex ideas and views in an attractive literary style which holds the readers' interest.This reviewer has read this book numerous times since he first read it in 1968 and has never found the book to be boring.Readers should also read Thomas Woods HOW THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BUILT WESTERN CIVILIZATION and compare Woods sections on the High Middle Ages with Adams' book.

Immerses the reader in medieval history reflected by cathedrals.
Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres should be considered and read alongside The Education of Henry Adams. In Chartres, he described the medieval world view as reflected in its cathedrals, which he believed expressed "an emotion, the deepest man ever felt--the struggle of his own littleness to grasp the infinite." Adams was drawn to the ideological unity expressed in Roman Catholicism and symbolized by the Virgin Mary; he contrasted this coherence with the uncertainties of the 20th century.An intellectual journey of an American's view of France.

Delightful Read!
A friend suggested I read this book as I love most things French and especially Medieval buildings.I have visited both places before but obviously did not take in the detail Adams did on his visit to them.His tales are delightful, though sometimes hard to follow.The book is intellectual but really anyone can sit down and read this and be entertained.

Before reading this book I had been researching the Cathars of 11th-12th century France and this made a delightful addition to my reading on the Cathars.I recommend this book because it is stimulating, the imagery is wonderful, and it is historical.

An idiosyncratic tour of medieval French culture
Privately printed in 1904 (and revised seven years later), "Mont Saint Michel and Chartres" was never meant for the general public. It's the intellectual's ultimate "what I did on my summer vacation" essay, written for friends as a gift to accompany their excursions through France. The first half is a highly personal travel book and an idiosyncratic guide to art and architecture of medieval French cathedrals (particularly of Chartres); the last six chapters offer a succinct excursion through the spiritual mindset of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

If you've never been to Mont Saint Michel or to Chartres, the first ten chapters can be hard going; it's like reading a 250-page description of a painting you've never seen. Even if you have been to both locations, it's unlikely you'll remember the details Adams expected his readers to have in front of them. Fortunately, his prose is not dry (and is at times characteristically witty). Adams is able to render vividly the fleches, the portals, the arches, the statues, and the stained glass panels, and he provides the tourist with a thorough understanding of the achievement represented by medieval religious art. He also supplies as background a wealth of related literary and historical references .

The tenth chapter (and the last of Adams's official "tour") focuses less on the cathedral of Chartres itself and more on the cult of the Virgin that it represents. It serves as a segue to the second half of the book, which will be far more accessible to general readers. He compares contemporary portrayals of three queens--Eleanor of Guienne (Aquitaine), Blanche of Castile, and Mary of Champagne (who wasn't really a queen, but never mind)--to the representations of the Virgin Mary in the art, in poetry, and in hagiography. "The Virgin was a real person, whose tastes, wishes, instincts, passions, were intimately known," Adams argues. "Like other Queens, she had many of the failings and prejudices of her humanity." The final three chapters turn to the intellectual life: the ongoing tensions between universalism and nominalism, Bernard and Abelard, mysticism and rationalism--all culminating in the balancing act of Thomas Aquinas.

Over 75 years ago the "Cambridge History of English and American Literature" judged Adams's book as "probably the best expression of the spirit of the Middle Ages." Well, not quite; such a view could be proffered by a literary critic perhaps, but certainly not by a historian, and I think Adams himself would have been appalled by such a statement. (A more accurate and more thorough account from the early twentieth century is Charles Homer Haskins's "Renaissance of the Twelfth Century," published in 1927.) What Adams offers here is a glimpse of the medieval Catholic intellectual spirit as seen through the prism of his own rather conservative nineteenth-century Protestantism. His book is not so much a scholarly treatise as it is a wistful refashioning of the medieval spirit.

A disguised autobiography
A reading of Richard Brookhiser's recent (and highly recommended) *America's First Dynasty* sent me back to *Mont Saint Michel and Chartres*, a book I hadn't read in thirty years.I'm glad I returned to it, because a few years have, I trust, put me in a better position to appreciate what's going on in the book.

On one level, the most obvious one, Adam's book is a sometimes idiosyncratic history of Medieval art, literature, and religion that takes as its center of gravity the great Gothic cathedrals of the period--structures that Adams thinks sum up what the middle ages are all about.To read the book on this level alone is fine.It provides intriguing insights into, for example, courtly love and the cult of Mary.

But I now believe that, at a deeper level, the book is disguised autobiography on the one hand and a backhanded history of Adams's own time on the other.An at times overwhelming sense of nostalgia permeates the book.In reading Adams on the 11th century mystics, the debates of the schoolmen, the chansons of the troubadours, and the unified worldview of the middle ages, one can almost hear him sigh with longing to return to a world which, he thinks, was whole, unfractured, and pure--a world, as the medievals themselves would've said, which reflects "integritas."This reveals a great deal about the restless, unquiet nature of Henry Adams the man.But it also reveals the restless, unquiet nature of the modern era which spawned and molded him:the gilded age, the fast-paced first wave of capitalism, secularism, and consumerism, which has no center of gravity, no art, no tradition.And even though we claim to be living in a "postmodern" age, it seems to me that a great deal of the qualities Adams deplored in his own times are still with us and account for our own sense of homelessness.

*Mont Saint Michel and Chartres,* then, is more than a quaint turn-of-the-last-century history.Read correctly, it's also a mirror of our present discontent.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

Henry Adams sought, late in life, to thwart prospective biographers by writing his own biography. Published soon after his death in 1918, The Education of Henry Adams was rightly greeted as a masterpiece. Not until thirty years later, with the appearance of the first volume of Ernest Samuels's biography, did it become apparent how much the story had been colored by Adams's singular philosophy of history and how great was the disparity between the protagonist of the Education and Adams as he actually was. Upon its completion in 1964, Samuels's life of Henry Adams was hailed as "one of the great biographical achievements of our time"; its laurels included a Pulitzer Prize.

Ernest Samuels has now distilled his ample narrative into a single absorbing volume. We see Adams as a lively undergraduate, in contrast to the jaded young man of the Education; as budding writer, newspaper correspondent, eager participant in political maneuverings in Washington and at the American embassy in London; as teacher at Harvard and editor of the North American Review; settled in Washington, as scholar, biographer, historian, novelist; as insatiable traveler; as friend and adviser to statesmen; as elderly cosmopolite spending half of each year abroad; and always as witty chronicler of the social scene and trenchant commentator on the events of his time. We are drawn into the personal drama of Adams's middle years: his married life with Clover; the halcyon period in Washington in the early 1880s, catastrophically terminated by Clover's depression and suicide; his growing passion for Elizabeth Cameron; and his flight to the South Seas. Throughout the book we follow the genesis and progress of his writings, from his muckracking journalism in President Grant's Washington, through the social and political criticism of his novels, his biographies, and his great History, to the classic Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, the daring theories of the Education, and his last essays.

Few biographies have so broad a canvas--sixty years of American political, social, and intellectual life, from the pre-Civil War years to the First World War. And few offer so revealing a portrait of a complex human being and an extraordinary career.

Customer Reviews (1)

A deep and penetrating work of art.
This book is not an ordinary biography. The author's extraordinary talent and insight bring forth the living principle that is Henry Adams. It will draw the attentive reader into Adams' world and one will come face to face with an original genius. And I would like to paraphrase Schopenhauer's definition that genius is the capacity to bring forth some light into this world of ignorance and darkness.

We experience the catastrophe of the American Civil War through the mind of Adams. We are given the usual dates and events, but at a deeper level we encounter "the inside narrative:" the petty bickering, plotting, blundering and revenge. On the other sidewe see skill and diplomacy; acts of kindness and compassion. It rises to the level of something Shakespearean, and leaves a strong impression of powerful collective forces to be reckoned with. So the book is not merely about individuals and events at a particular time in the past. It delves deeply into the great mystery of human nature.

Another thing I can say is that Dr. Chalfant's conversationalstyle is so pleasant to read that I frequently get pulled into it and have trouble putting the book down. Something someone once wrote about Robert Burton comes to mind. "While reading this book, one feels as if he is in the company of a good friend." ... Read more

Book Description
The authorship of DEMOCRACY: AN AMERICAN NOVEL, published anonymously in 1880, was not made public until after the death of American historian HENRY BROOKS ADAMS (1838-1918), a member of the Adams political family and a journalist dedicated to exposing corruption.In this fictional tale with real-life relevance to late 19th-century politics, an election sometime in the 1870s has given rise to a new president by the name of Jacob. Against this backdrop, readers find New Yorker Madeleine Lee moving to Washington to revive her social life. She quickly starts playing hostess to a number of important politicians, including John Carrington and Silas Ratcliffe, men of opposite demeanors, both of whom are looking for a wife.Entwined with this comedy of manners are Adams's own commentary on politics, corruption, and the great political issues of the day, including suffrage and evolution. ... Read more

Book Description