Passionate Sage: Amazon.ca: Joseph J Ellis: Books

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From Publishers Weekly

Decreeing our second president the "most misconstrued and underappreciated 'great man' in American history," Ellis, a history professor at Mount Holyoke College, sets out to recover the Adams legacy obscured by the "triumph of liberalism." His notable study focuses on Adams (1735-1826) in retirement in Quincy, Mass., starting in 1801. Drawing on Adams's correspondence, his journalism and his marginalia in the books he read, Ellis shows the one-term president during his first 12 years of private life fulminating over the country's direction, then mellowing. But Adams would remain oppositional and tart: "Was there ever a Coup de Theatre that had so great an effect as Jefferson's penmanship of the Declaration of Independence?" Ellis argues that Adams, incapable of political self-protection and with an insufferable personal integrity, internalized what he viewed as the nation's failings--ambition, lust for distinction, etc.--and struggled to keep a check on such qualities within himself. He and Jefferson differed fundamentally on the meaning of the American Revolution; their disagreement, according to Ellis, was not about means but about ends: Jefferson made "a religion of the people," Adams proposed that democratization should be evolutionary. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Of all the brilliant cast of characters who brought the United States into being, none is more noteworthy or more controversial than John Adams. In this biography, Ellis (history, Mount Holyoke) focuses on the last part of Adams's life in an attempt to dissect and illuminate the contradictory nature of this great man. In this detailed yet readable account, the reader is told that "Adams did not just read books. He battled them." One of his favorite authors was Bolingbroke, but he considered Voltaire a "liar." A man like Adams is heard loudly through the centuries; collections of his letters will always be invaluable, but Ellis's work is an appropriate and well-researched adjunct to the original sources. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
- Katherine Gillen, Mesa P.L., Ariz.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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First Sentence
THE EDUCATION of John Adams was effectively complete by the time he reached the presidency, but his conduct during his four-year term served to exhibit the dominant features of the Adams personality in all their full-blown splendor. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews

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4.3 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing & Inspirational, Aug 28 2003

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Connie Hogan (Olathe, KS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passionate Sage (Audio Cassette)

John Adams' legacy has not been taught to the extent it should have been and seems downplayed in every other souce I've read to date. This book is a great depiction of the sheer sacrifice of him and his family at the time. this book tells how Adams was far more involved as (1) of our founding fathers than he was ever given credit. As to his analyzing his own faults, this quality proves to be endearing & proves his great character and integrity and love/pride of this great country. Great read !!!!!!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the best seller, Mar 23 2003

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Toby Barlow (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passionate Sage (Paperback)

I thought the energy, mischevious wit and intellectual excitement of Adam's mind was wonderfully brought to life with this book. Though not an A to Z life story - it generally focuses on his later life - it still manages to give you a sense of the whole man and the challenges of his times. I wish Ellis would have written a more comprehensive life story, perhaps he will yet.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Flesh and Blood, Dec 3 2002

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Casmar Wilson (Lawrence, KS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passionate Sage (Paperback)

When John Adams began to compile notes for an autobiography, he prefaced his material with a warning to posterity: "[T]here is no reason to expect that any sketches I may leave of my own Times [will] be received by the Public with any favour, or read by individuals with much interest" (61).
Adams wrote more out of a typical self-effacement than modesty, but his prediction has proved accurate. Succeeding generations of Americans have paid relatively little attention to this cantankerous Founding Father. Compared to some of his contemporaries, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, Adams has enjoyed only small bursts of notoriety.
In his new work, Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams, historian Joseph J. Ellis explores why Adams "remains the most misconstrued and unappreciated 'great man' in American history" (12). In his work, Ellis explores the last twenty-five years of Adams's life, spanning from the time he left the White House to the day of his death on July 4, 1826. According to Ellis, it was in this final period that Adams, free from political and social restraints, was able to express fully his personality and reveal his deepest thoughts. It was also during this time that Adams himself began to analyze and comment upon his own role in the American Revolution and the establishment of the United States government.
Readers should bear in mind that Ellis's work is not a biography. Those looking for a chronological account of his life and accomplishments will not find it here. Instead, Ellis structures his narrative episodically. Each chapter explores a different facet of Adams's personality, revealing his character and thoughts through his friendships, correspondence, intellectual habits, personal reflections, and hopes for the future of his country.
A consistent and entertaining theme throughout Ellis's book is Adams's belligerent yet likeable personality. Adams was never more productive than when challenged; he thrived in the face of conflict. Ellis describes how much in his element Adams felt when, as president, his policies lost him the favor of the Federalist Party:
[Adams had] placed himself in the most attractive position imaginable, at least for a man of his disposition: a leader without a party, whose independence [was] unalloyed and whose virtuous motives [could not] be attributed to a crass craving for popularity. (36)

Adams even took this personal combativeness into his library. He was an aggressive reader, scribbling furious notes on the pages of his books as a means of debating with the author. This habit is indicative of his mode of intellectual operation: "[Adams's] marginalia....constitute dramatic illustrations of the way he defined his own elemental ideas in conflict with opposing versions" (89).
It was typical of Adams to identify his views according to opposition. Ellis employs this same method of identification to reveal Adams's ideological mindset. He devotes a significant amount of his text to the famous correspondence between Adams and his colleague, Thomas Jefferson. Citing Benjamin Rush, who once dubbed Adams and Jefferson, "the North and South Poles of the American Revolution," Ellis juxtaposes the two Founders, demonstrating how Adams sharpened his opinions by pitting them against Jefferson's (134). It was within this context of private communication that Adams was best able to articulate his views: "the episodic character of a conversation matched nicely with his impulsive, hit-or-miss...mode of thinking" (144).
While the structure of Ellis's work is refreshing in its originality, it suffers at times from rough transitions. He divides his analysis so sharply into different categories that some chapters read like independent essays. This lack of structural unity requires him to repeat information, unnecessarily burdening the reader. Twice, for example, he discusses Adams's criticism of Mary Wollstonecraft's writings (101, 185).
The lack of connection between sections also produces an aesthetic imbalance in Ellis's work. Some chapters, such as the one dwelling on Adams and Jefferson's correspondence, are full of delightful anecdotes; others, such as Chapter 5, "Erudite Effusions," are sufficiently heavy with political theory so as to alienate readers in search of lighter fare.
However, for Adams enthusiasts, Ellis's analysis provides a fresh and original look at an oft-neglected Father. Ellis's heartfelt treatment conveys an unusual appreciation for the Sage of Quincy. By portraying Adams transparently-warts and all-he succeeds in conveying to readers a sense of the Founder's humanity. "In effect," says Ellis, "though [Adams] belongs on Mount Rushmore, we would need to devise a way to replace the granite with flesh and blood" (6).

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly History of the best kind.
Superb History that lays bare insights into of one of the most brilliant and least understood "Founding Fathers." Ellis does not take a psychodramatic approach. Read more

Published on Feb 4 2002 by b9bd

3.0 out of 5 stars Revisionist Adams
Ellis' book portrays Adams in the most flattering light, viewing the second president largely through the charming, if self-serving, forum of his extensive correspondence. Read more

Published on Nov 11 2001 by John J. Ross