- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Free Press (Nov 3 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743299124
- ISBN-13: 978-0743299121
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14.2 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #529,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"In order to understand the moral and religious roots of America's zeal for liberty, you need to know and appreciate Samuel Adams. Ira Stoll does a glorious job bringing to life this agitated and revolutionary apostle of liberty, whose passions still reverberate in our nation's soul. This book will help you understand our founding, and our future." -- Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and Einstein: His Life and Universe
"Samuel Adams was a life-long journalist who left a meager paper trail; a pious believer who was a flaming radical; the jumpstarter of our independence whom we have unaccountably lost track of. Ira Stoll lets the Founding Firebrand shine once more." -- Richard Brookhiser, author of George Washington on Leadership
"Ira Stoll here manages the daunting task of anchoring Sam Adams in his own time yet making him relevant to ours. A triumph of learning and understanding." -- James Grant, author of John Adams: A Party of One
"Samuel Adams was a life-long journalist who left a meager paper trail; a pious believer who was a flaming radical; the jumpstarter of our independence whom we have unaccountably lost track of. Ira Stoll lets the Founding Firebrand shine once more." -- Richard Brookhiser, author of George Washington on Leadership
"Ira Stoll here manages the daunting task of anchoring Sam Adams in his own time yet making him relevant to ours. A triumph of learning and understanding." -- James Grant, author of John Adams: A Party of One
Book Description
The gripping story of the man who was the American Revolution’s moral compass—Ira Stoll tells readers who Samuel Adams was, why he has been forgotten, and why he must be remembered.
Thomas Jefferson called Samuel Adams “truly the man of the Revolution.” Adams, filled with religious fervor, inspired others to fight on and overcome the challenges of the Revolutionary War. He was the editor of the influential Boston Gazette, planner of the Boston Tea Party, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, and yet, he is largely ignored and unknown today. Understanding the leading part Adams played in building and sustaining support for the revolutionary cause gives readers new insight into the way religion motivated the founding of America.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (66 customer reviews)
144 of 149 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Even better than the beer., Nov 1 2008
By Julian Barnes - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Samuel Adams: A Life (Hardcover)
This is a must-buy for anyone who loved McCullough's John Adams or Isaacson's Benjamin Franklin. Ira Stoll puts Sam Adams back where he belongs, front and center with the great founding fathers. But "Samuel Adams, A Life" is not merely a work of history, it is a powerful argument about the ideas that made America and still, to this day, shape the nation. Stoll demonstrates, through the life and writing of Adams, how much religion and property rights motivated the revolutionaries of New England. From the first chapter, I felt I was not just learning about important history, but I was also gaining insight into the character of America. This book is bound to help change how we think about the Revolution. And it will help us understand how Sam Adams continues to influence our own era.
71 of 73 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fervent father, devoted follower, May 29 2009
By J. Stolte "man on the street" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Samuel Adams: A Life (Hardcover)
Most books you read on the revolution make at least some reference to Samuel Adams. Books dealing with the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution even more so. This in mind I decided to read a bit more on the man.Why should you read this book? It gives great background on Adams and the Commonwealth of Massachusettes prior to the start of the revolution, discusses a lot about S. Adams' role in bringing it about, and in doing both gives us some important background on the role religion did and did not play in both.
S. Adams stands somewhat alone as the religious voice of the founding fathers. While many had strong beliefs of their own, this man was driven by them. His life and legacy centered around religion and the role he thought it played in a just and lasting society.
The book never takes his side on the matter, in fact does a pretty good job of showing many others as much more supportive of a govenment that was
tolerant to everyone including those Adams refered to as "Papists".
If you're interested in the founding fathers do not miss this book. There may be better ones out there but this book is fairly easy to read and includes a lot of letters to, from, and about S. Adams and some reference to the role of the newspapers as well.
One of the few founding fathers with no military or law experience he was nonetheless on of the most important men of his time and this book tells why in a very inviting manner.
70 of 72 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Soul of the American Revolution, Oct 31 2008
By Daniel J. Sharfstein - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Samuel Adams: A Life (Hardcover)
In "Samuel Adams: A Life," journalist Ira Stoll has rescued from relative (and undeserved) obscurity one of the most influential and fascinating figures of the American Revolutionary generation. Samuel Adams was one of the earliest and most zealous of the Boston firebrands. At the same time, he was imbued with a worldview inherited from his Puritan ancestors that placed the urgent events of the day in God's time. His "religious tranquillity" was much commented upon by his contemporaries, and Stoll is committed to understanding the paradox of the "tranquil revolutionary." Stoll's crystal clear and plain-spoken prose is entirely fitting for his equally plain-spoken subject. What emerges is a full-blooded portrait of a man whose idea of America resonates -- and often tellingly contrasts -- with positions on the right and left in our own debates about the nation's course and what it means to be a patriotic American. For history scholars and enthusiasts, for anyone interested in the origins of American political culture, and for today's political junkies, this book is a wonderful read.
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