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Friends Divided by Gordon S. Wood - Penguin Books Australia

Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Kindle Edition

by Gordon S. Wood (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

Published: 18 October 2018
ISBN: 9780735224735
Imprint: Penguin
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 512
RRP: $29.99
Categories:History

Gordon S. Wood

From the great historian of the American Revolution, New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer-winning Gordon Wood, comes a majestic dual biography of two of America's most enduringly fascinating figures, whose partnership helped birth a nation, and whose subsequent falling out did much to fix its course.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds, or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slaveowner, while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government. They worked closely in the crucible of revolution, crafting the Declaration of Independence and leading, with Franklin, the diplomatic effort that brought France into the fight. But ultimately, their profound differences would lead to a fundamental crisis, in their friendship and in the nation writ large, as they became the figureheads of two entirely new forces, the first American political parties. It was a bitter breach, lasting through the presidential administrations of both men, and beyond.

But late in life, something remarkable happened: these two men were nudged into reconciliation. What started as a grudging trickle of correspondence became a great flood, and a friendship was rekindled, over the course of hundreds of letters. In their final years they were the last surviving founding fathers and cherished their role in this mighty young republic as it approached the half century mark in 1826. At last, on the afternoon of July 4th, 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration, Adams let out a sigh and said, "At least Jefferson still lives." He died soon thereafter. In fact, a few hours earlier on that same day, far to the south in his home in Monticello, Jefferson died as well.

Arguably no relationship in this country's history carries as much freight as that of John Adams of Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Gordon Wood has more than done justice to these entwined lives and their meaning; he has written a magnificent new addition to America's collective story.Read less

Praise for Friends Divided

This is an engrossing story, which Wood tells with a mastery of detail and a modern plainness of expression that makes a refreshing contrast with the 18th century locutions of his subjectsTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Lucid and learned . . . Wood has become the leading historian of the ‘Founding Fathers’ . . . Never has John Adams been more relevant than todayTHE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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From the great historian of the American Revolution, New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer-winning Gordon Wood, comes a majestic dual biography of two of America's most enduringly fascinating figures, whose partnership helped birth a nation, and whose subsequent falling out did much to fix its course.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds, or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slaveowner, while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government. They worked closely in the crucible of revolution, crafting the Declaration of Independence and leading, with Franklin, the diplomatic effort that brought France into the fight. But ultimately, their profound differences would lead to a fundamental crisis, in their friendship and in the nation writ large, as they became the figureheads of two entirely new forces, the first American political parties. It was a bitter breach, lasting through the presidential administrations of both men, and beyond.

But late in life, something remarkable happened: these two men were nudged into reconciliation. What started as a grudging trickle of correspondence became a great flood, and a friendship was rekindled, over the course of hundreds of letters. In their final years they were the last surviving founding fathers and cherished their role in this mighty young republic as it approached the half century mark in 1826. At last, on the afternoon of July 4th, 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration, Adams let out a sigh and said, "At least Jefferson still lives." He died soon thereafter. In fact, a few hours earlier on that same day, far to the south in his home in Monticello, Jefferson died as well.

Arguably no relationship in this country's history carries as much freight as that of John Adams of Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Gordon Wood has more than done justice to these entwined lives and their meaning; he has written a magnificent new addition to America's collective story.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is an engrossing story, which Wood tells with a mastery of detail and a modern plainness of expression that makes a refreshing contrast with the 18th century locutions of his subjects.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Lucid and learned… Wood has become the leading historian of the ‘Founding Fathers’… Never has John Adams been more relevant than today.” —The Wall Street Journal

"Whenever I read Gordon Wood, the dean of eighteenth century American historians, I feel as if I am absorbing wisdom at the feet of the master. Friends Divided is teeming with exceptionally acute and unvarnished insights into Thomas Jefferson and John Adams as they do battle for the nation's soul. Jefferson's sunny, almost Panglossian, optimism, juxtaposed with the dark, dyspeptic musings of Adams, presents readers with nothing less than a vivid composite portrait of the American mind." —Ron Chernow, author of Grant and Alexander Hamilton

“This magisterial double biography recounts not only the lives of these two greatest founders but also the creation of the republic. It describes the world’s first successful democratic revolution and the founding of the first non-monarchical republic. . . it is a book about ideas as represented by two philosophical statesmen, and it makes political history and philosophy exciting. . . In Wood’s hands, Adams and Jefferson become Shakespearean in stature.” —Edith B. Gelles, The Washington Post

“Excellent . . . Friends Divided is an engaging book that's sure to appeal to anyone with an abiding interest in Revolution-era America and the leaders who shaped the country. Beautifully written and with real insight into Jefferson and Adams, it's a worthy addition to the canon, and yet another compelling book from Wood.” —NPR

“For decades now Gordon S. Wood, the Alva O. Way university professor of history at Brown and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, has been the go-to authority on everything related to the American Revolution. That Wood has written “Friends Divided’’ — a finely-crafted dual biography of Adams and Jefferson — is therefore a hearty cause for celebration. Every page sparkles with literary eloquence, flawless analysis, and dramatically plotted history that contains a lesson for a riven time.” — Douglas Brinkley, Boston Globe

“Gordon Wood is one of America’s premier historians and a national treasure. Winner of the Pulitzer as well as the Bancroft Prize, he is a rare scholar who writes with a combination of insight, academic depth, and accessible prose. In his latest book, penned at the summit of his career, Wood now sets his sights on the relationship of two of America’s most remarkable and fascinating statesmen, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The story is enthralling…In this magnificent book, Gordon Wood has continued his invaluable work.” — Jay Winik, National Review

“In Friends Divided, Gordon S. Wood, a professor at Brown University and our finest historian of 18th-century America, provides a splendid account of the improbable friendship, estrangement and reconciliation between Adams, an irascible, ironic, hypersensitive middle-class New England lawyer, and Jefferson, a self-contained, diplomatic, slaveholding Virginia aristocrat.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“The acclaimed historian engages in a compelling examination of the complex relationship of the Founding Fathers…Among the other well-known personages in the narrative are Abigail Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Rush, all portrayed vividly by the author, whose approachable writing style is equal to his impressive archival research…An illuminating history of early Americans that is especially timely in the ugly, partisan-filled age of Trump.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"As the dean of American historians, Gordon Wood had long shaped the nation's thinking about the true nature of the Founding. Now he turns his intellectual honesty and clear-eyed prose to the lives of Jefferson and of Adams, giving us a brilliant portrait of their complicated relationship. This is an indispensable account of two men, of the country they built, and of why their legacies matter even now. Bravo!" —Jon Meacham, author of American Lion and of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

“America's dialogue with its competing impulses had its origins in the fractured friendship of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Gordon Wood brings his unmatched knowledge of the scholarly literature to the task of recovering both sides of what is still America's longstanding argument with itself.” —Joseph J. Ellis, author of the forthcoming Then and Now: The Founders and US

About the Author

Gordon S. Wood is the Alva O. Way University Professor and professor of history at Brown University. His books have received the Pulitzer, Bancroft and John H. Dunning prizes, as well as a National Book Award nomination and the New York Historical Society Prize in American History. They include Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, Revolutionary Characters, The Purpose of the Past, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, and The Idea of America.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Press; 1st edition (October 24, 2017)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 512 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0735224714

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0735224711

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.8 pounds

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.41 x 1.63 x 9.56 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #250,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

#332 in American Revolution Biographies (Books)

#661 in U.S. Revolution & Founding History

#779 in US Presidents

Customer Reviews: 4.7 out of 5 stars 422 ratings

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Gordon S. Wood

Gordon S. Wood is Alva O. Way Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University. His books include the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Radicalism of the American Revolution, the Bancroft Prize-winning The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, and The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of History. He writes frequently for The New York Review of Books and The New Republic.

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gordon wood john adams thomas jefferson friends divided united states founding fathers adams and jefferson well written adams and thomas declaration of independence jefferson and adams human nature french revolution divided john political parties great book benjamin rush david mccullough strengths and weaknesses states of america

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Mary Kandaras

5.0 out of 5 stars We honor Jefferson not Adams

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2022

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This book set forth the different philosophies of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Basically, Jefferson was optimistic and a bit naive. Adams was skeptical and realistic. This book explores the lives, friendship and political philosophies of two of the founding fathers. I found it very interesting!

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Donnie L Edwards

5.0 out of 5 stars Great look at the personal lives of Adams and Jefferson

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2022

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Wood is a great historian. He books are well laid out and easy to read.

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Clem

4.0 out of 5 stars Really good in some places....

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2020

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Although it probably wasn’t the intention of the author, this is really a great book to read during the current period of the United States simply because it illustrates that in the world of politics, nothing has really changed. It’s so tempting to see the ubiquitous bickering of the two political parties inflamed by tools such as social media and think that things have really gotten out of hand. Author Gordon S. Wood shows us that this behavior has been happening since the beginning of our country’s history. Adams and Jefferson were the first two presidential candidates who faced off against each other (George Washington was a unanimous selection as the first president). These two started out quite amiable towards each other, yet over time the differences between the two began to outweigh the similarities. This caused a plethora of insulting name-calling, bruised egos, faltered friendships and a divided country. Yes, even in its infancy, the United States was anything but united.

This book really isn’t a “co” biography. We learn a lot about both of these founding fathers, but the main highlight of this volume is the differences between the two. Sometimes this style of writing works, other times it felt a bit awkward. At least for my tastes. Maybe I was wanting more “biographical” information about the subjects? I’ve read excellent biographies of both of these individuals and felt like I already knew much about what author was telling his readers. That’s not a slam of the book, only an observation. For me, though, the parts of this book that I enjoyed the most were when these differences were told around specific event in history. My favorite part was during John Adams’ tenuous presidency with Jefferson serving as his vice-president (running mates weren’t selected as they are now; they were elected). You could definitely see the differences between the two expounded on and see how their already fragile feelings start to become more fractured. Other times, though, I felt as if I was sitting in a boring philosophy class with a very tepid instructor. We read an awful lot, for example, of the deep feelings and beliefs around topics such as a “constitution” and what it should include and involve. It can be quite drab reading.

Still, though, the pros of this book far outweigh the cons. What is particularly fascinating is that we are reading about a brand-new country. No one knew whether or not this “experiment” would work, and Adams and Jefferson had radically different ideas of success. In their minds, if things weren’t done their way, the whole country would collapse faster than it was assembled. Ironically, we see benefits and pitfalls of both of their philosophies and most clear-thinking people might argue the same is true with the political climate today.

Adams was the hard-core Federalist, who essentially wanted the new nation to mirror the government of Mother England. Yes, order was important, but he wanted to go as far as having hereditary succession. His belief was that all men were definitely NOT created equal and that only a certain level of a mind should be trusted to lead a nation. Jefferson, on the other hand, was of the rebellious Republican breed who thought government should be almost invisible. He DID believe all men were created equal, but by ‘equal’, well….among other things….that didn’t include Black people. So nothing was perfect back then either.

It should also be pointed out that both of these men died on the same day. Ironically, it was July 4, 1826 – the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. So in some strange way, these two individuals are probably more ‘connected’ than maybe they should be. In their latter years after serving in office, they seem to mellow their attitudes significantly towards each other. To be honest though, both of these individuals came across as being rather grumpy and uncompromising; especially towards each other. Still, though, it’s a great part of the history of the United States that needs to be learned. A good read despite the fact that it does get bogged down in places. You may want to start with a straight-up biography of the two men before tackling this one.

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David H. MacCallum

5.0 out of 5 stars the lengthy friendship of two of the most important early Americans

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2017

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Just when it seemed probable that Gordon Wood, the much decorated historian of the early days of the American Republic, would have run out of material after writing eight marvelous histories of this period, here comes yet another. Friends Divided is an absolute home run. It is readable, informative, even exciting at times. It breaks no new ground but it persuasively presents the strengths and weaknesses of two of the most important figures of the founding of our country: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Adams of course is relentlessly serious and determined. He is vastly well read, a marvelous political thinker, ambitious, argumentative, and even at times venomous. He takes offense easily, his feelings are never hidden. He argues his side of an issue as if it were the most important argument of his life. But in the end he is careful and effective as a senator and then as the second President of the country. As the political parties began to take early shape after the Revolution, Adams emerges as one of the leaders of the Federalist party.

Jefferson is quite the opposite in so many ways. He is an epicurean, at times more interested in his collection of expensive French wines than matters of state, wonderfully articulate, charming, and always trusting in the essential worth and promise of the American experiment in self government. In a very close election, with only eight electoral college votes separating them, Jefferson became the third president of the United States. He is the leader of an opposite political party, what was then called the Republicans.

These two men, different in so many ways, believed in the promise of America. In their later lives, long lives by any standard, they corresponded regularly. This correspondence convinced each of them that the other had remarkable gifts, unseen earlier in their careers. This close relationship, almost entirely contained in a full library of letters between the two of them, ended only on their deaths. Amazingly, both died on the same day, July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s magnificent explanation of the reasons for the American revolt against British rule.

Woods chooses to name Jefferson as the more important of these two men in terms of their impact on the shape of the American experiment. He argues his case well but, in this reader’s opinion, fails to place one final weight on the scale: in the end, he chooses to ignore Jefferson’s ownership of slaves and even his lengthy sexual exploitation of a black woman. Jefferson’s other gifts are, without question, remarkable but his treatment of black Americans must be seen for what it was: reprehensible.

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Amazon Customer

4.0 out of 5 stars Captivating and insightful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2020

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Fantastic read. Gives an insight into both men’s virtues and human vices that go beyond American legend. I’m particularly thankful that history records they reconciled, despite their political differences and opposite temperaments. It gives hope to today’s modern world that passionate debate need not always lead to conflict and division.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Bought as a Gift

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2020

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This was for my husband who has a big interest in American Politics, past and present. He said it was very readable and enjoyed it greatly.

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Patricia Collyns

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2018

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enjoyed

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Rafael Alves Ladeira

5.0 out of 5 stars Ótimo livro

Reviewed in Brazil on March 14, 2022

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Ótimo conteúdo, vale muito a pena a leitura.

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5.0 out of 5 stars How Adams and Jefferson repaired their friendship

Reviewed in Canada on August 29, 2021

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Very good!

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Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

Gordon S. Wood

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512 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2017

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Gordon S. Wood

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Gordon S. Wood is the Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University. He is the author of many books, including The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787, which won the Bancroft Prize and the John H. Dunning Prize of the American Historical Association; The Radicalism of the American Revolution, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize; The American Revolution: A History; The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin; Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different, which was a New York Times bestseller; Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (OUP, 2009), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and winner of the American History Book Prize from the New-York Historical Society; and Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. He is a regular reviewer for the New York Review of Books.

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David Eppenstein

657 reviews

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May 11, 2020

I have a reverential devotion to the history of our founding and to the people involved in that undertaking. The more I read and learn about that era and about those engaged in that endeavor the more I am struck by their humanness and thus am further impressed with how difficult and dangerous our founding really was. While it is easy to revere Washington I have found the characters of Adams, Jefferson, and Hamilton to be more interesting and identifiable as real people with real virtues and real flaws. When I found this book by Gordon Wood there was no question of my purchase. Now that I have finished reading it however I admit that the task was not an easy one.

Much can be said both positive and negative about both Adams and Jefferson but one thing you cannot say is that these men were boring. So why was it that I was more than tempted a few times to quit this book because of how tedious it was? Once again we have an eminent scholar of American history writing for the benefit of his colleagues and not for those that truly need his wisdom, the reading public. Inspite of my growing disappointment I persisted in reading the book to the end because quitting a book ranks as near sacrilege to me. I can happily report that my persistence was rewarded as the author redeemed himself but I can't say this redemption is enough for me to be able to recommend this book to anybody that isn't a true devotee of the American Revolution.

The first quarter of the book starts a bit slow but then the author's approach becomes apparent and understandable. Wood is going to compare these two American icons and examine their agreements and disagreements. To do this the author gives us a study of those factors that affected the development of the personalities of Adams and Jefferson. The author details their family history, the nature of the communities and society in which they were raised, their friends and education, their employment, their romances and subsequent marriages, and their ambitions. I found this to be quite interesting and more informative than any prior history I have read about these two men. Then things started to really bog down because now the author decided to detail the origins of the political beliefs of these two men. When the author started to discuss the political ideology, philosophy, and theories of government of Adams and Jefferson it wasn't enough to simply tell the reader what each believed. No, the author had to give the origins of their thoughts by discussing the books they read on these subjects and then discuss the authors of those books and the origins of their thought. It is writing like this that gives studying history a bad reputation. I had to fight to stay awake on several occasions. The author obviously is very learned in this area but he didn't have to display the entire extent of his knowledge and more than a little restraint was definitely needed. This discussion spans the second quarter or third of the book and then it mercifully ends.

The book's redemption arrives in the last half when more recognizable territory appears starting with Adams' assumption of the presidency. This portion of the book contained a great deal of information that I have not previously encountered. The author relies heavily and quotes liberally from the correspondence of both men during this period of their lives. After their friendship was restored in the early 19th century they engaged in an extensive correspondence that the author uses to clearly highlight how these two giants of our history felt about a great number of issues of then current importance and about past events. This correspondence was as Adams stated their attempt to understand each other before they died. In all the reading I have done in which Adams and Jefferson are featured none has illustrated as clearly as this book how these two men thought and why. While this is true I only give the book a satisfactory rating of three stars because of the quagmire of the middle quarter of the book. With a bit of editing this could have been a much more readable, informative, and enjoyable book.

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Erin

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September 9, 2021

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson are two of America's founding fathers. Adams was our second President and Jefferson was third. Adams kinda got the short end of the stick because he had to follow George Washington. Adams personality was just not really conducive with life in politics. Jefferson on the other hand was made for politics. He was large than life even in his own time.

Friends Divided follows Adams and Jefferson from their early days plotting to overthrow the British government in America, through their lives in politics and into their post politics lives. The book claims that Adams and Jefferson were friends who turned on each other because of politics. But I don't think Thomas Jefferson was ever Adams friend. Jefferson was a phony friend.

Friends Divided was an eye opening look at just how much American politics hasn't changed in 200 years. I need to read more about John Adams in the future but next up in my project to read about every U. S. President, I'll be taking a deeper look at Thomas Jefferson's little secret...Sally Hemings.

I highly recommend this book and until next time always remember the politicians have always been trash.

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Jean

1,685 reviews

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December 23, 2017

This is a double biography that recounts the lives of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. It also recounts the creation of the republic. This is primarily a book about ideas as represented by two of the founding fathers. I enjoyed this book immensely. The author has a variety of topics and goes back and forth between the viewpoints of Adams and Jefferson. I learned a lot about both men as well as a good review of the founding of this country.

These two men, more so than other presidents, could be called philosophical statesman. There is a theme about the New Englander who never owned a slave and the Virginian who own many slaves. I found it interesting that both men read widely and collected libraries of classical and modern thinkers. These two men were quite different but found common ground in books and inquiring minds. Woods states that over the past two centuries Jefferson has become more popular and Adams has almost disappeared. I have to declare a bias on my part of being fascinated by John and Abigail Adams.

The book is well-written and meticulously researched. Wood finds relevance in one of their most arcane interest in political theory. Gordon S. Wood is a history professor at Brown University. He does a great job demonstrating the improbable friendship, estrangement and reconciliation between Adams and Jefferson. Woods states that Jefferson told Americans what they wanted to hear. Adams told them the truth and what they needed to know, which the Americans did not want to hear.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is fairly long at about eighteen hours. James Lurie does a great job narrating the book. Lurie is an actor and voice-over artist as well as an audiobook narrator.

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Deacon Tom F

1,480 reviews

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December 28, 2020

A Marvelous Look Into History.

This was a great book. Yes, it was very large but it was worth the time spent on it. The time allowed me to re flect on the well developed points.

There are multiple lessons for today. It shows it is possible for political rivals to come together occasionally. I would strongly suggest Ms Pelosi and her Republican counter part consume the lessons of this book. Our country would be greater if they did.

The amazing irony was they died on the same day. Exactly 50 years after the singing of the Declaration of Independence.

The book is marvelously researched and reads much like a mm obel in parts. As an wannabe historian,. I loved this book.

I highly recommend for history buffs.

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Brian Willis

544 reviews

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August 16, 2018

Many students of American history will no doubt know by now the miraculous (though Adams and Jefferson would have hated that term) occurrence of their concurrent deaths within a matter of hours on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826. Many scholars and biographers will also have keyed in on the amazing correspondence between the two in their waning, retired years. But it may be a little surprising to realize that nobody has attempted a major concurrent biography of both our 2nd and 3rd Presidents.

Gordon Wood, as he always does, takes this a whole step further and writes the definitive book on the political philosophy of these two titans. This book is essential to anybody wanting to truly understand the Revolutionary era without the filter of political bias of blustering talk show analysts who appropriate the words of Adams and Jefferson for their own ends without any knowledge of their complexity. Wood does cover biographical facts, but this is really a book of their thoughts and their evolving political theories and influences. He draws heavily on the primary sources of the newly completed volumes of their collected papers. Though all of the above may sound like it could be horribly dry, it is absolutely fascinating in Wood's hands, an accomplished writer. While I don't want to spoil too many of the discoveries in the 433 pages here, any understanding of what America truly is is revealed by the dialogue - often literally - between these two who found themselves on the opposing ends of the political spectrum. Adams believed that humans are essentially flawed and needed checks and balances by their government in certain cases. Jefferson was a fatally flawed idealist who believed in truly unlimited, unhindered democracy; the people will make the right, wise choices (2016 alone proved him wrong). The book only gets better as it goes along, ending with the post mortem of Adams and Jefferson from 1812-1826 in their personal correspondence. Some of those conclusions might shock. But they are a pleasure of this book I won't spoil.

There are great books on Adams (McCullough's biography springs immediately to mind). Plenty of great books on Jefferson (Ellis and Meachem are just a few). But by placing them side by side, the view is much more broad and illuminating. An essential work.

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Dustin Lovell

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June 28, 2022

An excellent account of the nation's first generation told through the struggling friendship of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Examines the two presidents through their respective reputations, including both how they got them then and why aspects have stayed until now. Abigail Adams is the unnamed third character in the book, and John is given an implicit focus as the older and yet less well known Founder.

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Jill Meyer

1,152 reviews

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September 13, 2017

On July 4, 1826, 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, two men died. One, Thomas Jefferson, died at Monticello in Virginia, while the other, John Adams, died far away in Boston. Both men had been presidents of the United States, and since the country was not in the instant communication we have today, neither man knew of the other's impending death. In his superb new history, "Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson", Gordon Wood takes a detailed look at the lives and how each man's strengths and weaknesses influenced our new country.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were, in many ways, polar opposites in both personality and upbringing. One was a slave-owning Southerner and the other was a Northerner, who deplored the idea of one man owning another. One had a charming, if somewhat melancholy demeanor where the other was a no-nonsense kind of man. But both were brilliant and were devoted to the cause of American independence from Great Britain. And after independence, the two were involved in setting up our governing system. Gordon Wood takes a penetrating look at both men and the times they lived in, He's a smooth writer and the book is excellent.

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