text: First of all, I did not exactly 'read' this biography. Instead I purchased the CD version which I distilled via my car sound system every morning on my way to work (I have enjoyed countless biographies of great american figures this way, and still been able to read many more technology related books).
  
  I had great expectations from this book, having recently enjoyed three biographies of Lincoln. I have to confess that I was sorely disapointed. I found the research of Mr McCullough to lack the kind of details that I have enjoyed in biographies from Walter Isaacson, Richard Carwardine, or Doris Goodwin. I do not seek a beautiful story in a biography, but rather a reliable source of facts that I can use to form my own opinion of a character. In this context, I find Mr McCullough's use of superlatives or long emotionally charged sentences to be a distraction from the subject matter of John Adams and his contribution to America. I also enjoy direct quotes from letters, speaches, autobiographies, as they help me refine my impressions of the context (the period, the relationships to contemporary characters, ...) surounding a promonent figure. Usage of the English language in politics has dramatically evolved since Mr Adams' time, and I missed 'hearing' the voice of John Adams. Instead, this biography felt like reading a translation where the personality of the translator overshadows the personality of the original author. Finally, having read other biographies of the founding fathers, I was disapointed to find so little about the complex relationship between Adams and Franklin.
  
  All in all, my lasting impression is that Mr McCullough did a great job at bringing John Adams and the early American Revolution to the masses through a very appealling product that may however leave readers asking for more historical details and less emotional opinions. Had I known that, I might have passed on this biography and instead explore Mr McCullough's fictional work
  