Type in “Samuel Adams” and do a google.com search and you are just as likely to come up with links and images referring to the Beer Company Samuel Adams.
As historian Ira Stoll notes, “History has not been kind to Samuel Adams,” and indeed one might ask why?
As an APUS History teacher I have to admit that I don’t do a lot on Samuel Adams. His name appears in and out of a narrative of pre-Revolutionary America and mainly with regard to the Sons of Liberty.
I am very late to the party here and after reading Ira Stoll’s Samuel Adams: A Life realize, rather embarrassed, how I have missed the boat with regards to the “most famous” Adams as the French saw it. I am happy to announce that I will be addressing this Mr. Adam with more respect and may even dedicate an entire lecture to him when I otherwise would have never considered such a thing. Mr. Stoll’s book was published by Simon & Schuster in 2008 and I didn’t even notice. Shame on me.
With the recommendation of a friend I purchased the book two weeks ago and just read it. I have read no other biographies of Mr. Adams, but nonetheless, cannot image a better one! Samuel Adams was more than a radical revolutionary as some biographers and historians have referred to him. I can even vaguely remember a college professor indicated that Samuel Adams was crazy. It’s interesting how Adams is/was in some regards referred to in much the same way as John Brown, and maybe in some ways the two are similar! Both served as the spark for a devastating fire. They were easy targets.
Samuel Adams was revered by the likes of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as the spearhead of Revolution as the Founding Father. Too bad many of us contemporaries have neglected him… at least for the time being as I plan to rectify that.
You can’t read everything! (Trust me, I’m trying.)
I recently completed this book and found it enjoyable. I think one of the difficulties with Adams was his proclivity to destroy his own writings. Consequently, unlike as with his cousin John, there is not as much original source material.
It’s unfortunate given the contributions he made. Stoll does a good job with what he had to work with.
I attempted a review, although I am hesitant to point it out given the high caliber of material on this site.
Good Morning Mr. Stoll.
I watched you and David Barton about a month ago when you appeared on Glenn Beck’s friday TV cast. I was so impressed by what Glenn Beck said about your book, Samuel Adams, A Life that I bought it, synced it to my new iPad and have finished reading it. WOW, what a man S. Adams was. The last chapter, Passing of the Patriarchs was the highlight of the book.
Now I must tell you that we, The Valley Family Forum, Harrisonburg, VA had David Barton, May 24th for 2 sessions on his view on “Is America a Christian Nation”. What a knowledgeable man and coupled with your outstanding book on Samuel Adams, I have learned a great deal I never knew. Our nation needs to know what a contribution S. Adams made for the foundation of our great nation. Wow again, what a slide we are taking. Thanks. I just had to tell you how your book and David Barton has made my understanding of things I never knew. Again, WOW, what a book. What a man. “An inch is a cinch, a mile takes awhile” The inches that men of concern for themselves have taken from the character of men like S. Adams have made that “mile” possible many times over to our detriment. Thanks again, Harry Kellam
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up that book to purchase it, only to put it back and grab something else instead. First it was Andrew Jackson, then one on the Battle of Britain, then the Alamo Scouts. Well, not any more. Just placed the order…finally!!
Regards,
Joel