Samuel Adams: A Life

Additional Samuel Adams: A Life Information

In a role that many Americans have not fully appreciated until now, Adams played a pivotal role in the events leading up to the bloody confrontation with the British. Believing that God had willed a free American nation, he was among the first patriot leaders to call for independence from England. He was ever the man of action: He saw the opportunity to stir things up after the Boston Massacre and helped plan and instigate the Boston Tea Party, though he did not actually participate in it. A fiery newspaper editor, he railed ceaselessly against "taxation without representation."

In a relentless blizzard of articles and speeches, Adams, a man of New England, argued the urgency of revolution. When the top British general in America, Thomas Gage, offered a general amnesty in June 1775 to all revolutionaries who would lay down their arms, he excepted only two men, John Hancock and Samuel Adams: These two were destined for the gallows. It was this pair, author Ira Stoll argues, whom the British were pursuing in their fateful march on Lexington and Concord.

In the tradition of David McCullough's John Adams, Joseph Ellis's The Founding Brothers, and Walter Isaacson's Benjamin Franklin, Ira Stoll's Samuel Adams vividly re-creates a world of ideas and action, reminding us that none of these men of courage knew what we know today: that they would prevail and make history anew.

The idea that especially inspired Adams was religious in nature: He believed that God had intervened on behalf of the United States and would do so as long asits citizens maintained civic virtue. "We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection," Adams insisted. A central thesis of this biography is that religion in large part motivated the founding of America.

A gifted young historian and newspaperman, Ira Stoll has written a gripping story about the man who was the revolution's moral conscience. Sure to be discussed widely, this book reminds us who Samuel Adams was, why he has been slighted by history, and why he must be remembered.

What Customers Say About Samuel Adams: A Life:

Most books you read on the revolution make at least some reference to Samuel Adams. Adams and some reference to the role of the newspapers as well. Adams stands somewhat alone as the religious voice of the founding fathers.

This in mind I decided to read a bit more on the man.Why should you read this book. 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 wastolerant to everyone including those Adams refered to as "Papists".If you're interested in the founding fathers do not miss this book. Books dealing with the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution even more so.

While many had strong beliefs of their own, this man was driven by them. 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.

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. 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.

He also relies on quotes too much for my taste, with the result that the author does not shine through. Samuel Adams was a unique figure in American history. Ira Stoll's book does a good job of highlighting the fascinating character and important contributions of Samuel Adams to our countries founding. He reports details dryly and concisely. While helpful and informative in many instances, the newspaper quotations do get tedious because of their sheer quantity and length.If you want a 265 page book written in newspaper style, with little of the author shining through, you will probably like this book. Stoll does a good job of explaining how Adams' religious beliefs helped shape his ideas on Independence and slavery.

Stoll helped found a newspaper and you can see his passion for newspapers in the book. He was one of the earliest supporters of Independence, and a very religious man, especially compared to the Deism that was fairly widespread during the period. Based on his style, I would guess that Stoll was a Journalism major at Harvard, rather than a History or English major. I was glad I read this book just to get to understand one of the most unique of our Founding Fathers.While Samuel Adams is a fascinating individual, Ira Stoll's writing was mediocre, in my opinion. Stoll writes with a very "newspaper" style. He is constantly quoting newspapers, either what they said about Samuel Adams or what Adams wrote for his own newspaper.

I prefer more interesting writing and a better sense of the author's, as well as the subject's, personality when reading a biography than Stoll offers.If you are very interested in Samuel Adams and do not mind dry writing you will most likely enjoy this book, but if you are simply a fan of great historical writing and are looking for Revolutionary Era biographies I would recommend Joseph Ellis (His Excellency, Founding Brothers) or David McCullough (1776, John Adams) over Ira Stoll.

I found this to be a far more enjoyable read than Isaacson's Franklin biography or Jenkins's work on Churchill (both of which I think are fascinating biographies, in their own right). This is an exceptional work. You can't help but read this and be amazed that Sam Adams has been relegated to a mere footnote in our history. I agree with other reviewers who have compared it to David McCullough's books. The research is clearly exhaustive, yet the book tells a great story. Ira Stoll has done an amazing job. This book is well worth purchasing and I hope to see more works from him.

An excellent account of the "hidden hero of the revolution". We owe this man a great deal for the freedoms all Americans enjoy. Samuel Adams was a perceptive man who truly understood those freedoms, and their cost; would that we all.

The revolutionary era was a period almost totally devoid of its own literary traditions, and its population, often uneducated and certainly not well-read, was familiar with the bible. In fact, if Stoll is to be believed, Adams was first and foremost on a quest of religious, not civil, liberties. Metaphors from the bible were common in politics regardless of the speaker or author's devotion simply because it was a reference the public would understand. The problem is that the Old South Church is a completely separate building that was built in the 19th century, long after the revolution.

This rather sensational tale is not only unfounded, but impossible, as Warren's body was identified by dental records, one of the first such examples of early dental identification recorded. Meanwhile, Thomas Cushing, who was Acting Governor following Governor Hancock's departure, is simply called "governor." It also seems that Stoll, a native of Massachusetts, is unfamiliar with the city's historic sites. Also, he equates Adams' (and many other revolutionary leaders') metaphor of Americans as modern Israelites as undeniable proof of his devotion to a Christian nation. Stoll takes pains to quote Adams almost exclusively referring to God and the bible, most notably relying heavily on his pseudonym, "The Puritan." He mentions a number of others, but fails to point out the secular nature of many of their tones. In this, like the Sun, he failed dramatically.Hardly a biography of the oft forgotten revolutionary, "Samuel Adams - A Life" would be more aptly titled "Religious Fundamentalism in Revolutionary America." The message of the book is as biased as it is heavy handed - Sam Adams, like many revolutionaries, was a religious man, and so too should we all be.

In addition to being rather vain, the association with Harvard actually hurts his argument. While trying to identify revolutionary leaders with religious fervor, he associates them with a college which at the time of their attendance was the first school in America to step away from religion in favor of sciences.Inaccuracies are also rather common in the book. His own attachment to Harvard seems to compel him to identify all other graduates, suggesting they're all part of the same intellectual fraternity. The problem with this example, which he draws on regularly, is that it's easily disputed within the context of 18th century America. To relate to those characters was no different from American moderns making allusions to Shakespeare.

Much like when Stoll quotes religious references that aren't relevant to what he's talking about, he identifies nearly every Harvard alum in the book upon their introduction, regardless of whether or not it matters. Ira Stoll, a failed newspaper editor of the neo-conservative and defunct New York Sun, tried his hand at history in this "biography" of Samuel Adams. Immediately in the introduction, the author refers to Dr. Joseph Warren, who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill, as having had his head cut off and taken by the British as a trophy.

He also insists on calling Thomas Hutchinson Lt. Governor in incidents occurring after 1769, at which point be became Acting Governor. Further, in references to the same building, he calls it by a different name, "the Old Brick Meeting House." He also implies that the meeting leading to the Tea Party was held at Old South partially because of its religious position within the community, and not simply because it was the biggest meeting house available.

All other rights, including those of free press, speech, assembly, etc., were secondary and sometimes unnecessary byproducts of a church uncontrolled by the state but seemingly compulsory to its citizens.The problem with this assessment of Adams is that it's incredibly misleading. The meeting was moved from the secular Faneuil Hall due to the large crowd.All in all, this book is almost unreadable. While this doesn't totally discount Adams' religious references, it certainly should be considered, and would have been had the book been authored by a trained historian and not a mediocre journalist with an overwhelmingly clear agenda.Another rather annoying thread throughout the book is the referencing of Harvard.

He does not show the same enthusiasm for graduates of other schools, presumably because he didn't graduate from another school. He refers to The Old South Meeting House as "Old South Church," presumably to capture a more religious feeling. The only redeeming qualities are written by others and unabashedly block quoted by the author, comprising at least half of the entire work.