John Adams biography by David McCullough

McCullough’s carefully crafted book intricately weaves the founding of our nation in the strong, intimate relationship between Abigail and John who parented four children (a fifth was stillborn and a sixth, Susanna, lived only two years) during the small pox epidemic that hit Boston in the 1780s. Little did King George know that religious freedom would lead to a body politic embracing the concept that “all men are created equal, with inalienable rights. . . . ” The book is intriguing in its detail and relationship between Adams and Jefferson in their retirement from government.