I wish this book had been put together a long time ago. It's a very useful service to researchers. When doing research for my own book "Mr Jefferson's Academy, The Real Story Behind West Point" (now, "West Point"), I went through the books available on John Adams/Thomas Jefferson, but found I had to resort to the original documents. It took a massive amount of time. That's one of the reasons my book took several years to complete. This book could have saved a lot of time, and can do the same for any reader or researcher. It's not only comprehensive, but also, well written. If you're interested in an in-depth read on Thomas Jefferson, I recommend this book. (To get a closely packed distillation of Thomas Jefferson, my own book has a biographical chapter that has been distilled from what could easily have been hundreds of pages of opinion, interpretation, and speculation to 40 pages of facts. The rest of the book is gleaned from what he, himself, read!)

I agree with the reviewer who wrote the book about West Point who said this book is a service to researchers. Why it's a magnificent research tool. I'm using it copiously at this time for a scholarly work I'm on sabbatical to work on.

What a joy it is to read the correspondence between two of America's greatest founding fathers. Through this collection of letters we begin to get into the minds of men who created and shaped this nation. We read of their dreams, expectations and fears for this new nation as well as typical correspondence between friends. That is when they were talking to each other. When the two men weren't, Abigail continued to write Jefferson to try and heal the breach. My favorite letter is from John Adams to Jefferson to tell him to stop writing his wife. This is a book for anyone who loves the human side of history and enjoys getting to know the real people behind the legends. I first read it in college, and then spent ten years trying to find it again. Now that I have, it will never leave my bookshelf.

When I first read this book many years ago, I fell in love with John Adams. Stone brought to life not only this most honorable of our founding fathers, and his beloved wife Abigail, but other "characters" of our nation's revolutionary history such as Samuel Adams, a rabble-rouser who was afraid to ride horses. So many intimate details of John and Abigails's life together were brought to this novel that you feel as though you know and love them both. You can't go wrong with this one.

"Those Who Love" got me hooked on the saga of John and Abigail Adams. Thiers was a true love match that endured through joy and pain, triumph and trajedy. Stone's sprawling novel follows the pair from thier spirited first meeting, through the hellish American Revolution, and into the turbulent White House years. A fantastic read.

For Those Who Love was a timeless love story that relates to American history. When you read this story, you will not be able to put it down. It tells you about historical events that happened in Boston during Abigail's life and how our country was formed. It was a beautiful story that a person who likes romantic novels could read, or one that a person interested in history could read. I personally fell in love with the Adams'.

At last, a well written, well researched book on one of America's most fascinating ladies, Abigail Adams. Based on carefully interjected original research and letters, this book provides a long needed look at the issues and challenges that faced Abigail Adams. The author portrays her as a woman, very much in love with her husband, very much in love with her country, and very willing to try to balance the needs of both. It is striking to realize how totally independent she became in financial affairs, and in domestic issues. The book reminds you of the challenges of communications and distance. It also makes you aware of the personal sacrifices this family made for the young, emerging nation. The focus of the book is on Abigail, but sufficient information on the political events and political players is provided. An excellent look at a very important person. Don't miss it if you enjoy this period of history and are anxious to understand more about its key players.

Abigail Adams by Phyllis Lee Levin is an excellent companion work for David McCullough's John Adams.

Throughout life Abigail and John were inseparable, best of friends, and each others life. Through circumstances John was away in the service of forming a government and the duties to a new nation, but Abigail was not far from his heart, nor he from hers.

We see an unabated ardor in her for her "Best Friend" in life. Abigail Adams saw and wrote with clarity about the time leading to and after the Revolutionary War, and events following and her humanity. We have a unique perspective of the life and times of this period through her eyes written for posterity through her letters to a variety of people surrounding her life.

Not since Barbara Bush, has a woman been both a wife and mother to a President of the United States, even though she dies before John Quincy is elected. Abigail kept her family close to her heart and was the one to keep the family together and the family homestead viable in John's absence.

This is a well written book, solid in research, flowing prose and good details. This book captures Abigail Adams and shows us her intellegence and her perceptiveness of the events of her times. She wrote letters to Jefferson and had comments about all of the people, albeit caustic or poignant, close to John's work and life.

She loved John and missed him greatly when he was away, her letters attest to that, but when she was at his side both flourished. This book gives us a great insight into how Abigail was as a woman and how she coped with private and public life.

I recommend reading and enjoying this book.

This book is very exciting and interesting from from the begining to the end. It tells how Abigail almost dies as a child. She lived through the Revolution. Abigail also marrys the second President and is the mother of the sixth President.

Abigail Adams: A Writing Life by Edith B. Gelles (Senior Scholar, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Stanford University) is a careful, articulate, scholarly analysis of the literary and historical work of Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams. Half biography, half literary criticism, Abigail Adams: A Writing Life studies Mrs. Adams' letters as literature and looks at her correspondence in-depth. A marvelous portrayal of a unique woman in America's history, Abigail Adams: A Writing Life is highly recommended for Women's Studies and American Literary Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.

I wrote this book, and it is NOT for ages 9-12. It's a young adult book, for ages 12 and up. Some younger kids might be able to read it, but the average nine-year-old won't be able to. I've tried to contact you and my publisher has told you, but since you won't listen, I figure I'll tell the customers directly.
Pat McCarthy

I purchased both of the How to Ace Calculus books: "How to Ace Calculus : The Streetwise Guide," and "How to Ace the Rest of Calculus: The Streetwise Guide: Including Multi-Variable Calculus."

Here in Boston, I went to several large bookstores and checked out all the "Calc Help" books. The "How to Ace" books are infinitely superior to the others. As a matter of fact, it is a whole separate species of book. The authors have an unusual ability to explain in a style that is crystal clear, and they make the subject a lot more hospitable with their wonderful sense of humor.

Most math texts are written by Ph.D. mathematicians who have absolutely no empathy or insight into the difficulties that non-math majors like myself encounter when setting out to learn subjects such as calculus. As a result, their textbooks are about as pleasant as viewing the aperture of a colostomy.

I just hope that the authors bless mankind with future titles, such as "How to Ace Differential Equations" and "How to Ace Linear Algebra." If they are so kind as to do so, I can assure you that the world will be a better place to live.

I've had "How to Ace The Rest of Calculus" on my wish list for months, and it finally became available a little while ago -- I bought it immediately! I have 2 copies of the original "How to Ace Calculus" which have helped to catapult me to the top of the class so, being that I'm taking Calc II in the Summer and Calc III in the fall, I knew I had to have this book.

Some of the topics covered (this book is thicker than the first): L^Hopital's rule (which I now know how to pronounce), improper integrals, polar-coordinates, Infinite Series, Taylor and MacLaurin Series, Vectors, and yes -- Multi-Variable Calculus!

This book is a true gem, buy it! The writing is clear, funny, and free of much of the technical stuff. The jokes are wonderful and the examples make Calculus fun! Buy it!....

After reading the first couple of pages, I found the book to be quite relaxing and easy-going. The humor involved lightened the load of the book; rather than an all-serious text on upper-division (but not advanced) calculus.

This book has proofs for most theorems, however, there are no practice exercises (excluding the examples worked out in the book) for a student to work on, but it is an excellent complement to multivariable calculus. The plethora of pictures and illustrations offer a tremendous amount of visual help as well.

This book is aptly subtitled, as so much of the advice could have been written by knowledgeable students rather than three mathematics professors. The second chapter gives you sound advice regarding how to choose a calculus instructor and what the different academic ranks often mean. While students learn this very quickly through informal channels, it is surprising to read three professors publicly stating that the instructor is the single most determining factor as to whether you enjoy or hate calculus. Of course it is often true and we all know it. Many professors view teaching undergraduates as some form of penance and it shows in the quality of their teaching. Furthermore, although things are changing a bit, working hard to instruct well is often negatively reflected in a tenure decision. The remainder of the book is a combination of a relaxed, joking style and sound advice that is part of the standard exam speech given by many teachers.

* Arrive on time.
* Read the problems carefully.
* Check your work.
* Don't erase in a panic.
* Try for partial credit.

However, presented in the form of jokes, it is possible that the message will penetrate a little deeper.
The authors also do one other very admirable thing. Rather than try to boost sales by deleting or grossly simplifying mathematical expressions, all of the major formulas of first year calculus are here, and in the same form as they appear in standard calculus texts. However, the approach is much more relaxed, which makes it more understandable than a formal text. In the days when I was teaching calculus, so many of the problems that students had was a consequence of being intimidated by the formal structure of the text and the rigor of the proofs. While there is no dispute that formal proofs are essential, the student who simply memorizes a proof probably is not learning it. A strong case can be made that if someone has a solid intuitive understanding of calculus, something clearly provided in this book, then understanding the proofs will come much more naturally and with less pain.
This is a book that should be read first and foremost by calculus teachers so that they can refer the students to the proper pages to study. The tips for success are all sensible and those who read it will be much better prepared for the rigors of taking the exams. It is hard to make calculus entertaining, but this group of authors has succeeded.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

I love this book! If you want to master the basics of calculus without much sweat, then this is the book for you. I'm using this in conjunction with the Princeton Review's "Cracking the AP Calculus" - both books are much more reader-friendly than the the calc text my high school uses. Granted, the humor is a bit kooky sometimes, but that's okay - bad humor is better than no humor. And there's lots of cool pictures and bizarre problem situations that will make just about anyone smile. The short cuts and mnemonic devices are pretty helpful also, because they're actually funny so you can't help but remember them.

My dad bought me this book the summer before my senior year in high school (this year) - I looked at it and thought, "yeah, right." I'm a humanities person, I got a C in my last term of Pre-calculus, and I didn't think some book was going to help. However, once my AP Calc class started, I thought "hey, might as well give it a try." That was the best idea I've had in a long time. Mr. Adams and friends explain the concepts so clearly that I have to wonder what the authors of standard calculus texts were thinking when they wrote their books. Not only do I have an A- in the class, I have a much better understanding of what we're actually learning than the students who used to do better than me by just following all the formulas. In short, I am acing calculus, and (this is very hard for me to admit) enjoying it as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who panics at the thought of calculus.

I received this book for Christmas this past year and was intrigued because of the amount of buzz surrounding it. I have always had an interest in the history of the American Revolution, but I had never taken much time to truly look into the life of our 2nd President, John Adams. After finishing David McCullough's book, I came to a newfound and deep appreciation for John Adams (especially since he was a fellow New Englander). I simply cannot remember the last time I read a biography of such heft that was so incredibly difficult to put down for more than an hour or two.

While Thomas Jefferson receives a great deal of praise due to his writing eloquence and Washington is the acknowledged "father of our country", this book begins to reveal how the strength of Adams' character pulled the fragile rebel colonies and early republic forward during some of its darkest times. Interestingly enough, the book does an excellent job showing the human side of Adams' own pride, for he often worried he would not be given the credit he felt he deserved.

I think Mr. Adams would be most pleased with David McCullough's thoughtful, cleanly-written and compelling work. . . for maybe John Adams can now be given the credit he is due as one of the first great Americans.

After reading John Adams, by David McCullough I walked away with not only great knowledge of the man who helped found this country but a better understanding of how it was formed. Mr. McCullough does more than educate the reader about one of the greatest men in American history, but also does a great job of going beyond John Adams, by explaining in detail the history of the Revolutionary War as well as many of the other men who took part. Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, George Washington as well as the men abroad in Britain and France.

Each story about our former President goes beyond the part he played giving the reader a new history lesson every time. Examples include the Boston Massacre, the Stamp Act, the securing of important loans and treaties as well as the complete details of the writing of the constitution. The History spoken throughout this classic pours out at the reader on every page making it impossible to but down even for the smallest history buff.

I only wish my former history teachers had this book to read prior to my teachings, so I wouldn't of had to wait this long to discover the true facts about our beautiful history.

Its a given that whenever you see David McCullough's name on a book cover that the scholarship will be awesome and the writing will be brisk and entertaining. John Adams is exceptional in that McCullough has managed to outdo even his works on Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt, which takes some doing, believe me. The typical view of John Adams is that he was a dull, humorless failure of a President sandwiched between the two great success stories of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. McCullough shows us Adams the wit, Adams the innovator, and Adamsthe truly good man. Furthermore, McCullough also lets us see the entire Adams family, especially Abigail, John's soul mate in every possible way; and his son John Quincy, a worthy heir to his giant of a father. As Revolutionary leader, Adams was one of the first to be determined that the colonies should be free from Britain and one of the strongest representatives the country had in France, Holland, and England. As President, Adams had the thankless job of balancing between the pro-British High Federalists and the pro-French Republicans so as to keep the USout of a war which he knew we could not afford. Neither vain nor charismatic, Adams met the all too common fate of those who merely do a good job without hogging the limelight: he was jeered, ignored, and pushed to one side while he still had many more years he could have served. Another fascinating aspect of Adams' life which McCullough covers brilliantly is his long friendship with Thomas Jefferson. The two men were quite different in style and manner, but were close friends for many years until political differences divided them. I was very happy to read McCullough's account of how the friendship was restored after both men were in retirement, and to know that they kept in contact with each other almost up to the day they both died, July 4, 1826.

During the history of the United States there have been many women who have sacrificed just as much or more for their country than did Abigail Adams, but not many. Thanks to the voluminous correspondence of Mrs. Adams this book was made possible and should stand as a monument to all of these women.

In recent years the life of John Adams has been reexamined and his role in American history has again come to the forefront. Without Abigail, Mr. Adams could never have accomplished what he did. For unlike many of the other leaders of the Revolution, Adams was not a man of means. When he was away, someone had to look after the family's domestic concerns. That someone was Abigail. John became so accustomed to having Abigail to take care of home and hearth that when he did have time to see to such matters he seldom did.

This book details the work Abigail did behind the scenes to allow John to make his vital contributions to American independence. We see a strong woman who is more than willing to take charge of a given situation and make a decision. We also see however a wife who misses her husband. Abigail and John Adams are one of the true love stories of history. Their complete devotion to each other is amazing, especially in that the longer they were together the more in love they became. In the end becoming almost one soul in two bodies. Abigail's worst hardships didn't involve the work she did but the separations from John. Separations that lasted months and then years at a time.

Abigail is also shown in this book as a woman of strong conviction but also a woman of great contradiction. She and her husband helped make the American Revolution but she detested revolution as a threat to the social order. She believed strongly in a good education for women but still thought a woman's place was in the home. She believed the election of a Republican President would destroy the republic, but eventually became a Republican herself. Mrs. Adams was also probably a better politician than her husband was and while she had much influence on her husband, there were times when he paid no attention to her and ended up wishing he had. For example, it was Abigail who first saw the danger posed by Alexander Hamilton and it was Hamilton who in the end cost John the Presidency.

An excellent book but not complete. A much larger volume would be required to do this great lady justice. Still, it is wonderful that there is such a book at all for the women of that era are often forgotten. Abigail once advised John to not forget the ladies. Advise we should remember in the 21st century.

While in college I took an American History class because I wanted to, not because I had to. In the process of writing a paper on the role of women in the American Revolution, I found so many references to Abigail Adams, that I knew at some point in the future I would have to read her biography. Well, I just completed this book and I can't recommend it more highly!

With so many books regarding the Founding Fathers being touted at the bookstores recently, it's wonderful to read the story of one of the Women behind one of the Men. Though not traditionally educated Abigail's knowledge of politics, curiousity about everything, and affection for family and friends is well-documented through excerpts from her numerous letters. The sacrifices both she and her husband made for the fledgling America are a sober reminder of the courage and bravery required of our ancestors.

In a time when woman were subservient to men, she stood head and shoulders above other members of her gender. Her husband wisely depended on her counsel, love and care.

This is a wonderful biography that takes the reader back in time and place so vividly as to feel present at the birth of a nation and a voyeur into the unfolding political career of the second President of the United States and the woman who loved him.

I, too, wish American History had been presented this richly in my grammar and high school years.

This is a beautifully written tale of an extraordinary 18th century woman. She was the wife and “dearest friend” of one US President and the mother of another. Her husband depended on her political acumen, and trusted her judgment. She was sometimes referred to as the “old lady” in the politics. She corresponded on business and politics with many men including Thomas Jefferson. Perhaps our first American feminist, Abigail Adams was full of contradictions.

As a staunch revolutionary, she foresaw the need for independence from England perhaps even before her husband, John. She advocated education and political freedom for women long before it was respectable to do so.

As practical homemaker, she worked the farm, raised the children, and handled the family finances including investments. Abigail liked investing in securities; John preferred land. They made investments in both. Her dependability in these matters secured the home front. This allowed her husband to attend the Continental Congress, sign the Declaration of Independence, serve as minister to France and then England, as well as serve as the first vice president, and then 2nd President of the fledgling USA. Without her shepherding the family finances, either the family would have been ruined; or the United States would have lost one of its great founding fathers.

As a post-revolution political conservative, she hated the republicanism of Jefferson, although she respected him as an honorable man. She foresaw the problems with the French Revolution before Jefferson and his Republican cohorts. She did not understand the criticism of the free press. She strongly advocated the Alien and Sedition Act, passed by congress during her husband’s presidency. It addressed the two of what she thought were the serious threats to the security of the USA… that of foreigners and criticism of the government by the press.

The paradox of Abigail Adams is that she “had always established her identity through her husband’s achievements.” The author tells us that “Probably Abigail would have been astonished to find herself transformed into something of a celebrity one hundred fifty years after her death.” “Yet surely she would have approved of the reasons for her fame: the interest of a later age in the history of family and domestic life, as well as the history of politics, and above all its interest in the emancipation of women and the discovery of women in the past who spoke out on behalf of their sex.”

The beauty of this book is that Lynne Withey presents Abigail Adams as a real human being, not an icon. It is easy to understand why Abigail was John’s Dearest Friend.

I highly recommend this book.