Akers is limited by the series he is writing for so very little can be blamed on him, in fact he does a good job with what little he is allotted but his use of her first name throughout is not only taboo for historians but could also be considered sexist -- would you call Thomas Jefferson, "Tom" in a biography? Also, major figures in Adams' life have merely the depth of cardboard cutouts. Possibly suitable for the high school freshmen, probably not undergraduate and certainly not for the graduate level.

Akers does a great job of placing the information from Abigail's letters into a story, without directly quoting the letters line by line. A story is presented to the reader through the eyes of the First Lady. It was a required text for an American History class, though I did enjoy reading it. The story itself; however, can be deeply depressing while still communicating the accounts of the famous political family. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about the other side of politics.

HI H

The are pluses and minuses to Davis Thelen's biography on Wisconsin's "Fighting Bob" La Follette.

The biggest plus, it was short (211 pages) and to the point. Not filled with mindless babble about every little personal detail of the man's life, like you see some biographers write.

The book also shows, in Thelen's opinion, how La Follette was really out to be get re-elected, in the earliest years of his political life, rather than become the insurgent leader of the people. According to Thelen that came later, not from the onset.

The biggest minuses were that it focused way to much on the progressive insurgence movement. While this was a major part of La Follette's life it was not everything! Some of Thelen's views are also very controvesal and subject for much debate.

If your looking for a quick overview of progressivism, insurgency, and Robert La Follette then this is the book for you. If you are looking for details you will be disappointed.

I found this book to be an easily readable, rewarding biography of Wisconsin Senator Robert LaFollette. This book focuses on his political beginnings as a mainstream politician and then on his shift to the left and his leadership role in the rapidly growing progressive movement from the 1890s to the 1920s. The book is fast-moving and doesn't get bogged down in the details, yet it does give the reader an extensive look at his political career and influence. The section on LaFollette's opposition to World War I and the attempt to expel him from the Senate because of that is food for thought, and that dark period in U.S. history is well worth further study (see also the cases of the IWW and Eugene Debs, and James J. Martin's book "An American Adventure in Bookburning"). LaFollette was joined in this opposition by only a tiny handful of other elected officials, such as Senator George Norris of Nebraska, and he was probably the only one who stuck to his principles and continued to criticize the war even as it was being waged. Robert LaFollette's influence in politics can still be felt today, especially in his native Wisconsin. Overall this should be a fascinating book to anybody who is interested in the history of American populist and progressive politics.

Samuel Adams: Radical Puritan recounts the major events in it's subject's life, but doesn't leave you with a feeling about the essence of the man. Sam Adams does not speak for himself enough via quotes from his own writings. The coverage of the Sons of Liberty is reduced to 13 superficial pages. It does provide a glimpse of an old revolutionary not changing with the times after the war has been won. But it is not the full color portrait of a life like that Van Doren has provided for Benjamin Franklin.

Here it goes!You are about to read and comprehend a facinating book.That is the book of the world that Samuel Adams had and belive me this book is so great that I have already read it 30 times.I love it so much that when my friends have a BIG essay and help them study about Samuel Adams and they read it and this is their exppressions,"Wow! Girl friend,Why you didn't tell me of this incredible book. All of my entire family have read this incredible novel.this same expression came on their face. Radical Puritan by Lillan M.Fowler, William M. JR. Fowler, Oscar Handlin,is a novel of Samuel Adam's life.This novel tell from how he became an original born baby to a very onorable man. Samuel Adam was born in Boston,Massachusetts on September 27,1722. He was a leader of the fight against British colonial rule,and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Adams was a cousin o John Adams who became President of the Unted States.

Samuel Adams graduated from Harvard College with a Master of Arts degree in 1743.After college he entered private business,and throght out this period was an outspoken

While the language isn't boring the the ideas are great in Youngs second edition of this biography, I am not happy at all that my students have been assigned this book to read in a linked course. I teach a study and learning skills course linked to an American history course at a university in the USA and this biography must be read by the students. With all the time spent in the colleges and universities and now in the media about how historians need to cite their sources, this biography is a sad and sorry example. Nothing is cited, even the direct quotes have no citations! Yes, Youngs does discuss his sources at the end of the book but that is not the same as giving credit to the sources where he drew his quotations and facts from. The publisher, Longman, should be ashamed for allowing such poorly cited scholarship to be printed for used in either courses or the general public. I would have given this 1 star but the writing is engaging.

Youngs's biography is an average attempt to describe this great woman's life and I do not mean "average" in a derogatory sense. This book hits all the main points of Eleanor's life and accomplishments from before her birth up to her death. It remains objective throughout most of the book but Youngs does not bring any enthusiasm to the womans life. The few times when Youngs voice seems to be asserting itself, it is to criticize Eleanor. One example is when Youngs insinuates that Eleanor's work in the NYC skids was just a rich girl trying to slum. Youngs made it seem like Eleanor never cared about the poor because she could never truly know them. He may have a point, but he did not use that same emotion when he was describing Eleanor's work as First Lady during the Great Depression. I would have liked to seen a little more energy from Youngs but I cannot complain about the information in his book. For those of you wanting a good, fairly objective, overview of Eleanor's life, Youngs book is just for you. For those who like their biographer to throw their two cents into the book you might want to look elsewhere.

When I walked in to class the first day of school , he told us get out some paper and write this down. I thought O.K. just probally those boring class rules again. He said read Eli Whitney and the Birth of American Technology,I thought oh how cool we get to read a book! So I found the book and read it.Here is my comments and summary.I was amazed to learn that we were not doing to good economical in the 1700s. England got mad at us because we were no longer doing things they hoped America would,so we went our way and they went thiers.America started declining in economics because we no longer had the machinery that England had supplied us with. We kept declining because we no longer knew how to do anything independantly. Suddenly we could grow cotton! Pulling the seeds out of the cotton was hard labor and the colonists could only produce 1 pound a day. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin to make the labor of picking seeds out of cotton easier. He was not very good at reading, but doing figures was easy.This helped him majorly in inventing the cotton gin and many other inventions. If you are interested in America's struggle for economics in thr 1700s,I would highly recommend this great book.

Burner wrote this biography upon previous works written about Kennedy. He admires Kennedy a lot because he doesn't really give any shortcomings that came about while Kennedy was President. Burners does give a clear picture about the events taking place in the book.

Pedantic and self-important prose mask the significance of Thomas A. Edison in this poorly crafted and ponderous work written by some academic. Don't waste your time.

This book is essentially unadulterated Edison. Martin Melosi (author) wrote a very very detailed book about one of the great inventors. The book is a little boring, but if you want to learn A LOT about Edison this book is for you. But don't take my word for it...wait actually you should

I read this book for a history class, it was ok.