The revolutionary [Audiobook] : Samuel Adams

Title:

Author:

Schiff, Stacy, author.

Culp, Jason, narrator.

ISBN:

9781478993285

Edition:

Unabridged.

Publication Information:

Hachette Audio,

Physical Description:

13 audio discs (approximately 854 min.) : CD audio, digital ; 4 3/4 in.

Abstract:

Thomas Jefferson once asserted that "for depth of purpose, zeal, and sagacity, no man in Congress exceeded, if any equaled, Sam Adams." John Adams called him "the most elegant writer, the most sagacious politician, and celebrated patriot perhaps of all." But in spite of his celebrated status among America's founding fathers as a revolutionary leader, Samuel Adams' life and achievements have been largely overshadowed in the history books. Stacy Schiff brings her masterful skill as historian and storyteller to the life of Samuel Adams, examining his transformation from the listless, failing son of a wealthy family into the tireless, silver-tongued revolutionary who rallied the likes of John Hancock and John Adams behind him. Gripping and revelatory, this book is a long-overdue chapter in the history of the American Revolution.

Contents:

Truly a man of the Revolution -- A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door -- The great town of Boston -- The very honest Samuel Adams, clerk -- Nothing could have given greater disgust -- On the brink of the precipice -- Perhaps I am captious -- It is dangerous to be silent -- An exasperated people -- I shall stand alone -- A remarkable instance of order and justice among savages -- This important glorious crisis -- The best cause that virtuous men contend for.

Added Author:

Culp, Jason,

Publication Date:

2022

Geographic Term:

United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783.

United States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1783.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Englewood	Audiobooks	B ADAMS CD	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Punta Gorda	Audiobooks	B ADAMS CD	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

This "glorious" revelatory biography from a Pulitzer Prize winner is about the most essential Founding Father (Ron Chernow)--the one who stood behind the change in thinking that produced the American Revolution.

Thomas Jefferson asserted that if there was any leader of the Revolution, "Samuel Adams was the man." With high-minded ideals and bare-knuckle tactics, Adams led what could be called the greatest campaign of civil resistance in American history. Stacy Schiff returns Adams to his seat of glory, introducing us to the shrewd and eloquent man who supplied the moral backbone of the American Revolution. A singular figure at a singular moment, Adams amplified the Boston Massacre. He helped to mastermind the Boston Tea Party. He employed every tool available to rally a town, a colony, and eventually a band of colonies behind him, creating the cause that created a country. For his efforts he became the most wanted man in America: When Paul Revere rode to Lexington in 1775, it was to warn Samuel Adams that he was about to be arrested for treason. In The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams , Schiff brings her masterful skills to Adams's improbable life, illuminating his transformation from aimless son of a well-off family to tireless, beguiling radical who mobilized the colonies. Arresting, original, and deliriously dramatic, this is a long-overdue chapter in the history of our nation.

ONE OF WALL STREET JOURNAL 'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2022 ONE OF LOS ANGELES TIMES TOP 5 NONFICTION BOOKS OF 2022 ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES MOST NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2022 ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022 And named one of the BEST BOOKS OF 2022 by The New Yorker, TIME, Oprah Daily, USA Today, New York Magazine, Air Mail, Boston Globe , and more!

"A glorious book that is as entertaining as it is vitally important." --Ron Chernow

"A beautifully crafted, invaluable biography...Schiff ingeniously connects the past to our present and future, underscoring the lessons of Adams while reclaiming our nation's self-evident truths at a moment when we seemed to have forgotten them." -- Oprah Daily

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Pulitzer winner Schiff (The Witches) delivers a revelatory and frequently riveting account of the life of founding father Samuel Adams (1722--1803). Portraying Adams as both a pious Puritan and a man of action, who "muscled words into deeds" in the cause of American independence, and whose destruction of most of his personal papers opened the door for adversaries to characterize him as a propagandist who provoked mob violence, Schiff begins the narrative with a dramatic description of the opening stages of the Revolutionary War, revealing that the main objective of Paul Revere's ride was to warn Adams that the British were coming. From there, Schiff retraces Adams's early years in Boston, his entry into Harvard at age 14, and the "financial catastrophe" that rocked the family when the British parliament dissolved a Massachusetts land bank cofounded by his father. "Vigilance in civic life," writes Schiff, "had been inculcated in at an early age." By the late 1740s, he was writing political pieces for local newspapers and soon became a leading opponent of new tariffs and regulations on the colonies. Throughout, Schiff vividly recounts major events in the lead-up to the Revolutionary War, including the Stamp Act Crisis, the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party, and draws incisive sketches of Loyalist governor Thomas Hutchinson, Patriot lawyer James Otis, and others. Fast-paced and enlightening, this is a must-read for colonial history buffs. Agent: Eric Simonoff, WME. (Oct.)

Kirkus Review

The Pulitzer Prize--winning author recounts Samuel Adams' instrumental role in triggering the events that would lead to the American Revolution. Though he is typically overshadowed by such towering contemporaries as Washington, Jefferson, and Adams' second cousin, John Adams, Samuel's behind-the-scenes machinations were a crucial factor in setting in motion the wheels of revolution. In her latest, Schiff enthusiastically digs through much of the limited material available on her subject. In a calculated move, Samuel destroyed countless documents and most of his personal correspondence, leaving little for future biographers to unearth. "He operated by stealth, melting into committees and crowd actions, pseudonyms and smoky back rooms," writes Schiff. " 'There ought to be a memorial to Samuel Adams in the CIA,' quips a modern historian, dubbing him America's first covert agent. We are left to read him in the twisted arm, the borrowed set of talking points, the indignation of America's enemies. We know more about him from his apoplectic adversaries than from his friends, sworn to secrecy." Schiff exhaustively dissects whatever was written about him by his contemporaries, and she also explores the numerous politically charged essays that he submitted under pseudonyms to newspapers such as the Boston Gazette, many of which openly criticized British colonial policy. Schiff provides a penetrating analysis of Samuel's tactics and motivations, and in tracing his story from his unassuming and somewhat aimless roots as a failed businessman to his role as a highly influential American statesman, she reveals how his grounded idealism was present from the outset and remained consistent throughout his life. This is a meticulously researched and often eloquent work of historical biography, but it's an occasionally dry cerebral exercise, lacking some of the author's typical storytelling verve. Still, Schiff offers a welcome, fresh study featuring notions of liberty and democracy that feel particularly relevant in today's consistently tumultuous political landscape. A sturdy portrait of Samuel Adams for our times. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

A Harvard graduate, a failure at private business ventures, and an inept public tax collector, Samuel Adams immersed himself in politics. A cousin of future president John Adams, he was a fiery patriot whose early espousal of colonial rights in Massachusetts blossomed into intense advocacy for full independence from Great Britain. He had a hand in whipping up sentiment among fellow colonials to forcefully resist British attempts to enforce its tax levies. So radical were Samuel Adams' ideas that he was surreptitious in attending meetings and took care to destroy correspondence so that there would be no hard evidence for the British to accuse him of treasonable words or deeds. In Adams' view, two things were critical to the success of the Revolution and to the sustaining of a republic: virtue and education. To that end, Adams worked as Massachusetts' governor to promote morality among his fellow citizens and to ensure sound public schooling, particularly encouraging women's education. Schiff (The Witches, 2015) keeps Samuel Adams' story lively even through what might be the otherwise tedious minutiae of the Stamp Act.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A new book from Pulitzer Prize--winning, powerhouse historian Schiff is always an event.

Library Journal Review

Admired by friends and loathed by the British colonial establishment, Samuel Adams, cousin to John Adams, is largely forgotten today. Pulitzer Prize--winning biographer Schiff (The Witches: Salem, 1692) brings Adams back to the forefront of the American Revolution in this audiobook narrated with precision and perfect pacing by Jason Culp. It describes how the idealistic Samuel Adams was determined to correct the injustice of British citizens in North America being denied the rights that British citizens had in Britain. He skillfully shaped public opinion, first in Massachusetts, then in the other colonies. He understood how to use the press and a well-honed argument. Adams was also a master organizer, founding the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence, which allowed local grievances to gain traction throughout the colonies. Additionally, he masterminded large-scale acts of civil disobedience. It was Adams who stealthily organized men to throw chests of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor. Schiff makes the case that Adams didn't just pave the road to the American Revolution--he made it happen. VERDICT An exceptionally narrated study of Adams's life and his ideas of fairness and democracy; highly recommended.--Cynthia Jensen

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

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