Books with author Henry Adams

Nearing the age of seventy, when "the mind wakes to find itself looking blankly into the void of death," Henry Adams wrote for his closest friends his version of the earth-shattering events they had experienced. He had 100 copies printed in luxurious editions and, in early 1907, sent them to such dignitaries as Theodore Roosevelt, William and Henry James, Charles Gaskell, and Henry Cabot Lodge. This private account was not released commercially until after Adams's death, in 1918, when it became a best-seller and won the Pulitzer Prize. Many scholars and critics, as well as Adams himself, view "The Education of Henry Adams" as a sequel to his earlier book, "Mont Sant Michel and Chartres." Reduced to its simplest level, The Education of Henry Adams recounts how an "eighteenth-century American boy" grew up during the nineteenth century, only to be intimidated and awed by the chaos of the twentieth. The unity of earlier ages, when everything revolved around God and Church, had been exploded into limitless possibilities by the discoveries of science and the advent of democracy, and Adams realized that "the child born in 1900 would then be born into a new world which would be not a unity but a multiple." The joy of this book for many readers is Adams's sardonic wit and his penchant for aphorisms; the number of quotable quotes is both delightful and exhausting. A notorious name-dropper, he knows everyone, and offers an insider's account of the most important events of the 19th century, volunteering his views on international diplomacy, monetary policy, evolutionary biology, and other matters. Adams portrays the journey of his life as an ongoing attempt at educating himself, yet he disdainfully learned that formal education was useless and that his dabbling had brought him to a dead end. "Religion, politics, statistics, travel had thus far led to nothing.... Accidental education could go no further, for one's mind was already littered and stuffed beyond hope with the millions of chance images stored away without order in the memory. One might as well try to educate a gravel-pit." Adams's self-effacing protests of ignorance are often little more than a pose. His sense of innate blueblood superiority can be grating--a stance exaggerated by his writing about himself in the third person. He repeatedly (and backhandedly) reminds the reader how, as stupid as he might be, he is in good company: "Adams knew only that he would have felt himself on a more equal footing with them had he been less ignorant." "Lincoln, Seward, Sumner, and the rest, could give no help to the young man seeking education; they knew less than he." "Ridiculous as he knew himself about to be in his new role, he was less ridiculous than his betters." One of the most unintentionally satisfying sections of this book, then, is when Adams finds himself among true aristocrats in England--and they dismiss him as a social inferior.

Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction in 1919, “The Education of Henry Adams” is the autobiography of Henry Adams, the grandson of President John Quincy Adams, and the great-grandson of President John Adams. First published personally at his own expense in 1907, the book was not printed commercially in large numbers until his death in 1918. Born Henry Brooks Adams in 1838, he was educated at Harvard and was introduced to politics and diplomacy at a young age, when he served as secretary to his father, Charles Francis Adams, Abraham Lincoln’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. During this time he worked as an anonymous foreign correspondent for the “New York Times”. Between 1868 and 1877 Adams worked as a journalist focused on exposing political corruption and as a professor of medieval history at Harvard. Despite his accomplishments, Adams saw himself as a failure. He believed that his education did not properly prepare him for the demands of a world which was modernizing at a dynamic pace. He also felt that he did not live up to the legacy established by the lofty accomplishments of his ancestors. This thoughtful and intimate book remains an important document of 19th century American history and political life. Adams, one of America’s most important historians, journalists, and novelists, shows in this great work of literature that he was anything but a failure. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

An instant bestseller when first published in 1880, "Democracy: An American Novel" is the quintessential American political novel. Not until after his death in 1918 was it revealed that Henry Adams was the anonymous author. Though the book avoids dates and the characters are fictitious, the setting is no doubt that of Washington in the 1870s, the age of Presidents Grant and Hayes.At its heart is Madeleine Lee, a young widow who comes to Washington, D.C., to understand the workings of power. Pursued by Silas Ratcliffe, the most influential member of the Senate, Madeleine soon sees enough of power and its corrupting influence to last her a lifetime.

A groundbreaking portrait of the intense personal and artistic relationship between Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock, revealing how their friendship changed American art. The drip paintings of Jackson Pollock, trailblazing Abstract Expressionist, appear to be the polar opposite of Thomas Hart Benton's highly figurative Americana. Yet the two men had a close and highly charged relationship dating from Pollock's days as a student under Benton. Pollock's first and only formal training came from Benton, and the older man soon became a surrogate father to Pollock. In true Oedipal fashion, Pollock even fell in love with Benton's wife. Pollock later broke away from his mentor artistically, rocketing to superstardom with his stunning drip compositions. But he never lost touch with Benton or his ideas―in fact, his breakthrough abstractions reveal a strong debt to Benton's teachings. I n an epic story that ranges from the cafés and salons of Gertrude Stein's Paris to the highways of the American West, Henry Adams, acclaimed author of Eakins Revealed, unfolds a poignant personal drama that provides new insights into two of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.

NOTE: This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and has been beautifully formatted (searchable and interlinked) to work on your Amazon e-book reader or iPod e-book reader.The Education of Henry Adams records the struggle of Bostonian Henry Adams (1838-1918), in early old age, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth. It is also a sharp critique of 19th century educational theory and practice.Two aspects set The Education apart from the common run of autobiographies--it's narrated in the third person and it's frequently sarcastic and humorously self-critical. It's much more a record of Adams's introspection than of his deeds. It's an extended meditation on the social, technological, political, and intellectual changes that occurred over Adams's lifetime.Adams concluded that his traditional education failed to help him come to terms with these rapid changes; hence his need for self-education. The organizing thread of the book is how the "proper" schooling and other aspects of his youth, was time wasted; thus his search for self-education through experiences, friendships, and reading.Many aspects of the contemporary world emerged during the half-century between the Civil War and World War I, a half-century coinciding with Adams's adult life. An important theme of The Education is its author's bewilderment and concern at the rapid advance in science and technology over the course of his lifetime, sometimes now called Second Industrial Revolution.He correctly predicted that the 20th century would see even more explosive changes. Adams repeatedly laments that his formal education, grounded in the classics, history, and literature, as was then the fashion, did not give him the scientific and mathematical knowledge needed to grasp the scientific breakthroughs of the 1890s and 1900s.The Education repeatedly mentions two long-standing friends of Adams, the scientific explorer of the Far West, Clarence King, and the American diplomat, John Milton Hay.Henry Adams' life story is rooted in the American political aristocracy that emerged from the American Revolution. He was the grandson of the American President John Quincy Adams and great-grandson of President and Founding Father John Adams. His father, Charles Francis Adams, had served as ambassador to the United Kingdom during the American Civil War, and had been elected to the United States House of Representatives.The Education is an important work of American literary nonfiction--it provides a penetrating glimpse into the intellectual and political life of the late 19th century...

The drip paintings of Jackson Pollock, trailblazing Abstract Expressionist, appear to be the polar opposite of Thomas Hart Benton's highly figurative Americana. Yet the two men had a close and highly charged relationship dating from Pollock's days as a student under Benton. Pollock's first and only formal training came from Benton, and the older man soon became a surrogate father to Pollock. In true Oedipal fashion, Pollock even fell in love with Benton's wife. Pollock later broke away from his mentor artistically, rocketing to superstardom with his stunning drip compositions. But he never lost touch with Benton or his ideas-in fact, his breakthrough abstractions reveal a strong debt to Benton's teachings. I n an epic story that ranges from the cafés and salons of Gertrude Stein's Paris to the highways of the American West, Henry Adams, acclaimed author of Eakins Revealed, unfolds a poignant personal drama that provides new insights into two of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.

This carefully crafted ebook: "The Education of Henry Adams" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Henry Adams (1838-1918) was a member of the political family founded by John Adams during the American Revolution. While his ambitions were literary and historical (his major work is a massive history of the United States in the age of Jefferson), he was not completely immune from the political life. The Education of Henry Adams is the Pulitzer Prize winning autobiography of Henry Adams. He recounts the education he received, lamenting that formal schooling failed to prepare him for a century of technological and philosophical change. This book is an excellent way to learn about 19th century America, interestingly he chose the third person to tell his own story The Education is much more a record of Adams's introspection than of his deeds. It is an extended meditation on the social, technological, political, and intellectual changes that occurred over Adams's lifetime. Adams concluded that his traditional education at Harvard failed to help him come to terms with the rapid changes he saw in his lifetime; hence his need for self-education. Many consider this the best autobiography ever written.