John Adams

'Too plain spoken for diplomacy and too honest for politics' is how the brilliant historian James Grant describes the man who was one of America's foremost revolutionaries, greatest political theorists and most illustrious diplomats. Vice President (1789-1797), and then President of the United States (1797-1801) John Adams was an independent-minded, uncompromisingly ethical man.

Throughout his life he passionately believed in a system of checks and balances on government, as a very young man writing that 'no simple Form of Government, can possibly secure Men against the Violences of Power'. He held true to this vision throughout his own years of power.

Written in a witty and engaging style, this comprehensive chronicle omits no facet of Adams's life. Indeed, it is through Adams's frequent and tender letters to his wife Abigail that we see his private hopes and concerns for the momentous events in which he played such an important part. Adams was, as historian Ron Chernow comments, 'a certified American original'.

Today the United States Of America is a global powerhouse, yet when it first secured independence, many doubted that this new nation would endure. The vision and dedication of America's first leaders proved them wrong.

This new Folio collection of America's founding fathers includes the extraordinary lives of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. These authoritative, modern biographies reveal individuals who were passionate in their convictions, dedicated to their ideals, and yet, for all their brilliance, often flawed human beings. Fascinating portraits, they evoke the troubled, tumultuous times in which they lived, when the spirit of revolution was in the air.