Abigail Adams by Woody Holton

Tantor Media Inc. No binding. New. Audio CD. Dimensions: 6.4in. x 5.5in. x 1.7in.Abigail Adams offers a fresh perspective on the famous events of Adamss life, and along the way, Woody Holton, a renowned historian of the American Revolution, takes on numerous myths about the men and women of the founding era. But the book also demonstrates that domestic dramasfrom unplanned pregnancies to untimely deathscould be just as heartbreaking, significant, and inspiring as the actions of statesmen and soldiers. A special focus of the book is Adamss complex relationships: with her mother, sisters, and children; with her husbands famous contemporaries; and with Phoebe, one of her fathers slaves. At the same time that John exhibited his own diplomatic skills on a better-known canvas, Abigail struggled to prevent the charitable gifts she gave her sisters from coming between them. In a departure from the persistently upbeat tone of most Adams biographies, Holtons work shows how frequently her life was marred by tragedy, making this the deepest, most humanistic portrayal ever published. Using the matchless trove of Adams family manuscripts, the author steps back to allow Abigail to respond to her many losses in her own words. Holton reveals that Abigail Adams sharply disagreed with her husbands financial decisions and assumed control of the familys money herselfearning them a tidy fortune through her shrewd speculations (this during a time when married women were not permitted to own property). And he shows that her commitment to womens equality and education was intense and explicitly expressed and practical, from the more than two thousand letters she wrote over her lifetime to her final will (written in defiance of legislation prohibiting married women from bequeathing property). Alternately witty, poignant, and uplifting, Holtons narrative sheds new light on one of Americas best-loved but least-understood icons. This item ships from multiple locations. Your book may arrive from Roseburg,OR, La Vergne,TN.