He admires washington. He presents the great soilder with a few faults. He makes a god out of Adams and a Demon out of Jefferson.

Great book!!!

1. Ferling attributes to the protagonists characters motivated primarily by a desire for 'social mobility' - a concept which would surely have been alien to all three of Washington, Jefferson and Adams since the term first appeared in an essay of Frederick Jackson Turner (of the famous 'frontier thesis') published around the turn of the 20th century. Ambitious, they surely were, but as Christopher Lasch points out in some of his late essays, notions of advancement in the 18th & 19th centuries were very different from what we think of as social mobility today. This, I think, detracts from an otherwise insightful read on Adams, and to some extent, Washington.

2. In the end, Ferling evaluates the characters of the three men primarily in terms of there reaction to and views of slavery. Surely, it was an issue, but to pass judgement on the founders based on modern notions of what consititute politically correct views of slavery seriously mars Ferling's work as professional history.

3. The book is highly partisan against Jefferson -- whether this is because Ferling is an Adams partisan or dislikes Jefferson on slavery or what-have-you, it is as negative a case against Jefferson as one will see since he was attacked while in office by the Federalists. I suppose whether this is a flaw or not depends on ones view of Jefferson, but I think a more balanced and nuanced treatment of Jefferson would significantly improve the book.

I recently reread Gore Vidal's Aaron Burr, which was exceptionally vitriolic on both Washington and Jefferson (being told from Burr's viewpoint) and Ferling is hardly easier on Washington (other than attributing better motives) and as hard on Jefferson. Those seeking historical balance won't find it here, but only those who already have a good command of the material will be able to see where Ferling strays from judicious use of original source material into blatantly partisan analysis based on modern categories and political agenda.