I think few know that Jefferson and Adams, even with their differences, were close friends and died on the same day, July 4.
It is good. It starts and ends a bit slow, but is excellent in between.
My granddaughter knows that, but, after all, she is a fifth grader.
I loved the series, but the book was even better.
July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Jefferson's last words were "is it the Fourth?" Adams' last were "Jefferson still lives." He was mistaken.
The letters between Jefferson and Adams after both had retired from public life are a warm portrait of a lifelong friendship, though one often battered by politics; they are also an invaluable document of what the Founders thought of their work, even in areas where they disagreed amongst themselves.
I haven't seen the miniseries yet, but in McCullogh's book, one interesting lesson is the stark differences between the two Founders. Both were nominally farmers, but while Adams worked the land when he was in Massachusetts, Jefferson never got his hands dirty. Adams was the classic frugal Yankee, while Jefferson lived and died in debt. Adams was terse and focused, right down to business, where Jefferson (like Franklin and Washington) was more of a charmer, perfectly at home schmoozing large groups of people.
But the letters between John and Abigail are the real treasure. Abigail was her husband's full partner, and in their letters they discussed the philosophy of the new nation, and the events of the revolution.
Abigail even used code to send John intelligence on events in Massachusetts while he was in Philadelphia. Men didn't consider a woman any threat, so they wouldn't lower their voices or change the subject when she walked by.
Yet amid all of that, the letters between John and Abigail Adams are, for my money, the greatest body of correspondence ever between two soul mates. You can keep Robert and Elizabeth Browning.