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The Education of Henry Adams: An Autobiography

by Henry Adams , Donald Hall (Introduction by)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 1,998 ratings · 217 reviews

Few books have so firmly established their place in American literature as The Education of Henry Adams . When it was first published in 1918, it became an instant bestseller and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. More than eighty years later, in an age of self-reflection and exhaustive memoirs, The Education still stands as perhaps the greatest American autobiography. The ...more

Paperback , 544 pages

Published April 27th 2000 by Mariner Books (first published 1918)

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Apr 03, 2012 Justin Evans rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: essays , history-etc , fiction

One of the oddest books I've ever read, and am ever likely to read: an autobiography written in the third person, which tells us almost nothing at all about the author/central character, this seems more like a pre-modernist bildungsroman than anything else. The weirdness doesn't end there- Henry Adams spends much of his time philosophizing about history while the narrator (call him Mr Adams) spends most of his time explaining that Henry Adams is a fool who has no idea what he's talking about; He One of the oddest books I've ever read, and am ever likely to read: an autobiography written in the third person, which tells us almost nothing at all about the author/central character, this seems more like a pre-modernist bildungsroman than anything else. The weirdness doesn't end there- Henry Adams spends much of his time philosophizing about history while the narrator (call him Mr Adams) spends most of his time explaining that Henry Adams is a fool who has no idea what he's talking about; Henry Adams involves himself in politics, the academy, and Grand Tourism but Mr Adams rants about the uselessness of politics and the academy, and rolls his eyes at Henry's failure to understand or properly enjoy any of the things he sees while Grand Touring.
As if that's not hard enough to deal with, Mr Adams' assumes that you've already heard of him and all his friends, and that you know what they were about. Sometimes this works okay (for instance, I know a bit about Swinburne and the presidents he encounters); often it doesn't (Henry, Mr King and Mr Hay were clearly very close friends, but what exactly the latter two did, what they believed, and what impact their actions had on the greater world remains a mystery to me). If you're deeply versed in 19th century American politics, you'll probably find his comments on those men and dozens of others amusing and interesting. I am not so versed.
Despite which, this is an amazing, brilliant book, well worth the considerable effort needed to read it, because Mr Adams and Henry Adams are pretty obviously men you would like to spend time with in heaven. One of them, or maybe both, would amuse you with lines such as:
"Modern politics is, at bottom, a struggle not of men but of forces. The men become every year more and more creatures of force, massed about central power-houses. The conflict is no longer between the men, but between the motors that drive the men, and the men tend to succumb to their own motive forces."

and

"Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds."

I don't know, though, if I'd like to spend much time chatting with Adams himself. ...more

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Jun 11, 2015 Lotz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: americana

Once more! this is a story of education, not of adventure! It is meant to help young men—or such as have intelligence enough to seek help—but it is not meant to amuse them.

Everyone agrees that this book is difficult and odd. An autobiography of an American man of letters, the son of a diplomat, grandson of a president, historian, journalist, secretary, all told in the third person, written for his private circle of friends. At once claiming to be the story of one man’s life, a critique of the educational methods of the nineteenth century, a parable of the fin de siècle , and a new theory of history, the book is, in reality, none of the above, and is instead the sigh of an old man looking back on his life.

I must admit that I found this book exasperating in the extreme. One quickly gets the impression that, when Adams uses the word “education,” it is meaningless or worse than meaningless. He goes to London with his father, and becomes intimately acquainted with the workings of British politics, all during the difficult years of the American Civil War, and complains that he received no useful “education.” He teaches at Harvard for seven years, a professor of Medieval History, and concludes: “On the whole, he was content neither with what he had taught nor with the way he had taught it. The seven years in teaching seemed to him lost.” He becomes a journalist in the capital, and then works on a seven-volume history of America during Jefferson’s presidency; and still, after all this, he insists he has received no useful “education.” And after every phase of his life, when Adams rings the same gloomy bell, the reader asks: “What on earth would satisfy you, Mr. Adams?”

Another exasperating element is the degree to which Adams assumes a familiarity with the intricacies of 19th century American politics. Reading the chapters when he was in England felt like reading a grocer’s shopkeeping books. It was disjointed, jerky, and, worst of all, didn’t explain a thing. At first, I assumed this difficulty resulted from Adams’s originally writing the book for his circle of friends; but the obscurity goes even further: it is as if Adams wrote the book only for himself. The book swings wildly in tone from dry note-taking to half-formed and half-coherent abstractions, all written in a prose style lucidly opaque.

Adams also gives the impression of being a bit muddle-headed. He spends some time talking about Lyell’s geology and Darwin’s evolution, and it soon becomes apparent he understands neither. He goes on long tangents about “force,” while it is obvious that what Adams means by that word is as meaningless as what he means by “education.” He ends the book on a very confused and seemingly pointless attempt to give a mathematical explanation of history, but never reaches above vague commonplaces, endlessly repeated. I seldom came across an insight of his that was insightful, nor a thoughtful thought.

In short, the impression was that Adams had taken all of the stuff of his life—his doings, his friendships, his thoughts, his career, his background—and left it out to bake in the hot sun, until all the savor and succulence was scorched out of it, leaving only a tough jerky that wearies the jaw in the attempt to chew the husk.

Still, after all this, I must admit that this book has a strange power. There were times I could not put it down, even when I felt I wasn’t understanding a thing. Adams always seemed to be only two steps away from a great insight, an astounding thought; but he never quite reaches it, which is why the book can seem so tragic. He was always searching and never finding; and the reader is left in doubt what he was searching for, and whether anyone will ever find it. In his elegant, knotty prose, he turns out aphorism after aphorism—all apparently insightful, but in reality empty—popping like soap bubbles leaving nothing but air. And what saves the book is that Adams knew this, and yet could do nothing better.
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Ted Lotz wrote: "Haha, I'm not sure I'd advise taking my opinions as definitive! I don't even take my own opinions that way!"

No problem, I know you don't. ...more
Mar 31, 2015 12:06PM

Revella Notvanella "Still, after all this, I must admit that this book has a strange power. There were times I could not put it down, even when I felt I wasn’t understan ...more
Jun 11, 2015 05:10AM

Jan 28, 2009 Mackenzie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

there is no book like this anywhere else in American literature. It annoys, it fascinates, it bores, it amuses... a densely textured, thoughtful, at times exasperating story of growing up in the American 19th Century by the great-grandson of one president and the grandson of another -- who freely admits he should have lived in the 18th Century.

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Sep 27, 2007 Brendan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Henry Adams was the original celebutante: famous for nothing other than being related to the two John Adams(es), he was in the unique position of having access to the upper crust of post-revolutionary America without having the burden of any kind of responsibility.

This book is a guided tour of 19th-Century America, told with surprising wit and self-awareness-- his description of Harvard as (and I'm paraphrasing, but only slightly) a place where rich children went to drink beer and call themselve ...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Victoria Olsen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I slogged through a Kindle edition of this classic, dodging the typos, and struggled with what to make of it. It wasn't at all what I expected of an American patriarchal autobiography. It was relentlessly, even annoyingly, self-effacing and pessimistic. Chapter after chapter details what he didn't learn in Boston, in London, in Germany.... from the senators and ambassadors he grew up with. I couldn't figure him out until I finally decided that he was really talking to himself the whole time. He ...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Roxanne Russell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audible , lit-canon

The "hallelujah" did escape, and loudly, from my lips when this read was finally done, but that reaction was only to the last quarter of the book or so. Otherwise, well worth the read.
As the book begins, he vividly and concretely describes his youth, and throughout his middle-aged years also, his ponderings are grounded in specific descriptions and prompts for reflection. Since he has two Presidential ancestors and is part of the Bostonian elite, his access to the most prominent figures of histo ...more

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Jun 28, 2009 J. Dunn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction , biography , memoir , 19th-century , 20th-century , fin-de-siecle , mugwumps , american , history , culture , politics , technology , history-of-ideas , favorite , owned , have-etext

I'll agree with the ratings of this among the best nonfiction of the 20th century. It is another of my favorite genre, the "books about everything." It covers roughly the period from 1850 to 1905, and hits on almost every major historical and intellectual development of the time, but from a unique personal and anecdotal perspective. Adams was a man of great gifts and cultivation, but with a unique, eccentric, mugwumpishly conservative temperament that makes his collision and confrontation with t ...more

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Mar 11, 2009 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: autobiography , study-group

The memoir of a man and a family, Henry Adams was the son of a diplomat/ politician, grandson of a president and the great-grandson of another. The Adams family had produced leaders for the country since its founding and Henry Adams was heir to that leadership. In his Education he produced one of the best autobiographies ever written, chronicling the rapid change of the last half of the nineteenth century while sharing personal experiences with his father, at Harvard, Washington and elsewhere. I ...more

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Jun 11, 2015 Darwin8u rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012 , aere-perennius

Amazing. There are a just a few books (Meditations, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Brothers Karamazov) that I feel every person on the planet should read. This is one of those books. If you are an historian, a diplomat, a Civil War buff or an amateur philosopher, this book will strongly resonate.

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Jan 15, 2015 Brad Lyerla rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Education of Henry Adams is on my list of books to re-read. I first read it as a senior undergrad in the '75-'76 academic year at the University of Illinois. It was an introductory political theory course. In addition to EOHA, we read Civilization and Its Discontents, The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and a few others. EOHA was our "conservative book".

It was a fluff course that I took to fill in my social science requirements. But the books we were assigned are all worthwhile and I would lo ...more

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Jul 19, 2010 Eric Kibler rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my second least favorite book thus far from the Lifetime Reading Plan. My least favorite being the Q'uran.

Henry Adams was the grandson and great grandson of Presidents. Although a Bostonian, he inherited an eccentric outsider-dom from his famous forebears, and remained to the end of his life apart from the business community of that city. Adams has the disconcerting habit of speaking of himself in the third person like Jimmy from Seinfeld. "Henry Adams doesn't like this steak! Henry Adam This is my second least favorite book thus far from the Lifetime Reading Plan. My least favorite being the Q'uran.

Henry Adams was the grandson and great grandson of Presidents. Although a Bostonian, he inherited an eccentric outsider-dom from his famous forebears, and remained to the end of his life apart from the business community of that city. Adams has the disconcerting habit of speaking of himself in the third person like Jimmy from Seinfeld. "Henry Adams doesn't like this steak! Henry Adams wants you to send it back!"

As a part of the family of Founding Fathers, he stands between two centuries, the eighteenth and the twentieth. He wrote this book in 1904, and at age 66 he is still forward-looking, wondering what the twentieth century has in store. He was fly on the wall for the nineteeth.

After concentrating the narrative on his education, which includes Harvard, he concludes that the education one picks up accidentally is more valuable then what one received intentionally at even the most respected institutions. After that, the bulk of the heart of the book is spent on Charles Francis Adams' (Henry's dad's)tenure as American Minister in London during Civil War years, and Henry's tenure as his personal secretary (Nepotism? Naaaahh!)At first, the American minister is shunned by members of Parliament, as the predominant opinion was that the Union would not survive the Civil War. But C. F. Adams is persistent, circumstances improve, and the Minister attains victory in the Laird ironclad affair. Adams has little good to say about the character of English politicians in general, but ends up making a few very close friends.

When he reaches 1870, he suddenly skips twenty years. It just so happens that during this period was when he met and married his wife, who with Henry, and others, comprised the predominant intellectual salon in the U.S. This was also the period where Adams had his salad days as author and Harvard history professor. Seems to me this would have been prime material to include, but as he felt he wasn't being "educated" during that period, he skips it.

Unfortunately, the post 1890 years are anticlimactic. At the end of the book, he tries (IMO unsuccessfully) to articulate his "dynamic theory of history". In reading about this, I couldn't help but think of the closing chapters of Tolstoy's "War and Peace", where the great Count makes a more lucid case for a scientific approach to history. Like Tolstoy, Adams seems to imagine a future figure not unlike Isaac Asimov's Hari Selden, a "psychohistorian" who can use the science of history to predict future events.

Also unfortunately, Adams was a clear product of the Victorian Age. Those guys never told the real dirt on themselves. This would have been a good book in which to do so, as one is educated by his youthful maistakes and indiscretions. It's a shame, but one thing you never think when reading this book: "Oh Henry Adams! What kind of crazy shit are you gonna do next?"

The style of the book is mannered, curlicued, and sometimes opaque. For those who wonder why, this book is exactly why the world needed a Hemingway. ...more

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Aug 11, 2013 Frederick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs , adams-henry

I'll augment my review later, but I'll give my first impression of this book now, having finished reading it yesterday. Adams's life, in itself, is interesting. He seems to have been a man of good grace, kindness and ability. (He was extremely well-placed, being the direct descendent of both Presidents Adams.) As the book progresses, more and more of the education he claims not to have shows, until, by the end, he almost seems to be throwing educational firecrackers at the reader. I learned THIS I'll augment my review later, but I'll give my first impression of this book now, having finished reading it yesterday. Adams's life, in itself, is interesting. He seems to have been a man of good grace, kindness and ability. (He was extremely well-placed, being the direct descendent of both Presidents Adams.) As the book progresses, more and more of the education he claims not to have shows, until, by the end, he almost seems to be throwing educational firecrackers at the reader. I learned THIS. Bang! I learned THIS! Bang! THIS! Crash! THIS! Boom! So, I sense that the story really is about a fellow who served people around him with great humility for most of his life, who finally got to say what he really thought of being the constant servant. I am being a bit unfair. Adams shows, by the end of the book, that he has a tremendous understanding of physics. (He was among the first to witness a demonstration of the X-ray.) This autobiography, published nine years before Joyce's PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN, builds the same way that great novel does. This makes me wonder if Joyce read THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS. [Probably not until AFTER the publication of PORTRAIT, inasmuch as Adams' book was only available in a privately printed edition as of 1906. It was published commercially in 1918, shortly after Adams' death. He won a Pulitzer posthumously. So Joyce would have been aware of him before ULYSSES. But would he have liked him?] Adams is really saying, "I have lived!" But I can't help wondering if he really thought his knowledge of physics was a sign of his gift, or the fact that, throughout his adult life, Presidents and senators called upon him to act as advisor or diplomat. He seems to think this political capacity of his is trivial. Or does he? It is a sly book, with a tone of clarity, but I can't really tell if he believed his own theory of force. I sense he thought building his theory was his life-work. He periodically drew attention to other scientists, which reinforces my concept of him as a diplomat. I'm not sure he would have called himself a scientist, of course. He seems to have preferred to call himself an historian. But if he was an historian, why is his thrust one of theory? ...more

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Nov 14, 2009 Andrew added it · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

Perhaps, in another life, Henry Adams would have been a great thinker, one who, like Benjamin or Nietzsche, penetrated the myths of modern society and showed the world a glittering realm of possibility. There's a sense of the doom of modernity that wreaths his thoughts like a fog-- in line with T.S. Eliot, Thomas Carlyle, and other anti-moderns. It's a conservatism that, unlike that of Christians and free marketeers, at least deserves a certain sympathy. Pathetic, perhaps, but ultimately you fee ...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Hannah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While acknowledging that this book is Important, I respectfully submit that it won't stay that way for much longer. The most interesting aspect of the book - its commitment to something like psychic catastrophism - is also, from a formal perspective, what makes it a tedious read, and the sheer volume of petty political sniping (about slights and missteps that occurred in, like, 1872) is enough to make one almost embarrassed for the aging Adams. Add to that the author's by now pretty untenable co ...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An important book for anyone with an interest in American history and literature, by a descendant of two presidents (John Adams and John Quincy Adams). I especially enjoyed his accounts of British politics during the American Civil War, which he spent in London serving as private secretary to his father, Charles Frances Adams, the Minister to Great Britain. Since Adams did not intend his "Education" to be read by anyone other than close friends and family it can be a bit obscure, so it helps to ...more

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Jul 17, 2015 Jay rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

I tried to place this among the other books I’ve read, and strangely the one that seems most similar to me is “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. Like that book, Adams takes a journey, albeit through a life, and riffs on topics great and small, from politics to education, women in history to evolution. And like “Zen”, Adams drills down into a topic, not quality but history through a scientific eyepiece. The writing felt of a similar theme, while expounding on looking at history through I tried to place this among the other books I’ve read, and strangely the one that seems most similar to me is “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. Like that book, Adams takes a journey, albeit through a life, and riffs on topics great and small, from politics to education, women in history to evolution. And like “Zen”, Adams drills down into a topic, not quality but history through a scientific eyepiece. The writing felt of a similar theme, while expounding on looking at history through a scientific or mathematical lens. And he is looking not so much at patterns, but at growth, and how growth, or technical advancement, has caused similar changes throughout history. He almost goes as far as saying the future can be predicted but I don’t think he quite jumped that shark. This was a difficult read, told in third person, with the narrator complaining throughout that poor Henry couldn’t learn anything in most of the situations he was in, and he didn’t learn anything when he could have, despite being well-off, from a family of Presidents and politicians, working as the ambassador’s secretary in London during the Civil War, teaching at Harvard, writing long thought pieces on government finances, travelling the world, writing history, and spending time with the most well known men of his era. Rough life. He obviously learned some things – my favorite perspective was that Grant’s conservative government chased the young reformers out of Washington and set reform and progress back for his two terms. You can almost picture the bars that were rowdy in DC didn't have a lot of business during those times, as the intellectia/hipsters of that era laid low. You also get the feeling that after the Civil War, the well-to-do veterans weren't interested in working much – seemed like a lot of Bart Simpsons in Adam’s telling. (Adams likes to dish.) The first two thirds of the book are mostly biographical, but with plenty of cul de sacs that are heavily invested in. It’s less a view on the important things the author did, but the opportunities he faced, the angst about personal relationships, and their aftermath. The final third of the book was the hardest to read, much was riffing on theory about history and science and politics. Throughout, you could catch quite funny and interesting lines and points of view - the author has his opinions. This didn’t read like a 100 year old book. The Librivox audio edition, narrated by “Jeannie”, was well done. ...more

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Feb 12, 2014 Russell Bittner rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Education of Henry Adams is just that: i.e., the education of Henry Adams. But as he uses the word, it denotes a never-ending process between the two parentheses of birth and death. In that sense, Adams strips the word of its conventional value and re-dresses it in a habit more befitting a man who genuinely understands that education doesn’t end with formal schooling, but rather continues until he draws his final breath. And in this matter of education, Adams (who here — as in much of this ...more

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Jan 28, 2011 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pulitzer , non-fiction , biography

The writing of Henry Adams can take some getting used to. At times he seems pompous, and falsely modest (after all, how modest can you be when you have decided to write an autobiography of your life), but I suspect the reality is that Adams is simply the product of another time. Clearly influenced by his illustrious family (great grandson of John Adams, grandson of John Quincy Adams, and son of Charles Francis Adams, a Congressman and Ambassador), one can clearly imagine that this is precisely h The writing of Henry Adams can take some getting used to. At times he seems pompous, and falsely modest (after all, how modest can you be when you have decided to write an autobiography of your life), but I suspect the reality is that Adams is simply the product of another time. Clearly influenced by his illustrious family (great grandson of John Adams, grandson of John Quincy Adams, and son of Charles Francis Adams, a Congressman and Ambassador), one can clearly imagine that this is precisely how he was brought up to be, a product of the 18th and 19th centuries. The result is a biography, “The Education of Henry Adams” which is both personal, and yet touches on several important moments in history.

In this book, Adams thinks little of formal education and sees it as not preparing him for his life to come. The education he is talking about for most of the book, is the education he gets from the experiences of life. Those experiences come from his travel, the deep and long friendships he develops with Clarence King and John Milton Hay, and of course from reading.

From his early life, one story really stuck with me, and that is Adams relating his Grandfather, and at the time former President, escorting a stubborn and defiant young Henry Adams to school. Such a scene probably could never happen again, but imagine the impact on the other students to have a President of the United States bring a classmate to school.

One of the most interesting political stories from the book is a long one, detailing his father’s period as Ambassador to the United Kingdom during Lincoln’s administration. Adams discusses the attitude towards the representatives of the Union and how his father built up a tremendous amount of respect after initially being viewed as a lightweight. Henry Adams served as his father’s personal secretary for those eight years, and they had to deal with the attempts by the Confederacy to get recognized and receive aid. An interesting side-note to this period is that they had exchanges of letters with Karl Marx.

Other significant subjects that Adams covers include his personal views on several Presidents, including some very strong feelings about Grant, as well as some lack of interest many that came after, and concern over the youth of Roosevelt. Science also is a key subject, and Adams discusses Darwin, Radium, and other changes which he is overcome by, and predicts quite correctly that the advances in the 20th century will make those of the 19th appear small. Lastly, as mentioned before, the friendships that Adams forms with King and Hay have a tremendous impact on his entire autobiography.

What is missing from this book is 20 years, and an important 20 years it was for Adams, as it is the period of his marriage to Marian Hooper, whom was commonly called Clover. There is no doubt that this period of Adams life would have been filled with tremendous contrasts, both the joy they shared, and the immense sorrow he must have felt when she was depressed and eventually committed suicide. The reader has been denied the personal perspective of Adams, and it is our loss.

I very much enjoyed this autobiography, and it helped that I had read other works by Adams so that I was prepared for his style and manner. I preferred this book to Adams “Mont Saint Michel and Chartres”, and the subject matter is certainly broader and likely to appeal to a wider audience. This book was nominated and selected as “The Best Book of the 20th Century” by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and the winner of the 1919 Pulitzer Prize for Biography/Autobiography. Despite all that, I am giving it just four stars. I feel his style takes some getting used to, and the absence of those 20 years is felt.
...more

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Feb 17, 2011 Mike Clinton rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I bought the book and read it - well after I had bought it, actually - on its reputation as one of the "great" American books, but it left me disappointed. Adams' idiosyncratic writing style didn't appeal to me, and the content wasn't so enthralling, either, although the array of important historical figures from the 19th century whom he met is staggeringly impressive. Sure, I understand the conceit of reflecting upon his ironically poor educational preparation for the America to come in the gen ...more

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Jan 08, 2009 Warren Perry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is the composite American diplomatic history of the Civil War plus the political history of America before the Civil War plus the political, academic, and social history of America for Adams' lifetime, plus forty years before, minus twenty years during his marriage and the recovery after his dear wife's suicide, and minus the American experience of the Civil War. A professor at Georgetown told me, "We have probably gotten all we can get out of Henry Adams," and there are moments where ...more

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Mar 20, 2015 David Yost rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I tried reading this once as an MA student and gave up in boredom. Coming back to it with a lot more American and European history under my belt, I found it more intriguing but still was not amazed. Adams was a funny guy, but there are just too many pages here devoted to settling scores with, for example, senators and foreign policy officials in the Grant administration. In particular, his discussion of British politicians' reactions to the American Civil War is endless without being very illumi ...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Alexander Laser-robinson added it · review of another edition

The Education of Henry Adams is a slow and often tedious work of nonfiction. Some credit is due to the work for its amazing array one-liners. Some of my favorite include, "Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds," "The progress of evolution from President Washington to President Grant was alone evidence to upset Darwin," and "There is no such thing as an underestimate of average intelligence." However, the work as a whole fails f ...more

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Mar 26, 2015 Dennis rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american-lit

This started out fascinating -- son of a famous political family growing up in mid-19th Century New England. Henry Adams has the insider's view of the who's who of America at the time, and his family, social, educational, and professional life is a series of name dropping. Adams has a quirky sense of humor, but about a third of the way in the journal turned increasingly tedious and sometimes downright boring. It's never a good thing when the book seems it will never end. But end it did, and I do ...more

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Sep 10, 2015 Rdt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is written in a beautiful style, and Henry Adams was a fascinating character. He was the grandson of one president and the great grandson of another. He was at the pinnacle of Boston society and yet he shunned it. He rubbed shoulders with the rich, famous and powerful, but he never held public office and was never quite one of the ruling class himself. He seems to have not been rich, but he also seems to have never done much to earn a living. He was obviously a brilliant man with much ...more

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Aug 30, 2015 Bryce Holladay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Education of Henry Adams was so different, confusing, and had such complicated diction that I did not complete the book.

However, it doesn't take one long to realize what they're getting into. The autobiography is written in a third person, where the author does not address himself often. He makes it very clear that he is examining his life from the view of his much older self. The publication is of the early 20th century, yet The writing style is reminiscent of 19th or 18th century literatur ...more

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May 12, 2015 Derek Ganzhorn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Is this the greatest book ever written by an American?

This is the only interesting question I can think of when critiquing this book. Adams himself contributes some competitors, of course, in Mont St. Michel and his History of the United States . But none of these works quite possesses the immediacy of Adams's Education . This book manages, amazingly, to combine the political with the intellectual with the near-spiritual, all in a prose nearly unequaled among Americans. Haunting and educational, Is this the greatest book ever written by an American?

This is the only interesting question I can think of when critiquing this book. Adams himself contributes some competitors, of course, in Mont St. Michel and his History of the United States . But none of these works quite possesses the immediacy of Adams's Education . This book manages, amazingly, to combine the political with the intellectual with the near-spiritual, all in a prose nearly unequaled among Americans. Haunting and educational, disturbing and edifying--what other work by an American can compete in terms of both intellect and aesthetics?

In intellect, none. Henry Adams is maybe the finest American thinker who has ever lived; the greatest of the great Adams family. The center of the American intellect is often attributed to men like Emerson and Whitman, but the Adams strain, like the great Federal party itself, has always lurked in the eaves, and for my money constitutes the great thread of American thought--the strain of American politics which strives for that happy medium between aristocracy and anarchy, between intellect and barbarism. That we might be led by a natural, elected aristocracy--and that the people would know when such natural aristocrats appear--is a beautiful idea. A realistic one?--probably not. The ideals of 1787 were probably always a fantasy, but they provide a firm under-girding for the fate of our republic, and an ideal we can look up to, however foolish it may be. Henry Adams provides maybe the eulogy of this kind of idealism, as both intellectual life and politics give way to complete ochlocracy in the guise of self-rule, and the truths of yesteryear give way to the dynamo which enslaves us all. Emerson and Whitman are all optimism--let the pessimism of the Adams family reign!

Aesthetically, the book is wonderful. My edition contains an introduction comparing Adams to Proust, and I think the comparison apt. Adams is a beautiful writer, best in the mode of non-fiction (his Ester is the best of the two novels, but he never quite equaled in his fiction what he achieved in his non-), and writing at a height here. What other American could span the decades with aplomb like Adams? From the idyllic days on Beacon Hill to the pressing needs of American diplomacy in England, to the chaos and confusion growing from the Grant administration unto the Chicago World's Fair, the book is beautiful.

In the end, the synthesis of politics, philosophy, and spiritual reflection is what makes this book wonderful. The story told in this book is told by a complete human being, unlike most books which are narrated in a particularized mode of thought. The books truly is a novel in the sense that, for all its political and philosophical ruminations and insights, it appeals most directly to the human heart; that Adams is able to do this without etiolating the mind and the spirit is a major accomplishment, on the level of a great novelist like Proust. What is the purpose of a personal philosophy? Can such a philosophy exist in a world where technology is everchanging? Proust lived long enough to incorporate the ultimate act of nihilism--the First World War--into his great work; one wonders why Henry Adams (d. 1918) did not do the same, for World War I provides the ultimate act of insanity and brutality all human control, the fullest reach of the power of the dynamo. Perhaps Chaos was all-too-tangible to Adams even before WWI ruined all Western society; perhaps it was superfluous. Although the last chapter of this book takes place in 1905, the horror and desolation of the Great War are almost predestined; for what else could our god the dynamo ask as sacrifice?

So read this book: Fascinating, troubling, a record of history, and thoroughly enjoyable as a piece of reading. Maybe the best endorsement of this book is that it will want you to read others, by Adams and the giants whose shoulders Adams stands on. Don't let the difficulty of the text dissuade you. The Education is brilliant. ...more

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Jan 05, 2015 Jon Frankel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Henry Adams’ The Education of Henry Adams is intellectual autobiography told in a slightly mocking, gently ironic third person. Henry Adams is never off the page. He anatomizes himself with the same acuity, but greater clarity, than the other Henry, Mr. James, analyzes his characters. Adams was born in 1838 and bears witness to the industrial, scientific, cultural, and intellectual revolutions of the 19th century. He is aware that he shares a womb with the future, even as his instinct draws him Henry Adams’ The Education of Henry Adams is intellectual autobiography told in a slightly mocking, gently ironic third person. Henry Adams is never off the page. He anatomizes himself with the same acuity, but greater clarity, than the other Henry, Mr. James, analyzes his characters. Adams was born in 1838 and bears witness to the industrial, scientific, cultural, and intellectual revolutions of the 19th century. He is aware that he shares a womb with the future, even as his instinct draws him to the past, the medieval past of the High Middle Ages, of Dante, and Aquinas, of the cathedrals of Chartres and Mont St. Michel. A provincial boy, he grows into a true cosmopolitan, traveling the world, teaching at Harvard for 7 years, writing about art and politics, and presiding over a legendary Washington DC salon. He wrote a multivolume history of the Jefferson and Madison administrations. He knew everyone. As a very young man he accompanied his father, a congressman, and son of John Quincy Adams, to the court in London, as personal secretary. Their job was to prevent England from entering the civil war on the side of the south. His closest friends were John Hay, who served presidents from Lincoln to Roosevelt, and Henry Cabot Lodge, senator from Massachusetts, cousin of American philosopher Charles Pierce. In The Education the scientific revolution, especially Darwin’s theory of evolution, but also in theoretical physics, provokes a spiritual crisis that Adams resolves into a theory of history. I have never encountered a more fascinating, ruminative mind in action. Adams ponders, is troubled by, and works out the complex philosophical/spiritual/ethical challenge of emerging modernism with the mind of an average person, and this is what is so exhilarating. His very modesty allows you to share his puzzlement. And the thing is, he seems to love the sensation of alienation, he enjoys the antiquation of a world he grew up in (the 18th century is his world in many ways, not the 19th). He gently weaves a thesis out of chaos and perceived order. His mind is deeply, intractably dialectical. He seems to have absorbed Marx. He anticipates Freud. Chaos Theory and Quantum Mechanics would not have surprised him at all. Post-modern skepticism is already in his mental framework. It is no wonder that the great historian of American politics, Walter Lefebre, assigned this book to all of his first year graduate students.

This book makes it to number one on all the greatest hits of nonfiction lists. There’s a reason for it. It is totally brilliant from beginning to end, and it is one of the few books I wish had kept going and going and going. ...more

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May 30, 2014 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a complex and interesting autobiography, all told in the third person about the life-long education of Henry, grandson of JQ Adams and great-grandson of John Adams. With his incredible political heritage, his access to the great and powerful through them and through his father Charles, his personal involvement in the politics of Boston, Washington and England (particularly during the Civil War), and his own interest in history and literature, Adams provides a brilliant look at the political ...more

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Feb 21, 2014 Carol Apple rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I gave the book four stars but it really ought to be more like 4.5. I just couldn't give a full 5. It is long and strange and after the first two chapters I thought I would never be able to stick with it but then I got sucked into narrative and slowly became fascinated. If this were a 10-point rating system I'd give it a 9. This book is an unusual autobiography, ironic and self-effacing which is ironic in itself since Henry Adams was born into a family firmly established in history and society a I gave the book four stars but it really ought to be more like 4.5. I just couldn't give a full 5. It is long and strange and after the first two chapters I thought I would never be able to stick with it but then I got sucked into narrative and slowly became fascinated. If this were a 10-point rating system I'd give it a 9. This book is an unusual autobiography, ironic and self-effacing which is ironic in itself since Henry Adams was born into a family firmly established in history and society and had access from the beginning to the most powerful, richest, and most famous people living in the 19th century. He is an eye-witness six decades of history and interacts with many famous people including world leaders,scientists, artists, and writers. For example he saw Abraham Lincoln shortly after he was elected President and gives us his vivid impressions. Henry Adams had every possible door of opportunity wide open to him but the entire book is about his inability and lack of desire to commit to a definite position in the world. As with many people who cannot commit to a position in society he eventually becomes a writer. He ends up being quite successful but he tries to convince the reader that any success he had was happenstance and in spite of himself.

Adams presents himself as a man trying to attain an education and continually failing to find what he is seeking. What Adams means by education is sort of part of his education, the sort of thing he thinks he will recognize when he sees it. The third person device works well because you can imagine Adams standing off to the side observing his foolish clueless self as he goes through all the motions of life. Even more than with most books, your reaction to this book is going to depend on who you are and what you bring to it. I remember being assigned the book in in college and being unable to make heads or tales of it. Now in middle age I find it fascinating: through the eyes of Henry Adams you get a thorough inside education of the politics, philosophy, and science of 19th century Europe and America with some art and music thrown in. His insights and observations about human nature are the aspect of the book I personally find the most interesting. He lives 18 years into the 20th century but ends the the book in 1906, wrapping up his life with a grand theory about the nature and mechanism of history. I felt happy for his sake that he was able to find a meaningful way to make sense of his life, even though - to the extent I understand it - I don't think I agree with his theory. ...more

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Sep 06, 2015 Richard W. rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Takeaway Quote (Adams at 60 in about 1898): "The object of [my] education [of myself], therefore, was changed. For many years it had lost itself in studying what the world had ceased to care for; if it were to begin again, it must try to find out what the mass of mankind did care for, and why. Religion, politics, statistics, travel had thus far led to nothing." (page 217)

Henry Adams was the grandson and great-grandson of U.S. Presidents. He saw himself as situated between the thought-world of th ...more

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About Henry Adams

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Born in 1838 into one of the oldest and most distinguished families in Boston, a family which had produced two American presidents, Henry Adams had the opportunity to pursue a wide-ranging variety of intellectual interests during the course of his life. Functioning both in ...more

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Books by Henry Adams

History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson

History of the United States During the Administrations of James Madison

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