Character List

Henry Adams The central figure of the book is especially interested in history, writing, modern science, the Middle Ages, and various aspects of education. John Quincy Adams The sixth President of the United States is important here as a role model and loving paternal grandfather to Henry. Louisa Catherine (Johnson) […]

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Book Summary

“Probably no child, born in the year, held better cards than he,” the narrator says of the birth of Henry Brooks Adams in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 16, 1838. Through a series of impressions, he introduces the reader to Henry’s boyhood world. Winters in Boston are filled with restraint, rules, […]

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