
Abigail Adams
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.00 for first 30 days
Buy for $21.06
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Cassandra Campbell
-
By:
-
Woody Holton
About this listen
Abigail Adams offers a fresh perspective on the famous events of Adams's 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 dramas---from unplanned pregnancies to untimely deaths---could be just as heartbreaking, significant, and inspiring as the actions of statesmen and soldiers.
A special focus of the book is Adams's complex relationships: with her mother, sisters, and children; with her husband's famous contemporaries; and with Phoebe, one of her father's 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, Holton's 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 husband's financial decisions and assumed control of the family's money herself---earning 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 women's 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, Holton's narrative sheds new light on one of America's best-loved but least-understood icons.
©2009 Woody Holton (P)2009 TantorCritic reviews
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Unexpected Abigail Adams
- A Woman "Not Apt to Be Intimidated"
- By: John L. Smith Jr.
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, was an eyewitness to America's founding, and helped guide the new nation through her observations and advice to her famously prickly husband, who cherished her. In The Unexpected Abigail Adams: A Woman "Not Apt to Be Intimidated," writer and researcher John L. Smith, Jr. draws on more than two thousand letters of Abigail's spanning from the 1760s to her death in 1818, interweaving Abigail's colorful correspondence with a contextual narrative.
-
-
Outstanding content!!
- By Felicia D. on 03-15-25
-
First Family
- Abigail & John Adams
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author of Founding Brothers and His Excellency brings America’s preeminent first couple to life in a moving and illuminating narrative that sweeps through the American Revolution and the republic’s tenuous early years. John and Abigail Adams left an indelible and remarkably preserved portrait of their lives together in their personal correspondence: Both Adamses were prolific letter writers (although John conceded that Abigail was clearly the more gifted of the two), and over the years they exchanged more than 12,000 letters.
-
-
"Real History"
- By leslie on 11-15-10
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
Twilight at Monticello
- The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson
- By: Alan Pell Crawford
- Narrated by: James Boles
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson, with good reason: His life was a great American drama, one of the greatest, played out in compelling acts. He was the architect of our democracy, a visionary chief executive who expanded this nation's physical boundaries to unimagined lengths.
-
-
After Leaving Office
- By Roy on 09-23-10
-
First Ladies
- The Ever Changing Role, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump
- By: Betty Boyd Caroli
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 20 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Betty Boyd Caroli's engrossing and informative First Ladies is an essential resource for anyone interested in the role of America's First Ladies. Caroli observes the role as it has shifted and evolved from ceremonial backdrop to substantive world figure. This expanded and updated fifth edition presents Caroli's keen political analysis and astute observations of recent developments, including Melania Trump's reluctance to take on the mantle and former First Lady Hilary Clinton's recent run for president. Caroli here contributes a new preface and updated chapters.
-
-
Thorough
- By Kindle Customer on 10-11-20
-
Martha Washington
- An American Life
- By: Patricia Brady
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With this revelatory and painstakingly researched book, Martha Washington, the invisible woman of American history, at last gets the biography she deserves. In place of the domestic frump of popular imagination, Patricia Brady resurrects the wealthy, attractive, and vivacious young widow who captivated the youthful George Washington. And even as it brings Martha Washington into sharper and more accurate focus, this sterling life sheds light on her marriage, her society, and the precedents she established for future First Ladies.
-
-
DAR Book Club
- By Kimberly Dillard on 12-26-23
By: Patricia Brady
-
John Adams: A Life
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In John Adams: A Life, Ferling offers a compelling portrait of one of the giants of the Revolutionary era. Drawing on extensive research, Ferling depicts a reluctant revolutionary, a leader who was deeply troubled by the warfare that he helped to make, and a fiercely independent statesman. Bringing to life an exciting time, an age in which Adams played an important political and intellectual role. this book is a singular biography of the man who succeeded George Washington in the presidency and shepherded the fragile new nation through the most dangerous of times.
-
-
Excellent story, the narration ruined it for me
- By Benjamin on 04-09-19
By: John Ferling
-
The Unexpected Abigail Adams
- A Woman "Not Apt to Be Intimidated"
- By: John L. Smith Jr.
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, was an eyewitness to America's founding, and helped guide the new nation through her observations and advice to her famously prickly husband, who cherished her. In The Unexpected Abigail Adams: A Woman "Not Apt to Be Intimidated," writer and researcher John L. Smith, Jr. draws on more than two thousand letters of Abigail's spanning from the 1760s to her death in 1818, interweaving Abigail's colorful correspondence with a contextual narrative.
-
-
Outstanding content!!
- By Felicia D. on 03-15-25
-
First Family
- Abigail & John Adams
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author of Founding Brothers and His Excellency brings America’s preeminent first couple to life in a moving and illuminating narrative that sweeps through the American Revolution and the republic’s tenuous early years. John and Abigail Adams left an indelible and remarkably preserved portrait of their lives together in their personal correspondence: Both Adamses were prolific letter writers (although John conceded that Abigail was clearly the more gifted of the two), and over the years they exchanged more than 12,000 letters.
-
-
"Real History"
- By leslie on 11-15-10
By: Joseph J. Ellis
-
Twilight at Monticello
- The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson
- By: Alan Pell Crawford
- Narrated by: James Boles
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson, with good reason: His life was a great American drama, one of the greatest, played out in compelling acts. He was the architect of our democracy, a visionary chief executive who expanded this nation's physical boundaries to unimagined lengths.
-
-
After Leaving Office
- By Roy on 09-23-10
-
First Ladies
- The Ever Changing Role, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump
- By: Betty Boyd Caroli
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 20 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Betty Boyd Caroli's engrossing and informative First Ladies is an essential resource for anyone interested in the role of America's First Ladies. Caroli observes the role as it has shifted and evolved from ceremonial backdrop to substantive world figure. This expanded and updated fifth edition presents Caroli's keen political analysis and astute observations of recent developments, including Melania Trump's reluctance to take on the mantle and former First Lady Hilary Clinton's recent run for president. Caroli here contributes a new preface and updated chapters.
-
-
Thorough
- By Kindle Customer on 10-11-20
-
Martha Washington
- An American Life
- By: Patricia Brady
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With this revelatory and painstakingly researched book, Martha Washington, the invisible woman of American history, at last gets the biography she deserves. In place of the domestic frump of popular imagination, Patricia Brady resurrects the wealthy, attractive, and vivacious young widow who captivated the youthful George Washington. And even as it brings Martha Washington into sharper and more accurate focus, this sterling life sheds light on her marriage, her society, and the precedents she established for future First Ladies.
-
-
DAR Book Club
- By Kimberly Dillard on 12-26-23
By: Patricia Brady
-
John Adams: A Life
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In John Adams: A Life, Ferling offers a compelling portrait of one of the giants of the Revolutionary era. Drawing on extensive research, Ferling depicts a reluctant revolutionary, a leader who was deeply troubled by the warfare that he helped to make, and a fiercely independent statesman. Bringing to life an exciting time, an age in which Adams played an important political and intellectual role. this book is a singular biography of the man who succeeded George Washington in the presidency and shepherded the fragile new nation through the most dangerous of times.
-
-
Excellent story, the narration ruined it for me
- By Benjamin on 04-09-19
By: John Ferling
-
Bobby and Jackie
- A Love Story
- By: David C. Heymann
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling author of American Legacy, RFK, and A Woman Named Jackie comes an in-depth look at the much talked-about - but never fully revealed - relationship between Jackie Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.
-
-
Could have been better
- By Richard on 02-23-13
By: David C. Heymann
-
The Widow Washington
- The Life of Mary Washington
- By: Martha Saxton
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Widow Washington is the first life of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother, based on archival sources. Her son's biographers have, for the most part, painted her as self-centered and crude, a trial and an obstacle to her oldest child. But the records tell a very different story. The Widow Washington is a necessary and deeply insightful corrective, telling the story of Mary's long, arduous life on its own terms, and not treating her as her son's satellite.
-
-
Judgement
- By Christina on 03-17-25
By: Martha Saxton
-
Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt
- By: Eleanor Roosevelt
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 18 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of one of New York's most influential families, niece of Theodore Roosevelt, and wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt witnessed some of the most remarkable decades in modern history, as America transitioned from the Gilded Age, the Progressive Era, and the Depression to World War II and the Cold War. A champion of the downtrodden, Eleanor drew on her experience and used her role as First Lady to help those in need.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 03-26-18
-
Master of the Mountain
- Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves
- By: Henry Wiencek
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is there anything new to say about Thomas Jefferson and slavery? The answer is a resounding yes. Henry Wiencek's eloquent, persuasive book - based on new information coming from archaeological work at Monticello and on hitherto overlooked or disregarded evidence in Jefferson's papers - opens up a huge, poorly understood dimension of Jefferson's world. We must, Wiencek suggests, follow the money.
-
-
Clear, Insightful & Iconclastic History
- By R.S. on 04-18-13
By: Henry Wiencek
-
Mr. Wilson's War
- From the Assassination of McKinley to the Defeat of the League of Nations
- By: John Dos Passos
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 23 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of the war we won and the peace we lost, told with a clear historical perspective and a warm interest in the remarkable people who guided the United States through one of the most crucial periods. Foremost in the cast of characters is Woodrow Wilson, the shy, brilliant, revered, and misunderstood "schoolmaster", whose administration was a complex of apparent contradictions.
-
-
A Really Excellent History Book, Very Well Narrated
- By Frank Donnelly on 08-22-20
By: John Dos Passos
-
The Enemy Harassed
- Washington's New Jersey Campaign of 1777
- By: Jim Stempel
- Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In late December 1776, the American War of Independence appeared to be on its last legs. General George Washington's continental forces had been reduced to a shadow of their former strength, and the British Army had chased them across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. Desperate times call for desperate measures, however, and George Washington responded to this crisis with astonishing audacity. On Christmas night 1776, he recrossed the Delaware as a nor'easter churned up the coast, burying his small detachment under howling sheets of snow and ice.
-
-
Excellent details of the New Jersey Battles.
- By Alex Miller on 06-15-24
By: Jim Stempel
-
Founding Mothers
- The Women Who Raised Our Nation
- By: Cokie Roberts
- Narrated by: Cokie Roberts
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cokie returns with Founding Mothers, an intimate look at the passionate women whose tireless pursuits on behalf of their families and country proved just as crucial to the forging of a new nation as the rebellion that established it.
-
-
Founding Mothers
- By Carol Roath on 05-31-04
By: Cokie Roberts
-
John Hancock
- Merchant King and American Patriot
- By: Harlow Giles Unger
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Hancock's overnight transformation from British loyalist to fiery rebel and first governor of the independent state of Massachusetts is one of the least known stories of the American Revolution. Acclaimed author Harlow Giles Unger introduces us to the Founding Father whose name is as recognizable as George Washington's, but whose thrilling life story is all but untold. Applying his historical expertise and storytelling gift, Unger details the fascinating life of one of our most extraordinary business and political leaders—the first signer of the Declaration of Independence.
-
-
An easy read
- By Jean on 05-31-23
-
John Adams
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 29 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
McCullough's John Adams has the sweep and vitality of a great novel. This is history on a grand scale, an audiobook about politics, war, and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, it is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
-
-
An outstanding biography
- By Davis on 07-10-06
By: David McCullough
-
The Three Lives of James Madison
- Genius, Partisan, President
- By: Noah Feldman
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the course of his life, James Madison changed the United States three times: First, he designed the Constitution, led the struggle for its adoption and ratification, then drafted the Bill of Rights. As an older, cannier politician, he cofounded the original Republican party, setting the course of American political partisanship. Finally, having pioneered a foreign policy based on economic sanctions, he took the United States into a high-risk conflict, becoming the first wartime president and, despite the odds, winning.
-
-
Cogently organized, meticulously balanced
- By Diana Black Kennedy on 06-15-18
By: Noah Feldman
-
America's First Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, best-selling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph - a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.
-
-
Great Story Great Narration
- By MissSusie66 on 03-30-16
By: Stephanie Dray, and others
-
1776
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: David McCullough
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this stirring audiobook, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence, when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.
-
-
Front Seat on History
- By Mark on 10-22-05
By: David McCullough
Quite a story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The author, as a male but true historian, has done a superb job of capturing the true essence of her life as a woman in the 18th century. The narrator read this history like a novel capturing the subtleties & nuances that transported you into Abigail's thoughts and actions. I found myself laughing, crying, and applauding Abigail's moral courage. I will listen to this book over and over again.
A Woman of Moral Courage
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thumbs up
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If your a fan of our founding fathers this book connects the dots and some missing information dealing many misunderstood situations of our history.
We also get an understanding of life as a woman in earlier times.
Well worth it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Too much minutiae
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well Done All Around
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Anyway, Abigail Adams. What an amazing woman she was. This book presents the other side of the the John Adams story. How she coped and ran the family during his extended absenses as a career public servant.
It was interesting to learn how archaic society's view of women was during that time and how she struggled for her own identity within those constraints.
From the book, John Adams, and hearing about the love letters they wrote, I had the impression that life between the two was all lovey dovey but it really wasn't according to this. Additionally, the book details the sensitive perspective of the family trials and tribulations as they relate to family relationships. Again, from the John Adams book, I knew of the key personal tragedies but they were told from John's male perspective. Not that any of the events were less painful to him but they were written with less emotion that a female does (we're just wired different).
I was most impressed with Abigail's financial savvy and contribution to the family's wealth through investing and her own business. This woman could do it all...and she did!
Remarkable...a life well lived.
A Remarkable Woman
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Financial take on Adams's life
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was OK
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Powerful woman in a pivotal time
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.