Power play, individuals in conflict Book

Henry Adams’s two novels, DEMOCRACY and ESTHER, although no immortal classics, are workmanlike and enjoyable. The former was widely read at the time for its depiction of political corruption in Washington, and the latter examines the conflicts that arise when a fiercely independent artist falls in love with a minister.

MONT ST. MICHEL AND CHARTRES is Adams’s fascinating reflection on 12th and 13th century architecture, philosophy and society, an interest he mainly acquired when he taught medieval history at Harvard in the 1870’s.

MONT ST. MICHEL AND CHARTRES is also the prolegomena to THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS, which may well be the best autobiography ever written by an American. Grandson and great-grandson of two American presidents, Adams recounts his time as private secretary to his father, who was Ambassador to the Court of St. James, and his subsequent involvement in American politics and history.

The EDUCATION is written completely in the third-person, which I found unsettling until I recognized it as the natural result of a modest New England upbringing. The self-denigration, however, even if one admits that Adams’s standards were far higher than yours or mine, was a little much, and I came to see it as primarily a pose.

I strongly recommend this Library of America volume to anyone with an interest in 19th century American history or culture.