Democracy: An American Novel

by Henry Adams

Overview

'Democracy' is a novel about political power, its acquisition, use and abuse. It is set at the beginning of a new administration, with the election campaign just over and the new President of the United States just having been elected. However, all the characters depicted are entirely fictitious

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781515440529
Publisher:	SMK Books
Publication date:	07/09/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Henry Adams (1838-1918) was an American historian and memoirist. Born in Boston, Adams was the grandson of statesman and lawyer John Quincy Adams on his father’s side. Through his mother, he was related to the Brooks family of wealthy merchants. Adams graduated from Harvard Universityin 1858 before traveling through Europe on a grand tour. Upon returning in 1860, he attempted to pursue a career in law but soon found himself working as a journalist, first in Boston and then in London, where he was an anonymous correspondent for The New York Times while his father served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Lincoln. In 1868, Adams settled in Washington, DC, where he earned a reputation as a journalist against political corruption. By 1870, he embarked on a brief career as a professor of medieval history at Harvard, a position from which he would retire in 1877 to devote himself to his writing. In addition to his lauded nine-volume History of the United States of America (1801-1817) (1889-1891), Adams wrote the novels Democracy: An American Novel (1880) and Esther (1884). In 1907, his memoir The Education of Henry Adams appeared in print in a small, private edition. A decade later, just after his death at the age of 80, it found wider publication and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Recognized as an astute observer of cultural and historical change, Adams remains a controversial figure for his antisemitic views.

Read an Excerpt

An immediate bestseller upon its publication in 1880, the anonymously penned Democracy prompted widespread speculation and guessing games as to its author’s identity. It is the story of Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, a society widow, and Silas Ratcliffe, the most influential member of the Senate, who, throughout the novel, pursues Mrs. Lee while at the same time battling her for power. Set in Washington in the 1870s, Democracy presents a scathing and incisive look at the intricate inner workings of politics and corruption that remains relevant today.
This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the 1880 first edition and includes a contemporary review from The Atlantic Monthly.

Author Biography: Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., is a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and biographer. His many books include A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House and, most recently, A Life in the 20th Century. He lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

[One] of the most perceptive books ever written about Washington.
— The New York Times

Maureen Dowd

[One] of the most perceptive books ever written about Washington.” —Maureen Dowd, The New York Times

“An entertaining tale of manners and an important meditation on democracy and its discontents—a narrative about politics that resonates even now, nearly 140 years after its first appearance.” —Jon Meacham, The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher