Nancy Isenberg is the T. Harry Williams Professor of
American History at Louisiana State University, and the author of
the New York Times bestseller White Trash: The 400-Year Untold
History of Class in America, and two award-winning books, Fallen
Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr and Sex and Citizenship in
Antebellum America. She is the coauthor, with Andrew Burstein, of
Madison and Jefferson.
Andrew Burstein is the Charles P. Manship Professor of
History at Louisiana State University, a noted Jefferson scholar,
and the author of ten previous books on early American politics and
culture. These include The Passions of Andrew Jackson, Jefferson's
Secrets, and Democracy's Muse. He and Nancy Isenberg have
coauthored regular pieces for national news outlets.
"Although the current occupant of the White House is nowhere
mentioned by name in this book, his prodigious shadow looms large.
The trends that so distressed the Adamses in the nation's early
years have intensified to a degree they could scarcely have
imagined, thanks to virulent social media, the injection of vast
sums of money into American campaigns, a politicized judiciary and
rising economic inequality. We can only be grateful that father and
son were spared this vision of their worst fears coming true."--The
New York Times Book Review "Ambitious and beautifully
written...This book offers an abundance of riches. It is both
biography and family history of two brilliant men who were deeply
concerned about the long-range prospects of their
country...Historians Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein show us how
the presidents Adams' healthy skepticism about human nature and the
fragility of government have caused them to be misunderstood and
underappreciated."--BookPage "[The Adamses'] stubborn, idealistic
approaches to government left a lasting imprint on institutions
that are being routinely tested and challenged 200 years
later."--NPR "The Problem of Democracy is the first dual biography
of the presidents Adams. Their entwined stories are told with
authority and style by co-authors Andrew Burstein, a prolific
historian of the early republic, and Nancy Isenberg, biographer of
Aaron Burr and author of White Trash (2016), a pioneering
examination of class in America. As ambitious as their
protagonists, Mr. Burstein and Ms. Isenberg offer a frankly
revisionist "lesson in myth busting," portraying their subjects
both as latter-day Ciceros and as victims of the "cult of
personality" they blame for distorting modern-day elections as well
as historical estimates of presidential performance."--The Wall
Street Journal
"[A]n informative, often moving, account of the intimate
relationship between John and John Quincy Adams...Isenberg and
Burstein make a compelling case that the Adamses' ideas, policies
and leadership deserve our attention. As a guide to, if not a model
for, addressing the flaws in our democratic processes, including
the power of parties and the role celebrity plays in our political
culture."--Pittsburgh Post Gazette
"Fascinating...Isenberg and Burstein find an eerie prescience in
the warnings of the Adams presidents, who cautioned that democracy
would be ruled by those with the "deepest purse" and that
democracy's great risk was demagoguery...[The Problem of Democracy]
is also keenly astute about political theory, politics of the day,
and the twisted roots of American democracy."--The National Book
Review
"A top-notch dual biography...An unsettling yet well-presented
argument that the failures of John and John Quincy Adams illustrate
a disturbing feature of American politics."--Kirkus Reviews
(starred review) "In this daring, lucid, and provocative book,
Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein challenge founding myths to
reveal democracy as an incomplete, contested, and often distorted
ideal. By exploring the failed presidencies and probing ideas of
John and John Quincy Adams, The Problem of Democracy exposes the
deep roots of contemporary demagogues and their polarizing
deceptions."--Alan Taylor, author of American Revolutions: A
Continental History, 1750-1804
"Who better knows the byways between the Revolution and the 1840s,
who else could address the politics and the personalities of both
John and John Quincy Adamses with such wisdom and verve? Better
than any previous Adams chroniclers, they have identified the
essential theme that persisted through both men's lives: one which
concerns us now more than ever." --David Waldstreicher, editor of
The Diaries of John Quincy Adams, 1779-1848
Praise for White Trash: A New York Times Notable and Critics' Top
Book
Longlisted for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for
Nonfiction
NPR's Book Concierge Guide To 2016's Great Reads
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book "Formidable and
truth-dealing...necessary."--The New York Times "This eye-opening
investigation into our country's entrenched social hierarchy is
acutely relevant."--O, The Oprah Magazine "A gritty and sprawling
assault on...American mythmaking."--Washington Post "An eloquent
synthesis of the country's history of class stratification."--The
Boston Globe "A bracing reminder of the persistent contempt for the
white underclass."--The Atlantic "[White Trash] sheds bright light
on a long history of demagogic national politicking, beginning with
Jackson. It makes Donald Trump seem far less unprecedented than
today's pundits proclaim."--Slate "Isenberg . . . has written an
important call for Americans to treat class with the same care that
they now treat race...Her work may well help that focus lead to
progress."--Time "With her strong academic background and
accessible voice, Isenberg takes pains to reveal classism's
deep-seated roots."--Entertainment Weekly "Carefully
researched...deeply relevant."--The Christian Science Monitor
Praise for Madison and Jefferson "A monumental account of a
fifty-year political partnership... a dual biography of uncommon
merit... a superb book that greatly deepens our understanding."
--Kirkus Reviews "A distinguished work, combining deep research, a
pleasing narrative and an abundance of fresh insights." --Dallas
Morning News
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