Gordon S. Wood is the Alva O. Way University Professor and professor of history at Brown University. His books have received the Pulitzer, Bancroft and John H. Dunning prizes, as well as a National Book Award nomination and the New York Historical Society Prize in American History. They include Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, Revolutionary Characters, The Purpose of the Past, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, and The Idea of America.
“This is an engrossing story, which Wood tells with a mastery of
detail and a modern plainness of expression that makes a refreshing
contrast with the 18th century locutions of his
subjects.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Lucid and learned… Wood has become the leading historian of the
‘Founding Fathers’… Never has John Adams been more relevant than
today.” —The Wall Street Journal
"Whenever I read Gordon Wood, the dean of eighteenth century
American historians, I feel as if I am absorbing wisdom at the feet
of the master. Friends Divided is teeming with exceptionally acute
and unvarnished insights into Thomas Jefferson and John Adams as
they do battle for the nation's soul. Jefferson's sunny, almost
Panglossian, optimism, juxtaposed with the dark, dyspeptic musings
of Adams, presents readers with nothing less than a vivid composite
portrait of the American mind." —Ron Chernow, author of
Grant and Alexander Hamilton
“This magisterial double biography recounts not only the lives of
these two greatest founders but also the creation of the republic.
It describes the world’s first successful democratic revolution and
the founding of the first non-monarchical republic. . . it is
a book about ideas as represented by two philosophical statesmen,
and it makes political history and philosophy exciting. . . In
Wood’s hands, Adams and Jefferson become Shakespearean in stature.”
—Edith B. Gelles, The Washington Post
“Excellent . . . Friends Divided is an engaging book that's
sure to appeal to anyone with an abiding interest in Revolution-era
America and the leaders who shaped the country. Beautifully written
and with real insight into Jefferson and Adams, it's a worthy
addition to the canon, and yet another compelling book from Wood.”
—NPR
“For decades now Gordon S. Wood, the Alva O. Way university
professor of history at Brown and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, has
been the go-to authority on everything related to the American
Revolution. That Wood has written “Friends Divided’’ — a
finely-crafted dual biography of Adams and Jefferson — is therefore
a hearty cause for celebration. Every page sparkles with literary
eloquence, flawless analysis, and dramatically plotted history that
contains a lesson for a riven time.” — Douglas Brinkley, Boston
Globe
“Gordon Wood is one of America’s premier historians and a national
treasure. Winner of the Pulitzer as well as the Bancroft Prize, he
is a rare scholar who writes with a combination of insight,
academic depth, and accessible prose. In his latest book, penned at
the summit of his career, Wood now sets his sights on the
relationship of two of America’s most remarkable and fascinating
statesmen, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The story is
enthralling…In this magnificent book, Gordon Wood has continued his
invaluable work.” — Jay Winik, National Review
“In Friends Divided, Gordon S. Wood, a professor at Brown
University and our finest historian of 18th-century America,
provides a splendid account of the improbable friendship,
estrangement and reconciliation between Adams, an irascible,
ironic, hypersensitive middle-class New England lawyer, and
Jefferson, a self-contained, diplomatic, slaveholding Virginia
aristocrat.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
“The acclaimed historian engages in a compelling examination of the
complex relationship of the Founding Fathers…Among the other
well-known personages in the narrative are Abigail Adams, Alexander
Hamilton, and Benjamin Rush, all portrayed vividly by the author,
whose approachable writing style is equal to his impressive
archival research…An illuminating history of early Americans that
is especially timely in the ugly, partisan-filled age of
Trump.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"As the dean of American historians, Gordon Wood had long shaped
the nation's thinking about the true nature of the Founding. Now he
turns his intellectual honesty and clear-eyed prose to the lives of
Jefferson and of Adams, giving us a brilliant portrait of their
complicated relationship. This is an indispensable account of two
men, of the country they built, and of why their legacies matter
even now. Bravo!" —Jon Meacham, author of American Lion and of
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
“America's dialogue with its competing impulses had its origins in
the fractured friendship of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Gordon Wood brings his unmatched knowledge of the scholarly
literature to the task of recovering both sides of what is still
America's longstanding argument with itself.” —Joseph J. Ellis,
author of the forthcoming Then and Now: The Founders and US
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