John Adams

From the American Revolution to the presidency, David McCullough follows John Adams, the second man to lead the United States. He portrays an independent, honest and often irascible figure, and also tells of his marriage to Abigail Adams. The narrative moves from the Boston Massacre and Philadelphia in 1776 to Versailles, Spain, Amsterdam and London, where Adams became the first American to stand before George III as the new nation's envoy. McCullough first planned a dual biography of Adams and Jefferson, spent six years on the research and drew heavily on Adams's letters with Abigail and with Jefferson. The book won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and became a 2008 HBO miniseries.

It appears on a list of every book Barack Obama recommended during his presidency.