Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

Pulitzer-winning historian Gordon S. Wood discusses his new book, Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds, or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy’s champion, was an aristocratic Southern slave owner, while Adams, the overachiever from New England’s rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government. Their profound differences would lead to a fundamental crisis, in their friendship and in the nation writ large, as they became the figureheads of two entirely new forces, the first American political parties. But late in life, something remarkable happened: these two men were nudged into reconciliation. What started as a grudging trickle of correspondence became a great flood, and a friendship was rekindled, over the course of hundreds of letters.

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.

Author Hale Bradt, chronicles the story of his parents—two ordinary Americans, Wilber and Norma Bradt—during an extraordinary time, World War II. He offers fresh insight—on a deeply personal level—into the historic conflict as it was fought by the U.S. Army in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and The Philippines and by a family on the home front. It is an epic tale of duty, heroism, love, and human frailty. He adds another uniquely American voice to this rich story: a son seeking to unravel the tangled threads of his family’s legacy. The abridged edition of this story releases today—Pearl Harbor Day.

On Columbus Day we will present a program for all ages exploring the traditions of elections in America from the Election Day sermons of the Colonial Era recreated with marionettes to the post-vote celebration with cake made from an authentic recipe.

Members, plus one guest, have the opportunity to attend this preview book sale on Friday night before the annual book sale opens to the public on Saturday morning.

Proceeds benefit the Salem Athenæum collections and educational programs.