The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

"“More than just a beer!” Perhaps that’s what Stacy Schiff should have subtitled her biography of Samuel (never “Sam”) Adams, since his popular image as a brewer has overshadowed his role as “chief incendiary” of the American Revolution. Schiff’s biography of Adams is un-put-downable. It opens on Paul Revere’s ride and charges forward at breakneck pace. Adams was an activist, tirelessly writing and organizing to whip up early support for independence; he also opposed slavery and championed universal free education. In this thrilling biography, Schiff gives us a rough-and-ready Founding Father who fought against the odds to realize democracy."