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The Neglected Masterpiece; Garry Wills tackles a nine-volume history of the early republic from a descendant of presidents.

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From: The Washington Post
Date: 20050918
Author:Reviewed by Edwin M. Yoder Jr.

HENRY ADAMS AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA

By Garry Wills

Houghton Mifflin. 467 pp. $30

As a chronicler of our national past, the prolific Garry Wills bites off big chews: Washington's character, Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. And now we have this fascinating book on Henry Adams's titanic work, nine volumes in total, History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison: titles as ponderous as Wills's book itself is ...

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