The Education of Henry Adams

The autobiography of Henry Adams is comprised of two fundamental parts: an eye-opening history of the United States as it ascended to industrial and technological greatness, and a critique of education in the 19th century.

Born into an influential family and directly descended from two Presidents of the United States, Adams lived in and chronicled events in the United States for most of his life. Cognitively buoyed by an excellent education at Harvard University, and given perspective on the wider world during a great tour of Europe he undertook shortly after graduating from college, Henry Adams became a distinguished and able chronicler of the past. 

However, Adams was taken aback at the sheer pace of change which characterized the development of the USA throughout his lifetime. Whereas the books he had studied indicated that nations steadily developed over centuries, the USA achieved such enormous progress in a matter of decades.   

Born in 1838, Adams witnessed his nation go from a new and nascent country to an industrial powerhouse and global power. As a professional historian and journalist, he was able to witness first-hand some of the greatest developments in his country, and recount what he had seen to a large audience via the printed word. 

The Education of Henry Adams doubles as a critique of traditional models of teaching. Adams, although he received in all likelihood the finest tutorship on offer in the USA, identified several shortcomings in the way young people were educated. Thus as well as an authoritative history of the USA, this book also contains a piercing critique regarding the intellectual life of the nation. Indeed, Adams departing sentiment would influence future education policy. 

Published shortly after Adams' death in 1919, The Education of Henry Adams was celebrated for its clarity as a national retrospective. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and today enjoys pride of place as one of the most important non-fiction books ever written by an American author. 

This edition of Henry Adams' autobiography contains photographs of the author himself, and those of his most illustrious ancestors.