The University Press of Kentucky

Henry Adams, great-grandson of John Adams, grandson of John Quincy Adams, and author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Education of Henry Adams, is often overlooked as a serious political thinker. Many scholars have dismissed his writings as cynical and bitter while others regard him as a mere observer of American politics, accepting Adams’s description of himself as a “stable-companion to statesmen.” A Political Companion to Henry Adams suggests that he was far more.

In this provocative collection, editor Natalie Fuehrer Taylor presents works by some of the leading political thinkers in America today— scholars who challenge conventional judgments about the life and work of Henry Adams and credit him with revealing key insights into the nation’s evolving democracy.

A Political Companion to Henry Adams fills a long-standing gap in scholarship that has devoted little attention to Adams’s political thought, offering a nuanced appreciation of his musings on the human condition and political life at the eve of the twentieth century.

Natalie Fuehrer Taylor, assistant professor in the Department of Government at Skidmore College, is the author of The Rights of Woman as Chimera: The Political Philosophy of Mary Wollstonecraft. She lives in Saratoga Springs, New York.

A superb collection of essays on Henry Adams that demonstrates his lasting contribution to American political thought and literature. -- Mary P. Nichols, author of Socrates on Friendship and Community: Reflections on Plato's Symposium, Phaedrus, and Lysis

Anyone who picks up this volume will be inspired to revisit the work of one of the United States' most puzzlingly neglected authors. -- Susan McWilliams, associate professor of politics, Pomona College

She has collected works by some of the leading political thinkers in America who challenge conventional thinking about life of Henry Adams and credit with revealing key insights into the nation’s evolving democracy. -- Scope Online

While all of the essays are strong and commeneded to the attention of Adams scholars, particularly noteworthy contributions include . . . analysis of the place of fraternity, sacrifice, love, and community in regard to Adam's broader understanding of politics. Highly Recommended.