We watched the first two episodes in the “John Adams” miniseries on HBO last night, and we watched the “Making Of John Adams” earlier today. I’ve always been relatively indifferent to history—relative, at least, to H.E.’s deep love for the subject, as I do love certain time periods as settings when reading certain novels or watching certain series shows or feature films—but this production of John Adams is simply amazing. Just amazing.

It’s produced by Tom Hanks, who was also behind Band of Brothers and From the Earth to the Moon, and it’s based on a book by David McCullough, of whom H.E. is very, very big fan—he has read nearly everything written by that man. Naturally, this means everything in John Adams is technically correct, realistic, and finely detailed.

It was while watching this series that I realized how pitiful my American public education has been. John Adams’ time is the most pivotal in our country’s history, and I have had so little assigned reading that takes place in that time. The closest I’ve come was The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, and they happened much, much earlier, during the earlier colonial days. The next closest I’ve come was A Tale of Two Cities, which was never actually assigned to me (though I read it anyway), but it concerns another revolutionary war in another continent entirely. I don’t remember ever having read anything that takes place in the exciting time of the American revolutionary days.

Which is odd … because there’s just so much there! The love story alone between John and his wife Abigail ought to be a book in itself. He could not have accomplished all that he had in helping to create the country, were it not for her. They were incredibly close to and honest with each other, and she complemented him in nearly all ways.

I think it’s time to add a little McCullough to my reading list.

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