Henry Adams

William Merrill Decker (Oklahoma State University)
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In 1998, the Modern Library editorial board designated The Education of Henry Adams the most important twentieth-century American work of nonfiction. The memoir of a descendent of two U.S. presidents, the book became a bestseller upon its posthumous publication and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Unbeknownst to many readers, then and now, the work by which Adams is best remembered represents the culmination of a long career which produced three biographies, Life of Albert Gallatin (1879), Life of John Randolph (1881), Life of George Cabot Lodge (1911), two novels Democracy (1880), Esther (1884), a nine-volume history of the early national period, The History of the United States during the …

2495 words

Citation: Decker, William Merrill. "Henry Adams". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 December 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=27, accessed 23 November 2024.]

27 Henry Adams 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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