The Education of Henry Adams is listed as the number one non-fiction book in the English language by The Modern Library. Henry Brooks Adams, a Harvard professor of History and a scion of the Adams political dynasty, was raised a proper Bostonian and educated in the classics, as was the tradition. He came of age at the start of the Civil War and served in government and academia during a long career that spanned a half century of astonishing growth and change in the United States, a period sometimes described as the Second Industrial Revolution and which he terms a “dynamo”. His chronicle is a unique blend of autobiography, memoir, and meditation that dwells on the social, political, intellectual, and technological changes that occurred during his lifetime. It is unusual in its third person narration and is frequently sarcastic and humorously self-deprecating. Adams makes it clear that his formal preparation was thoroughly inadequate to comprehend the emerging world, especially in the areas of science and mathematics, and argues strongly for the value of experience and self-education. The book began as a private limited edition for friends in 1907. It was not intended for publication, which may explain why he largely ignores family life, focusing his introspection on areas likely to be of professional interest to his colleagues. It was published in 1918 after his death at the urging of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1919. Readers ever since have been transported by his canny ability to make dusty historical events and social trends come alive through his personal relationships and experiences. As such, The Education of Henry Adams is an indispensable document to understanding a vital period in American history and culture.

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