At three o'clock on a Saturday morning, June 17, 1775, the John Adams family was awakened by the thunder of cannon. The Battle of Bunker Hill had begun. That afternoon, young John Quincy watched the battle from nearby Penn's Hill.

Little more than a year later, he stood among the cheering crowds in Boston to hear the Declaration of Independence read. The son of a leading patriot, John Quincy Adams was truly a child of the American Revolution.

At the age of fourteen, he served as secretary to Francis Dana on a diplomatic mission to the court of Catherine the Great of Russia. Some twenty-five years later, he returned to St. Petersburg as United States ambassador to the court of Czar Alexander I.

During a lifetime devoted to public service, John Quincy Adams was a dynamic force in all areas of government. An astute diplomat, a vigorous senator, and sixth President of the United States, his most significant contributions to his country were made at the end of his life, when, as a congressman, he crusaded against the evils of slavery.

This biography offers a fascinating close-up of American government in action and of the man who pioneered many of its greatest achievements.

From the dust jacket