19 h 53 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if everything you learn prepares you for a world that no longer exists?
Henry Adams grows up in Boston under the weight of a presidential family. Yet his schooling in Boston, at Harvard and in Germany leaves him poorly prepared for the age he inhabits. Railways, steam, electricity and new science move faster than the lessons he carries into adult life.
In The Education of Henry Adams, he turns his life into a test of what education can do. From London during the Civil War to the Paris Exposition of 1900, he meets politicians, diplomats and scientists. Writing about himself as “he,” Adams brings dry humor and doubt to his search for meaning in a world that keeps accelerating.
What you’ll discover
- A family’s political burden Meet a man whose presidential ancestry makes public life an inheritance and a weight.
- Lessons that fall short Follow Adams as he questions schooling that teaches obedience but leaves change unexplained.
- London in wartime Join him as his father’s private secretary in Britain during the Civil War.
- The Dynamo and the Virgin Visit the Paris Exposition with Adams and Samuel Langley as new science challenges his understanding.
- History gathers speed Explore his law of acceleration and his struggle to find order in change.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like history through one person's eyes, who enjoy a dry and self-mocking voice, and who wonder how anyone keeps up with technology. It may be less suited to anyone wanting a plain, chronological life story with every year filled in.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A family that carried a political burden
- Schools that taught the wrong lessons
- London during the Civil War
- Washington disappointed his hopes
- Teaching at Harvard and the missing years
- Science promised order but gave doubt
- The Virgin and the Dynamo
- A law of acceleration and a century running away
- How the book was received and why it lasts
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 19 h 53 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. We email you 7 days before your first payment. Then your first year is 50% off: 0,14 USD a day, then 0,27 USD a day, never raised. Or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. If the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear L’educazione di Henry Adams in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Read it side by side
L’educazione di Henry Adams
by Henry Adams· 1907
A man tests his education against a changing world.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeRenews every yearCancel anytimeHow it works
Language: Italiano
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A family that carried a political burden
Adams opens with his birth in Boston in 1838, and he begins with a joke at his own expense. He says that, in his family, a child was born with a heavy load already on his back. His grandfather was John Quincy Adams, who had been president. His great-grandfather was John Adams, also a president, and a leading voice of the American Revolution.
The family home at Quincy, Massachusetts, is the first scene. Adams describes the old house, the orchard and the sea air, and he sets them against the city of Boston, where winter and the town life pressed in. He says that Quincy meant freedom and summer, while Boston meant school and rules. These two places, he writes, were the poles of his early mind.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
The author
Henry Adams
1838–1918 · American historian and novelist
Henry Adams (1838–1918) was an American historian, journalist, and novelist born in Boston. He taught history at Harvard University and later lived in Washington, D.C., where he died. He wrote Democracy (1880), Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres (1904), and The Education of Henry Adams, privately printed in 1907 and published in 1918.
“Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.”
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
FreeOur mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Questions about L’educazione di Henry Adams
Can I read it free?
Yes. The beginning, from the first page to the end of chapter 1, and the first 5 minutes of the audiobook are free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 90 days, with the eBook to keep. After that, your first year is 50% off. You also get 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
What if it is not for me?
Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. If you have paid and the library is not for you, ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is The Education of Henry Adams about?
It is the memoir of an American born in 1838 who finds that his schooling did not prepare him for a fast-changing world. It follows his family, his years in London and Washington, and his thoughts on science, power and history.
Why does Henry Adams write about himself in the third person?
Adams treats himself as a test case, a figure to show what education can and cannot do. He calls himself a manikin on which lessons are hung. The distance also lets him mock himself and keep private grief out of view.
What is the meaning of the Dynamo and the Virgin?
The dynamo, a machine that makes electricity, stands for modern power with no clear moral shape. The Virgin, honored in medieval cathedrals, stands for an older force of faith and unity. Adams sets one against the other to ask what drives history.
Popular in biography & letters
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
