Biography as a genre has a reputation for being dull and disastrously educational, especially among teenagers. However, with John Adams, David McCullough has once again casually disproved this theory.

This story of John Adams brings the reader into the mind of one of the founding fathers and second president of the United States of America. ­McCullough details Adams' childhood in Braintree, Massachusetts, and gently eases the reader into the fiery politics of pre-revolutionary America.

Borrowing heavily from Adams' diaries and letter, the text is written almost as much by Adams as by McCullough, allowing any reader to gain tremendous insight into the thoughts and habits of this great figure. John Adams is the perfect biography of a man who had no time to compile his own, an intimate perspective on the political workings of America and its founding fathers, and a thrilling account of the road to revolution.

Of course, 750 pages of anything can grow tedious, and McCullough often has trouble tearing himself away from one topic in order to direct the reader's interest to the next. The result is a work that, though accessible to the determined, will undoubtedly be most enjoyed (and perhaps truly appreciated) by history buffs and students eager to get an edge. Whether one belongs to either of these groups, or another mindset entirely, some form of enjoyment can easily be found within the pages of John Adams.