Biography · Similar reads
Books like John Adams
The best books like John Adams are Alexander Hamilton, Washington: A Life, and 1776. John Adams by David McCullough is about founding era, political courage, marriage and partnership. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- Alexander Hamilton
01
Ron Chernow · Biography
Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton — immigrant, orphan, Revolutionary War aide-de-camp, first Secretary of the Treasury, founder of the American financial system, and victim of Aaron Burr's bullet — is the most comprehensive single-volume account of Hamilton's life and the book that most directly sparked the Hamilton revival in popular culture, including Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical.
Both dig into legacy.
Read the summary → - Washington: A Life
02
Ron Chernow · Biography
Ron Chernow's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of George Washington is the most comprehensive single-volume life of the first president, tracing his formation as a Virginia planter, his military career in the French and Indian War and the Revolution, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his eight years as the first executive of an untested republic.
Both dig into legacy.
Read the summary → - 1776
03
David McCullough · History
David McCullough's 1776, published in 2005, covers a single year of the American Revolution — from the winter siege of Boston through Washington's crossing of the Delaware and the surprise victory at Trenton.
A kindred biography read.
Read the summary →
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
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Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Doris Kearns Goodwin · Biography
Doris Kearns Goodwin's account of Abraham Lincoln's formation of his cabinet — which included his three main rivals for the 1860 Republican nomination: William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates — is one of the most widely discussed leadership books of the twenty-first century and one of the most readable biographies of the Lincoln era.
A kindred biography read.
Read the summary → - Einstein: His Life and Universe
05
Einstein: His Life and Universe
Walter Isaacson · Biography
Walter Isaacson's Einstein biography is the most widely read account of the physicist's life in English, written after Isaacson was granted access to forty thousand previously sealed documents in the Hebrew University Einstein Archives.
Both dig into political courage.
Read the summary → - A Beautiful Mind
06
Sylvia Nasar · Biography
Sylvia Nasar's biography of the mathematician John Nash — Nobel laureate, game theory pioneer, and paranoid schizophrenic — is one of the finest accounts of genius and mental illness in biographical literature.
A kindred biography read.
Read the summary → - American Kingpin
07
Nick Bilton · Biography
American Kingpin is Nick Bilton's account of the rise and fall of Silk Road, the dark-web drug marketplace run by Ross Ulbricht under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts." Bilton traces the story from its ideological origins — Ulbricht's libertarian belief that a free market for drugs would reduce violence, cut out cartels, and let individuals make their own choices — through its rapid growth into a billion-dollar operation, and finally to the multi-agency investigation that culminated in Ulbricht's arrest in a San Francisco public library in 2013.
A kindred biography read.
Read the summary → - American Prometheus
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Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin · Biography
Kai Bird and Martin J.
A kindred biography read.
Read the summary → - Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War
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Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War
Robert Coram · Biography
Boyd is Robert Coram's biography of Colonel John Boyd, the Air Force fighter pilot who became one of the most influential military strategists of the twentieth century without ever having commanded a major unit, written a best-selling book, or achieved the rank that would have made him famous while alive.
A kindred biography read.
Read the summary → - Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
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Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
Roger Lowenstein · Biography
Roger Lowenstein's Buffett is the definitive account of Warren Buffett's life up to the mid-1990s, when his investment record had already made him one of the wealthiest people on earth.
A kindred biography read.
Read the summary → - Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
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Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
Mason Currey · Biography
Daily Rituals is Mason Currey's compilation of the working habits of 161 writers, artists, composers, philosophers, and scientists — from Beethoven to Darwin, Kafka to Freud, Maya Angelou to W.H.
A kindred biography read.
Read the summary → - Damn Right! Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger
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Damn Right! Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger
Janet Lowe · Biography
Damn Right!
A kindred biography read.
Read the summary →
Books like John Adams: quick answers
What are the best books like John Adams?
The best books like John Adams by David McCullough are Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, 1776 by David McCullough, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with John Adams, such as founding era, political courage, marriage and partnership.
What should I read after John Adams?
A natural next read after John Adams is Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Both dig into legacy. Other strong choices are Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, 1776 by David McCullough, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
What books are similar to John Adams by David McCullough?
John Adams centers on founding era, political courage, marriage and partnership. Books with a similar feel include Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, 1776 by David McCullough, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
