The Education of Henry Adams: An Autobiography (Oxford World's Classics)

'Every generalisation that we settled forty years ago, is abandoned'As a journalist, historian and novelist born into a family that included two past presidents of the United States, Henry Adams was constantly focused on the American experiment. An immediate bestseller awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1919, his The Education of Henry Adams (1918) recounts his own and the country's education from 1838, the year of his birth, to 1905, incorporating the Civil War, capitalist expansion and the growth of the United States as a world power. Exploring America as both a success and a failure, contradiction was the very impetus that compelled Adams to write the Education, in which he was also able to voice his deep scepticism about mankind's power to control the direction of history. Written with immense wit and irony, reassembling the past while glimpsing the future, Adams's vision expresses what Henry James declared the `complex fate'to be an American, and remains one of the most compelling works of American autobiography today. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. As a journalist, historian, and novelist born into a family that included two past Presidents, Henry Adams was forever focused on the experiences and expectations unique to America. A prompt bestseller and Pulitzer Prize-winner, The Education of Henry Adams(1918) recounts his own and his country's development from 1838--the year Adams was born--up to 1905, thus incorporating the Civil War, unprecedented capitalist expansion, and the growth of the United States as a world power. Adams considered the nation both a success and a failure, and this paradox was the very impetus that compelled him to set down hisEducation--in the pages of which he also voiced a deep skepticism about mankind's ability to control the direction of history. Written with immense wit and irony, reassembling the past while glimpsing at the future, this book wholly expresses what Henry James declared the "complex fate" of being an American. Adams's thoroughly documented vision remains one of the most absorbing American autobiographies ever written. About the Series:For over 100 yearsOxford World's Classicshas made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more The Education of Henry Adams is the autobiography of the Bostonian Henry Adams. As he approached his seventieth birthday when "the mind wakes to find itself looking blankly into the void of death," Adams wrote and privately printed 100 copies of his "Education", a reflection on the incredible events of the 19th century. Adams meditates on his sense of disorientation with the scientific and technological expansion over his lifetime. After his death the book was commercially published, going on to become a best-seller and to win the Pulitzer Prize. Autobiographical account of Henry Adams, a descendant of the well-known Boston family, who became a famous historian of the nineteenth century