The Middle Generation

Zucker (The Eisenhower Chronicles) offers a comprehensive if occasionally stilted biographical novel of John Quincy Adams’s tenure as secretary of state. Spanning from 1817 through Adams’s inauguration as president in 1825, the story covers the consequential episodes he navigated, including the annexation of Florida, the Missouri Compromise, and the meddling of European empires in the Western Hemisphere that pushed him to create the Monroe Doctrine. Zucker conveys the competing demands of decision makers, including Andrew Jackson, James Monroe, Henry Clay, and various European diplomats, while providing context for the era’s political debates. Interspersed among the political machinations are more modestly revealing insights into Adams’s home life, including his tense relationship with his wife, who feels undervalued, and his sons, whose lack of ambition causes him to bristle. The long conversations between Adams and others lack flavor, but the first-person narration credibly evokes the pressures and strain he felt, especially given his disgust with slavery and the bargains he made that allowed it to expand. Readers interested in early American history will appreciate the depth of detail. (Self-published)