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“He is the Roger Federer of historians.”

Daniel Okrent, Forbes

  1. Bullet   “The best concise biography we have of John Adams – one that also give Abigail her rightful place in the story and that is written with Ellis’s usual clarity and verve.”

      

      Gordon Wood, The New York Review of Books



  1.    “John Adams could not have a better biographer. “First Family” is an elegant addition....”

      

      Annette Gordon-Reed, Los Angeles Times



  1.    “Ellis has made himself into a sort of bard of our early Republic, and the couple [John and Abigail] is a fitting addition to our repertoire.”

      

      Anne Bartlett, The Miami Herald



  1.   “In “First Family” Mr. Ellis employs his narrative gifts to draw a remarkably intimate portrait of John and Abigail’s marriage as it played out against the momentous events that marked the birth of a nation.”

      

      Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

FIRST FAMILY: ABIGAIL AND JOHN ADAMS

AMERICAN CREATION: TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIES AT THE FOUNDING

  1. Bullet   “Ellis’s style is discursively delightful....As his narrative unfolds, so do his conclusions.”

      

      H. W. Brands, The Boston Globe



  1. Bullet   “How could you not love a book by a distinguished American scholar whose descriptions of historical figures ring with the vividness of paintings and the economy of aphorisms?”

      

      Daniel Okrent, Fortune



  1. Bullet   “The fluent, bracing historical arguments in "American Creation" will keep the reader very much awake. Keep talking, Mr. Ellis.”

      

      Mackenzie Carpenter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HIS EXCELLENCY: GEORGE WASHINGTON

  1. Bullet   “A magnificent new book.”

      

      Kenneth Auchincloss, Newsweek



  1. Bullet   “Mr. Ellis eloquently conveys the magnitude of Washington’s accomplishments….”

      

      Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times



  1. Bullet   “The best one volume life of Washington, a book that should be kept in every law office and in every home….”

      

      Harold Reynolds, New York Law Journal

FOUNDING BROTHERS

  1. Bullet   “This is a splendid book -- humane, learned, written with flair and radiant with a calm intelligence and wit. Even those familiar with ''the Revolutionary generation'' will, I would warrant, find much in its pages to captivate and enlarge their understanding of our nation's fledgling years.”

      

      Benson Bobrick, The New York Times Book Review


  1. Bullet   “Encounters and correspondence shape Ellis’ masterful narrative.”

      

      Ann Fabian, The Chicago Tribune



  1. Bullet   “a shrewd, insightful book”

      

      Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

AMERICAN SPHINX: THE CHARACTER OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

  1. Bullet   "Joseph J. Ellis's American Sphinx is a brief and elegant return to Monticello. Mr. Ellis...is a remarkably clear writer, mercifully free of both the groveling and the spirit of attack that have dominated the subject in the past....American Sphinx is fresh and uncluttered but rich in historical context."

      

      Brent Staples, The New York Times Book Review


  1. Bullet   “Penetrating Jefferson's placid, elegant facade, this extraordinary biography brings the sage of Monticello down to earth without either condemning or idolizing him.”

      

      Publishers Weekly



  1. Bullet   “Beautifully written and informed by Ellis’ mastery of the voluminous and highly controversial literature oon the revolutionary era, “American Sphinx” offers fascinating closeups of the critical moments in Jefferson’s career.  It also shows how a first-class mind grapples with major historical issues.”

      

      David Herbert Donald, The Chicago Tribune

PASSIONATE SAGE: THE CHARACTER AND LEGACY OF JOHN ADAMS

  1. Bullet   “an absorbing new study of character and influence.”     “Impassioned and erudite....”

      

      Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times


  1. Bullet   “The best portrait of a Revolutionary-era statesman.”

      

      Evan Thomas, Wall Street Journal



  1. Bullet   “Marvelous book, perhaps the best he’s ever done….”

      

      Gordon Wood, The New York Times Book Review

  1. Bullet   “Few can tell a historical tale as well as Ellis, as many readers will be aware from his eight previous studies of the Revolutionary War era (Revolutionary Summer, etc.).  Ellis’ approach employes deft characterizations and insights into these politicians and philosophers, who bested their opponents by “imposing their more expansive definition of the American Revolution” on the American people.  With his usual skill, Ellis brings alive what otherwise might seem dry constitutional debates, with apt quotations and bright style.”

      

      Publishers Weekly, February 2015



  1. Bullet   “A brilliant account of six years during which four Founding Father, “In disregard of public opinion, carried the American story in a new direction.” Ellis delivers a convincing argument that it was a massive political transformation led by men with impeccable revolutionary credentials.  This is Ellis’ ninth consecutive history of the Revolutionary War era and yet another winner.”

      

      Kirkus Reviews, December 2014

THE QUARTET: ORCHESTRATING THE SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION,  1783 - 1789

AMERICAN DIALOGUE  - THE FOUNDERS AND US

  1. Bullet   “Joe Ellis knows that history is not simply about the past, it’s about the present having a conversation with the past. In this elegant and fascinating book, he conducts a discourse between our current troubled times and the period when our founders crafted our national creed. The result is an exploration of our values that is both timely and timeless.”


      Walter Isaacson, author of Leonardo Da Vinci