Both Sides of the Ocean

A Biography of Henry Adams
His First Life, 1838-1862

by Edward Chalfant

This is the first biography of Henry Adams’s early years based on the Adams papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and other collections not used by previous writers. It presents a mostly unknown, hidden, and highly self-conscious young man who realized at the age of twenty-four that he had completed a full life, and would have to remake himself.

By that age, Henry Adams had accomplished something which should give him historical status equal to his celebrated ancestors in a family of presidents. Young Adams had positioned himself at a critical turning point of the American Civil War and - as much as anyone - had determined its outcome. Writing anonymously from London as a correspondent for the New York Times, he influenced the outcome of meetings that ended the Trent affair and prevented Great Britain from joining the Confederacy in the war. The Anglo-American "special relationship" dates from this secret success.

Unlike previous biographies that see Adams as primarily a literary figure, Mr. Chalfant’s understanding is new, assertive, and controversial: the Adams that emerges in this first book in a trilogy is a powerful behind-the-scenes politician, and a leader in several fields simultaneously.

About the Author

Edward Chalfant is Professor of English Emeritus at Hofstra University and former director of the American Studies program there.

For other volumes in the Adams trilogy, see:

Better in Darkness: A Biography of Henry Adams, His Second Life, 1862-1891

Improvement of the World: A Biography of Henry Adams, His Last Life, 1891-1918