Mont-Saint Michel and Chartres - Henry Adams

The relationship, between reader and writer, of son and father, may have existed in Queen Elizabeth's time, but is much too close to be true for ours. The utmost that any writer could hope of his readers now is that they should consent to regard themselves as nephews, and even then he would expect only a more or less civil refusal from most of them. Indeed, if he had reached a certain age, he would have observed that nephews, as a social class, no longer read at all, and that there is only one familiar instance recorded of a nephew who read his uncle. The exception tends rather to support the rule, since it needed a Macaulay to produce, and two volumes to record it. Finally, the metre does not permit it. One may not say: "Who reads me, when I am ashes, is my nephew in wishes."

Henry Adams was educated at Harvard College, where he subsequently held a professorship. His historical writings are what made him most famous, especially "History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison," a nine-volume set that txters American history in the early 19th century. The intellectual and cultural currents of Henry Adams's day had a profound effect on him. He was connected to members of the late 19th-century cultural elite, such as John Hay and Henry James. Adams was well-known for being sceptical of the course that American politics and culture were taking, and this mistrust is clear in a lot of his writing. "The Education of Henry Adams," an autobiographical reflection on his life and the evolving society around him, brought Adams notoriety later in life. Written in the third person, this piece delves into his experiences, thoughts on the revolutionary events of the late 19th and early 20th century, and his intellectual development.