The stories of a bunch of cranky, power-hungry, opinionated, brilliant, and idealistic men….

Some favorites (links go to Indiebound.org)

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, by Walter Isaacson –  A biography with a novel’s flow, about a man who was enormously creative and vastly entertaining. (True, he’s not a president, but his eminence and influence make him the equivalent, at least in my mind.)

John Adams, by David McCullough – Who the heck would think John Adams could be interesting? And they made a miniseries based on it! A mini-series on John Adams!

Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin – Goodwin’s book about the Lincoln and his administration is just plain genius. A group of cranky, power-hungry, opinionated, brilliant, and idealistic men (and wives and daughters), and the doings of lesser mortals, all crammed between the covers of one book. Goodwin offers intellectual challenge and a great historical gossip fest.