12 Biographies You MUST Read Before You Die

00:00 Intro 00:25 #1 John Adams (David McCullough) 01:06 Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (Gordon Wood) 01:23 Truman (David McCullough) 01:30 #2 Alexander Hamilton (Ron Chernow) 02:17 Washington (Ron Chernow) 02:22 Grant (Ron Chernow) 02:25 #3 The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (Robert Caro) 03:18 The Years of Lyndon Johnson (4 vols.) (Robert Caro) 04:45 #4 Huey Long (T. Harry Williams) 05:54 #5 The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill (3 vols.) (William Manchester) 06:03 Churchill: A Life (Martin Gilbert) 06:26 #6 American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964 (William Manchester) 06:57 #7 Hitler: A Biography (2 vols.) (Ian Kershaw) 07:25 #8 Stalin: A Biography (Robert Service) 07:58 #9 Mao: The Unknown Story (Jung Chang and Jon Halliday) 08:37 #10 Kissinger (2 vols.) (Niall Ferguson) 08:50 The House of Rothschild (2 vols.) (Niall Ferguson) 09:15 #11 Steve Jobs (Walter Isaacson) 09:45 Elon Musk (Walter Isaacson) 09:50 #12 Johannes Brahms (Jan Swafford) 10:46 Outro

John Quincy Adams had a great interest in the Roman Republic like many of America's founding fathers. So he collected ancient Roman coins. When he passed away the collection passed to the Massachusetts Historical Society. In 1971, the Society decided the collection should be sold at auction so modern collectors could own coins from the President's collection. As a result, I have one! Every now and then I take it out and just wonder what that little silver coin has seen in its 2,100 years of existence.

On the subject of McCullough, his book on the Wright brothers is amazing. Quite possibly the most iconic American story

Don’t forget Andrew Roberts! His biographies of Churchill, Napoleon, and George III are masterpieces

I would add Isaacson's biography of Benjamin Franklin, as well as Franklin's autobiography.

Thanks for all the cool book suggestions Give us twelve more biographies, Mr Shapiro! Enjoy the rest of the summer 👍

My favorite piece by Brahms is his Academic Festival Overture. The first time I heard it, I thought, “That’s the happiest piece of music I’ve ever heard!”, and it has a wonderful, typically Brahmsian story behind it.

Joseph Frank's biography of Dostoyevsky is superb, and Claire Tomalin is brilliant on a number of British writers.

Boswell's life of Johnson deserves a mention. It is often been touted as the greatest biography ever written

Autobiography of Grant. Mark Twain influence is everywhere.