John Adams is a 2001 biography of Founding Father

Founding Fathers of the United States

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...

 and second U.S. President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

 written by popular historian David McCullough

David McCullough

David Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award....

. It won a 2002 Pulitzer Prize

2002 Pulitzer Prize

-Journalism:* Public Service:**The New York Times, for A Nation Challenged, a special section published regularly after the September 11th terrorist attacks on America, which coherently and comprehensively covered the tragic events, profiled the victims, and tracked the developing story, locally...

 (for "Biography or Autobiography

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography

The Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author.-1910s:* 1917: Julia Ward Howe by Laura E...

") and has been made into a TV miniseries with the same name

John Adams (TV miniseries)

John Adams is a 2008 American television miniseries chronicling most of President John Adams's political life and his role in the founding of the United States. Paul Giamatti portrays John Adams. The miniseries was directed by Tom Hooper. Kirk Ellis wrote the screenplay based on the book John...

 by HBO Films

HBO Films

HBO Films is a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. While much of HBO Films' output is created directly for the television market, such as the film Witness Protection and the mini-series Band of Brothers, Pacific, Generation Kill and Angels in...

. Since the TV miniseries debuted, an alternative cover has been added to the book showing Paul Giamatti

Paul Giamatti

Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...

as John Adams. The book is available as both hardcover and paperback.

Controversy

In 2009, McCullough acknowledged having misquoted Thomas Jefferson in John Adams. He was criticized in a Harper's Magazine review of the book, which claimed that McCullough had mistakenly attributed Jefferson as having referred to the second president as a "colossus of independence." Upon being confronted about the accusation, McCullough admitted that he had, in fact, "erred."

"It's hard work; you're trying to get the truth about distant times," he told The Associated Press. "When you make the mistakes, it's very painful, but you will make mistakes. We're imperfect, in an imperfect world."