SOURCE: "Evolution in the Adams Family," in The Nation, New York, Vol. CX, No. 2858, April 10, 1920, pp. 473-77.

In the following excerpt, Sherman examines the genealogy of political and historical thought among members of Adams's family.

Brooks Adams apologizes for the inadequacy of his introduction to his brother's philosophical remains on the ground that the publishers hurried him, saying that if he did not get the book out within the year it would have lost its interest. Of course the readers who take up The Education of Henry Adams because it is the sensation of the hour will soon drop away, perhaps have already done so; but interest in the Adamses, so long quiescent, so piquantly reawakened at the end of the fourth eminent generation, is likely to hold more serious readers for some time to come. Henry has thrown out challenges which the indolent reviewer cannot lightly answer...