CliffsNotes on

The Education of Henry Adams

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Book Summary

Henry Adams Biography

Personal Background
Selected Writings and Reputation

About The Education of Henry Adams

Summaries and Commentaries

Chapter I (Quincy)
Chapter II (Boston)
Chapter III (Washington)
Chapter IV (Harvard College)
Chapter V (Berlin)
Chapter VI (Rome)
Chapter VII (Treason)
Chapter VIII (Diplomacy)
Chapter IX (Foes or Friends)
Chapter X (Political Morality)
Chapter XI (The Battle of the Rams)
Chapter XII (Eccentricity) and Chapter XIII (The Perfection of Human Society)
Chapter XIV (Dilettantism)
Chapter XV (Darwinism)
Chapter XVI (The Press)
Chapter XVII (President Grant)
Chapter XVIII (Free Fight)
Chapter XIX (Chaos)
Chapter XX (Failure)
Chapter XXI (Twenty Years After)
Chapter XXII (Chicago)
Chapter XXIII (Silence) and Chapter XXIV (Indian Summer)
Chapter XXV (The Dynamo and the Virgin)
Chapter XXVI (Twilight) and Chapter XXVII (Teufelsdröckh)
Chapter XXVIII (The Height of Knowledge)
Chapter XXIX (The Abyss of Ignorance)
Chapter XXX (Vis Inertiae)
Chapter XXXI (The Grammar of Science)
Chapter XXXII (Vis Nova)
Chapter XXXIII (A Dynamic Theory of History) and Chapter XXXIV (A Law of Acceleration)
Chapter XXXV (Nunc Age)

Character List

Character Map

Character Analysis

Henry Adams
John Hay
Charles Francis Adams
Clarence King

Critical Essays

The Education of Henry Adams as Experimental Literature

Study and Homework Help

Full Glossary for The Education of Henry Adams
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Essay Questions
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Summaries and Commentaries

Chapter X (Political Morality)

As the war worsens for the Union, the diplomatic situation in London grows more tense. British Foreign Secretary Lord Russell admits that the cruiser Alabama, which the Confederacy had built in England, should not have been allowed to set sail until a decision could be made regarding its legality. Increasingly, the affair seems to Henry to be a matter of intent rather than error. He wonders whether any politician can be trusted. With the aid of biographical publications, the narrator later examines the events of 1862 concerning a possible British recognition of the Confederacy.

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