"Henry Adams has been called an indispensable figure in American thought. Although he famously 'took his own life' in the autobiographical Education of Henry Adams, his letters - more intimate and unbuttoned, though hardly unselfconscious - are themselves indispensable for an understanding of the man and his times. This selection, the first based on the authoritative six-volume Letters, represents every major private and public event in Adam's life from 1858-1918 and confirms his reputation as one of the greatest letter writers of his century."--Book jacket.