good book for a latecomer ?

Do you like fiction or non? The reason I ask is there is a good set to read by Jeff Shaara; Gods and generals and Last full measure, about the beginning and end of the civil war. His fathers book (michael Shaara) called the Killer Angels is a pulitzer prize winning clasic about gettysburg. These are considered fiction, but still very accurate.

Another good one is David McCullough's John Adams.

The Adams family. Isn't there some sort of cronical of that family falling from the greatness of John to something more common?

Never heard of it, but thats about the way it happened.

The founding families, no doubt, are scattered across the country, some probably not even aware  of their legacy. If your curious though, go over to ancestry.com and you wil find most of the trees of those families there to look at.