He has been called a "master of the art of narrative history." His books have been praised for their exceptional narrative sweep, their scholarship and insight into American life, and for their literary distinction. John Adams, his most recent work, hit the New York Times bestseller list at number one and has remained on the list for more than a year.


Gordon Wood, writing in the New York Review of Books, said of John Adams, "By far the best biography of Adams ever written...McCullough's special gift as an artist is his ability to recreate past human beings in all their fullness and all their humanity."