John Adams, American’s second president, is receiving a renewed amount of attention this spring because of HBO’s seven-part miniseries John Adams. The miniseries is based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning book of the same name by David McCullough and stars Paul Giamatti as John Adams (pictured) and Laura Linney as Abigail Adams. If you do not have HBO, you can pre-order the DVD set from Amazon for $39, but it will not be released until June 10. Meanwhile, you can catch up by reading McCullough’s John Adams in either paperback ($20) or in hardcover ($25). Whitehouse.gov has an abbreviated, one-page history of Adams’ life; a similarly short biography of Abigail Adams can be found at Firstladies.org. If your summer travels will take you near Quincy, Massachusetts, consider visiting the Adams National Historical Park, run by the National Park Service. The HBO site also has downloadable educational material for teachers and students. Lastly, this mug declaring “John Adams: Join or Die,” is only $10, and perfect for your coffee as you absorb the miniseries or book.