I am not a history buff by nature. Oh sure, put me in front of a classy costume drama — kings, queens, ruthless villains, ladies in gorgeous costumes and (of course) the obligatory hero — and you’ve got me. The excellent HBO miniseries John Adams has some of these attributes, and perhaps most of them, but usually those great historical costume dramas do not send me flocking to the bookstore in quest of American revolutionary history. Surprisingly, this one did.

Based on David McCullough's Pulitzer-Prize winning biography of John Adams (which received huge bump in sales after the seven-part miniseries aired on HBO this spring), and produced by Tom Hanks, John Adams humanizes the larger-than-life historical figures who created a nation and chanaged the world, and it does it with style, charm, and splendid energy.

Directed by Emmy Award-winning Tom Hooper (Elizabeth I), John Adams stars Paul Giamatti (The Illusionist, Sideways) and Laura Linney (Breach, Love Actually) as John and Abigail Adams. The series spans the time from the late Colonial days and the Revolution through Adams’ death during the Presidency of his son John Quincy Adams.

The story is as much about family as it is about history and the birth of a nation. The heroes of the revolution are matched by the heroism of Abigail, who holds her family together during Adams’ long absences, and serves as a calming and wise advisor to her husband. Theirs is a marriage of equals during a time when women were considered as much property as slaves. (Adams did not own slaves and found the practice abhorrent.)

John Adams also explores the deep and complex relationship between Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who were both friends and political rivals. Their political and ideological differences eventually estranged them until the final days of their lives, when they reconnected through a mutual correspondence (ironically on July 4, 1801 - the 25th anniversary of the nation’s birth.)

Unlike many of the often-romanticized and sanitized filmed and novelized portrayals of history, the personalities and personages portrayed in John Adams sweated, got dirty and gritty, and had bad teeth, vanities, and other flaws. They fought and argued with each other for the soul of what this nation should be (and whether it should be a nation at all).

It is fascinating to watch history come alive as it does in this wonderful miniseries, but it is not simply historical fact on the screen that makes this mini-series compelling. Viewers gain an understanding of the emotions and principles that guided the Founding Fathers in their grave and brave experiment in government. These were not simply rebels or patriots. They were also intellectuals, businessmen, and farmers — often all three — who were much informed by the European Enlightenment, and who sought to create something unique. Their strongly held individual beliefs and styles often came into conflict with each other.