Finally, a balanced view of Jefferson

books:


	• Thomas Jefferson R. B. Bernstein Oxford University Press, USA, 2005 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Finally, a balanced view of Jefferson

Chou En-Lai, the 20th century Communist leader, was once asked what he thought of the French Revolution. "Too early to say," was his response.

The same has long been true of Thomas Jefferson. Is he a great leader or a great hypocrite? How do we make sense of a person who wrote the ringing words of the Declaration of Independence, yet lived off of the labor of slaves? For far too long, most historians haven not really tried to make sense of him, but instead have either cheered for him or thrown things at him. The partisan passions that Jefferson lived in the center are still very much with us.

Not so with this book. The tone is calm and unemotional. Jefferson's vritues, and his faults, are clearly and simply set forth. The book is wonderfully concise and wonderfully even-handed. It is, without question, the best short life of Jefferson. It is extremely balanced, describing every phase of Jefferson's life, and giving the proper consideration to questions as varied as his temperment, political leadership, educational activities and personal life. I had not realized that the Sally Hemings controversy had been resolved -- yes, he did it -- but Bernstein deals with this question in his characteristically straightforward, unemotional manner. It is what it is.

I have one minor nit to pick. The book does very little to orient the modern reader to how different the 18th century is from today. Bernstein obviously knows how much things have changed, but I do not think he brings that home much to the casual reader. Probably not something he could have done and still keep the book under 200 pages.

for more information click here

Basic, indeed....................

This is billed as a concise, one-volume, biography of Mr. Jefferson. It is that, and I've seen worse books. It is quite well written, and does hit all the high points, and basic ideas. It even clarifies some of the ideas rather well. However......

I have a couple of complaints.....

[1] It skips around, placing events out of sequence; this is most marked toward the end.

[2] The author gives full credence to the Tom and Sally story, while rather blithely dismissing the alternatives. It is NOT that simple. OK; this one is a matter of opinion, and we'll never settle it.

Complaints, and Sally, aside, this is not really "bad". The main points get made, the Declaration and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom get written, and UVA gets founded. A nice touch is including Dumas Malone's biography as one of Jefferson's five great "monuments". [Along with the nickel, Mount Rushmore, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Jefferson Papers]. Still, you can do better...try Joseph Ellis' "American Sphinx" or Noble Cunningham's "In Persuit of Reason....The Life of Thomas Jefferson". Naturally, Dumas Malone and Merrill Peterson remain definitive, but their length will deter most readers.

for more information click here

Biography of Jefferson

This paperback book was purchased as a gift for a friend at Christmas. He told me recently that he really enjoyed the book, and feels that he now knows many amazing facts about our third president. He recommends it highly.

I liked it

Being from Iceland I have not really had any education on the founding fathers/presidents of the United States. Wanting to enlighten myself I bought a few books on several of the most famous presidents. This book was one of them since it came highly recommended. Not qualified to judge the quality of this book's content compared to other books of Jefferson (since I haven't read any) I can just say that it's a good read. The text is well written and informative, showing both Jefferson's brilliance and flaws (well he was after all human). So if you would like to read about the late president in not too many words (the book is only around 200 pages) I recommend it highly.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone, describing himself simply as "Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia." It is in this simple epitaph that R.B. Bernstein finds the key to this enigmatic Founder--not as a great political figure, but as leader of "a revolution of ideas that would make the world over again."
In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein offers the definitive short biography of this revered American--the first concise life in six decades. Bernstein deftly synthesizes the massive scholarship on his subject into a swift, insightful, evenhanded account. Here are all of Jefferson's triumphs, contradictions, and failings, from his luxurious (and debt-burdened) life as a Virginia gentleman to his passionate belief in democracy, from his tortured defense of slavery to his relationship with Sally Hemings. Jefferson was indeed multifaceted--an architect, inventor, writer, diplomat, propagandist, planter, party leader--and Bernstein explores all these roles even as he illuminates Jefferson's central place in the American enlightenment, that "revolution of ideas" that did so much to create the nation we know today. Together with the less well-remembered points in Jefferson's thinking--the nature of the Union, his vision of who was entitled to citizenship, his dread of debt (both personal and national)--they form the heart of this lively biography.
In this marvel of compression and comprehension, we see Jefferson more clearly than in the massive studies of earlier generations. More important, we see, in Jefferson's visionary ideas, the birth of the nation's grand sense of purpose.

for more information click here

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

These States United - America's Founding Fathers
Jeffersonian Republicanism
Most Quotable People Ever
Thomas Jefferson books
Being A REAL Man

thomas

Brother Odd (Odd Thomas Novels)
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It ...
Thomas Jefferson on Wine
Odd Hours
Fidelity

search for books
thomas jefferson, jefferson, thomas

Impressum / about us