Description
Book SynopsisThis groundbreaking biography has been universally acclaimed as a landmark work on Thomas Jefferson''s early and mature years. Mapp follows Jefferson from his birth in 1743 through the American Revolution and up until his inauguration as President of the United States in 1801. Along the way we rediscover Jefferson the student at William and Mary, the Virginia politician, and the foreign diplomat. In these pages, Mapp sheds new light on Jefferson''s career and private life. The portrait is rich and full of a living complexity that defies the simple sketches often offered by those who would either canonize or demonize this reluctant founding father.
Trade ReviewElegantly written and overflowing with evocative detail. . . . A splendid work of history and biography. * Book-of-the-Month Club News *
Alf J. Mapp probably best expresses why Jefferson remains so fascinating more than 150 years after his death and why he remains a continual challenge for the biographer . . . [A] reassessment that is not only convincing but also readable and enthralling. * Richmond Times-Dispatch *
A life-recording, life-giving, entrancing and revealing study of a great American. -- Richard Eberhart, Author of
Long Reach: New and Uncollected Poems and the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award
A monumental reassessment of Jefferson's character and impact. * Booklist *
In this fascinating account of Thomas Jefferson's many contradictions and complexities, master biographer Alf J. Mapp provides a compelling portrait of the great man and reveals why Jefferson was as much an enigma in his own times as he is in ours. -- James P. Horn, Abby and George O'Neill Director, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and author of Land as God Made It: Jamestown and the Birt
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 I. The Paradoxical Patriot. Chapter 3 II. The World Beckons. Chapter 4 III. "Seminary of Sedition." Chapter 5 IV. Reverberations of a Soft Voice. Chapter 6 V. Fire on the Hill, Snow on the Mountain. Chapter 7 VI. Year of Decision. Chapter 8 VII. Self-Evident Truths in a Virginia Accent. Chapter 9 VIII. "With a Single Eye..." Chapter 10 IX. Horseback Governor. Chapter 11 X. "Divine Discontent." Chapter 12 XI. Retreat from the World. Chapter 13 XII. Return to the Fray. Chapter 14 XIII. Paris and Life. Chapter 15 XIV. Head, Heart, and Glands. Chapter 16 XV. Struggle of Titans. Chapter 17 XVI. "The Only Vice." Chapter 18 XVII. "The Child is the Father of the Man." Part 19 Select Critical Bibliography.
