Description
Not since Merrill Peterson's Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation has a scholar attempted to write a comprehensive biography of the most complex Founding Father. In Jefferson, John B. Boles plumbs every facet of Thomas Jefferson's life, all while situating him amid the sweeping upheaval of his times. We meet Jefferson the politician and political thinker-as well as Jefferson the architect, scientist, bibliophile, paleontologist, musician, and gourmet. We witness him drafting of the Declaration of Independence, negotiating the Louisiana Purchase, and inventing a politics that emphasized the states over the federal government - a political philosophy that shapes our national life to this day.
Boles offers new insight into Jefferson's actions and thinking on race. His Jefferson is not a hypocrite, but a tragic figure - a man who could not hold simultaneously to his views on abolition, democracy, and patriarchal responsibility. Yet despite his flaws, Jefferson's ideas would outlive him and make him into nothing less than the architect of American liberty.
About the Author
John B. Boles is the William P. Hobby Professor of History at Rice University and the former editor of the Journal of Southern History. Boles lives in Houston, Texas.
Book Information
ISBN 9780465094684
Author John B. Boles
Format Hardback
Page Count 640
Imprint Basic Books
Publisher Basic Books
Weight(grams) 922g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 158mm * 50mm