Thomas Jefferson (American Profiles) - Hardcover

Risjord, Norman K.

2.71

7 ratings by Goodreads

9780945612384: Thomas Jefferson (American Profiles)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0945612389 ISBN 13: 9780945612384

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, 1994

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Perhaps the most hotly debated character in American history, Jefferson stands as an enigma representing different and often contradictory ideas. This concise biography answers many of the contradictions of Jefferson's fruitful life. Specifically, it finds continuity in his evolving philosophy of political economy. Because Jefferson was not a man intellectually tied to a single ideology, he was able to embrace competing 'persuasions' that seem to us incompatible today. Indeed, Jefferson's rhetoric was more a matter of time and circumstance than an element of absolute belief. The Jefferson that emerges is not only a facile thinker but also a consummate politician.

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Review:

Easily the best one-volume biography of the whole Thomas Jefferson--lucid and balanced--a joy to read.--Joyce Appleby, author of Capitalism and a New Social Order: The Republican Vision of the 1790s

Jefferson admirers will be delighted to add this work to their collections, for Norman Risjord has adroitly summarized Thomas Jefferson's extraordinary life and career. . . . [An] excellently told narrative. . . . Few biographies read as well as this one. . . . The result is a charmingly told story that leaves the reader with the feeling of having personally visited with the 'Man of Monticello.'--Journal of Southern History

A fine introduction to the intellectual and political life of a man who continues to captivate scholars, students, and general readers alike.--North Carolina Historical Review

From the Back Cover:

Perhaps the most hotly debated character in American history, Thomas Jefferson stands as an enigma representing different and of ten contradictory ideas. That one man, for example, could author the Declaration of Independence and simultaneously own slaves or that he could recoil at the expansion of the federal government but later double the size of the country in a pen stroke has caused historians to question the true meaning of Jefferson's contribution to America's founding. This brief sketch of Jefferson answers many of the apparent contradictions of his fruitful life. Specifically, the author finds continuity in Jefferson's evolving philosophy of political economy. Because Jefferson was not a man intellectually tied to any single ideology, he was fully capable of embracing competing "persuasions" that seem to us today incompatible. The author shows how Jefferson's rhetoric was more a matter of time and circumstance than an element of absolute belief and demonstrates that Jefferson was not only a facile thinker but also a consummate politician.

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