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Summary: Jefferson
Review: "Jefferson" is great for anyone who wants to read scaled down biography about Thomas Jefferson. However, there is more to this book than that. It is a sketch of his life, but it is as probing as any other study, and it gives the reader the impression that he/she is not missing anything. The best parts in the book are the ones that deal with Jefferson's early career and his considerable abilities as an attorney. Sally Hemmings is also mentioned, but not so much as to distract from the author's main point: Thomas Jefferson was a great, if flawed man. This is nothing new, but it goes well with this study. There are a lot of Jefferson biographies out there, and this is a great one to start with before moving on to the more in depth studies.
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Summary: An Introduction
Review: A good and concise introduction to T. Jefferson as a body of study, complete with an elegant final portion directing the prospective student toward the various areas of interest. A great "stand alone" read for one seeking to understand America even unto today.
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Summary: The best one volume Jefferson biography I've read
Review: A great book. This wonderful biography takes an unbiased look at the life of Thomas Jefferson. By not trying to stir things up or offer his opinion on an unresolvable issue, Bernstein succeeds in bring Jefferson's life into clear focus.Well written and very informative, this would be a great indroduction, or a great re-introduction, to Jefferson. From there you can try the many other Jefferson biographies (Dumas Malone's 6 Volume Set, etc..) or one of the many book that examine his character and/or certain events in his life (American Sphinx, Understanding Jefferson, Negro President, etc...). Highly Recommended!
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Summary: Some reviewers should put their cards on the table.
Review: Dr. Barger and Mr. Ledgin are good at making charges. I read the book and I know something about other books about Jefferson. Dr. Barger and Mr. Ledgin should put their cards on the table, all of them: First, Dr. Barger lies about Prof. Bernstein not citing the Scholars Commmission Report on the Hemings matter. It's right there in text and in notes, along with a cite to a vigorous critique of the report that appeared in the "William and Mary Quarterly." Second, Dr. Barger might want to mention that one of the two authors of the book supposedly proving that Sally Hemings and Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson were nt half-sisters is Barger's own daughter. Third, Mr. Ledgin might want to mention that he wrote a silly book trying to prove that Jefferson suffered from Asperger's Syndrome and that Bernstein wrote a pretty good critique of Mr. Ledgin's "reasoning" on amazon.com Fourth, Mr. Ledgin is wrong about that John Adams quotation. It does indeed come from Adams -- specifically from his closing speech for the defense in the Boston Massacre trial in 1770. Page Smith reports the quotation in his "John Adams." Ebenezer Elliott was born in 1781, eleven years after John Adams used the quotation at the Boston Massacre trial. It figures that Dr. Barger and Mr. Ledgin would go after this book. They have axes to grind, and Bernstein doesn't, as "Publisher's Weekly" pointed out in its review of the book. Dr. Barger's axe is the typical old white-bread First Families of Virginia hostility to the realities of slavery and race in the Virginia of Jefferson's day. Mr. Ledgin's axe is an otherwise honorable commitment to campaign for the dignity and honor of people who suffer from Asperger's Syndrome. But they're both grinding axes. amazon.com customers should read that "Publisher's Weekly" review -- it does a better job than Barger or Ledgin do, but then we know why they've done this job, don't we? Cards on the table, boys, cards on the table.
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Summary: Bernstein's Jefferson
Review: Good book for use as a monograph in a freshman-sophomore college history class. It would have been even better if the author had taken off his rose-colored glasses.
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Summary: Food for thought
Review: I have nothing but glowing praise for this author of "Thomas Jefferson", R.B. Bernstein. I just wanted to say that I agree with all the reviewers who gave the book good marks. I also took one reviewer's suggestion and went on to read "West Point:Thomas Jefferson.." by Remick and found it different than the Bernstein book and other T.J. books because it is not so much ABOUT Jefferson, as is a biography, but FROM Jefferson, the moral history and philosophy being drawn from his own readings and writings. I recommend after reading Bernstein's "Thomas Jefferson" you go on to the book by Remick, if you enjoy food for thought.
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Summary: Food for thought
Review: I have nothing but glowing praise for this author of "Thomas Jefferson", R.B. Bernstein. I just wanted to say that I agree with all the reviewers who gave the book good marks. I also took one reviewer's suggestion and went on to read "West Point:Thomas Jefferson.." by Remick and found it different than the Bernstein book and other T.J. books because it is not so much ABOUT Jefferson, as is a biography, but FROM Jefferson, the moral history and philosophy being drawn from his own readings and writings. I recommend after reading Bernstein's "Thomas Jefferson" you go on to the book by Remick, if you enjoy food for thought.
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Summary: Response to Richard E. Dixon
Review: I read with mingled exasperation and disappointment Richard E. Dixon's misleading amazon.com review of my book. To cite particulars: * There was no way for me to cover everything in a book of this length, so an omission of a statement that Jefferson's work on the Virginia capitol was the introduction of classical forms of architecture to America is hardly an error or a fumble. * I grounded my interpretation of Napoleon's actions regarding the Louisiana Purchase on the work of Peter Onuf, Jon Kukla, Lawrence Kaplan, Roger Kennedy, and Alexander De Conde. Since my book appeared, the recent Monticello Monograph by James E. Lewis has appeared, and is in accord with the arguments already cited. If he disagrees with their -- and my -- interpetations, that is a disagreement, not a historical error. * On page 74, I wrote that Jefferson HELPED to move Madison from opposing a bill of rights to favoring it. I have noted the four reasons that Madison made this transition in my 1987 book ARE WE TO BE A NATION? THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION and my 1993 book AMENDING AMERICA -- those including (i) Madison's pledge during ratification; (ii) his recognition that the Federalists' pledge to work for amendments was a necessary concession to popular opinion; (iii) his working out a solution -- embodied in the Ninth Amendment -- to his fear that a bill of rights might omit rights by failing to list them; and (iv) his having been influenced by Jefferson. I cited AMENDING AMERICA in JEFFERSON (210n118). No fair-minded reader would have drawn the conclusion that Mr. Dixon drew from that passage, or from the larger discussion on pages 72-74. * On page 137, I write that the Executive Mansion is "now known as the White House." "Now" in that passage means today, not in Jefferson's or Madison's presidency. Indeed, not till Theodore Roosevelt's presidency (1902 or 1903) did the Executive Mansion acquire its official name of the White House. No fair-inded reader would have misread the text as Mr. Dixon misread it. * On the Sally Hemings question, Mr. Dixon is unpersuaded and, I find from previous experience of his approach to this controversy, unpersuadable. One specific error that he made in misrepresenting my work: I note in my text at page 196 that the DNA study disproved the Woodson claim. His "reasoning" on Frasier Nieman's study -- which consists of dubbing it a "Monte Carlo" methodology, then claiming that another scholar using a similar "Monte Carlo" methodology failed miserably, with the implicit conclusion that Mr. Nieman's study is similarly a miserable failure -- is worthy of a place as an illustrative example in Jeremy Bentham's HANDBOOK OF POLITICAL FALLACIES. I respectfully but firmly request that Mr. Dixon withdraw his imputations against my book. I would have written to him privately, but I could not find a current, valid email address for him.
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Summary: I Loved this Book. Very Concise and Insightful
Review: I really enjoyed this superb book. I highly recommend it as an excellent introduction to Thomas Jefferson. The book is only 198 pages of text, yet the author paints a vivid, fascinating portrait of Jefferson - especially his ideas and how those ideas shaped his life and America. This book was a joy to read.
On the cover of the book is a comment from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Gordon Wood calling this book "The best short Biography of Jefferson ever written." I agree and would add that it's simply a great book.
On the back cover of the book are these reviews:
"Bernstein's Jefferson is a brilliant success. There's nothing like it in the literature." -Peter Onuf, Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History, University of Virginia.
"R.B. Bernstein has produced a fascinating, extremely intelligent examination of the life of Thomas Jefferson. With a clear eye and deft historical touch, Bernstein reminds us why studying Jefferson and his world will always remain central to understanding the development of the American character." -Annette Gordon-Reed, author of "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy."
"It is difficult to be objective about Thomas Jefferson, but this book succeeds wonderfully. Neither attacking Jefferson for his sins nor lauding him for his accomplishments, `Thomas Jefferson' does equal justice to Jefferson's political, intellectual and personal life in a concise biography that can be enjoyed by all." -Joanne B. Freeman, Professor of History at Yale University.
Thomas Jefferson had a profound role in the America Revolution, especially his enlightened ideas. He wrote the Declaration of Independence - essentially the American creed - "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Jefferson advocated freedom, learning, and individual rights for all, not to be infringed upon by the state. He was egalitarian.
The first chapter "A Young Gentlemen of Virginia (1743-1774)" gives the reader a fine understanding of the aristocratic, planter society Jefferson grew up in. The book succinctly details Jefferson's love of learning, his noble ideas, and how his ideas would play out his life and then into American history.
Subsequent chapters detail how Jefferson was faced with many difficult problems and how he handled them on a case-by-case basis. This method of problem solving appears to make him look contradictory, but his basic ideas always remained true.
Jefferson was mired in debt, for example. Read the book and understand the society of land owners that required debt and the economic problems that led to his getting over his head. This forced him to deal with his economic problems as a farmer certain ways. (This would have made freeing his slaves economically impossible despite the fact that he ideologically opposed and repeated fought slavery).
I just loved Bernstein's description of the nasty politics during Adams' presidency and the election of 1800 between Jefferson and Adams. I could not put the book down. Hamilton and Jefferson, the brilliant founders that they were, could be very wily.
I really enjoyed Bernstein's brief description of Jefferson's alliances and rivalries with other founders, especially Madison, Adams, and Hamilton. Jefferson was friends with Adams, then enemies, then friends late in life. They both died on the same day, July 4.
Of the many books I have read on the presidents (I am reading through all the great presidents and founders), "Thomas Jefferson" stood out as especially excellent. It was a joy to read and I enthusiastically recommend it as an outstanding introduction to the life and ideas of Thomas Jefferson.
Bravo!
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Summary: Very readable
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned a significant amount about this most interesting character. It is interesting to compare with "An Imperfect God" by Wiencek, which seems to dislike Jefferson somewhat, perhaps justifiably in places, where these subjects (such as that of Sally Jennings) are dealt with kid gloves in this book.
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