Rating: 
Summary: IF YOU LOVE JEFFERSON & THE TRUTH.......
Review: American History, Thomas Jefferson, being my greater passions, I was fascinated by this book. The depth of Ms. Brodie's research is obvious, & her conclusions are thought provoking. Being also well-trained in the area of human behavior & pyschology, I would agree STRONGLY with the probable assumptions she makes about the pysche of Mr. Jefferson. What is historical fact concerning Mr. Jefferson concerning his earler years, his relationship w/ his mother, the death of his father, & his relationship to the women in his life, noticeably his wife & daughters, lends strong credence to the theories Ms. Brodie brings forth. A person w/ great insight into human behavior can always make strong probable cases. Ms.Brodie has done this admirably. I admire Mr. Jefferson more than any other man in American history, yet I also love the truth, and the key word is HUMAN. Mr. Jefferson would have the same quirks & idyosyncrasies as any other human, which when one realizes this about the greats of time, should endear them even more, that the bottom line is we are ALL human. Mention Sally Hemmings at the Monticello visitor center, & watch the fur fly. It seems as though some people want to elevate others to God-like status, & not allow themselves to admit to the humanism of the ones they admire. I'm looking forward to read Ms. Brodie's account of the life of Joseph Smith, which I will do soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Still Crazy After All These Years
Review: And I don't mean that in a bad way. This was the first biography I read about Jefferson and a dozen or so books later I still think it's one of the best. Brodie brings warmth, passion, and humanity to her subject. Yes, she gets important facts wrong, speculates wildly, and at times misses her target. I think the Jefferson she describes, though, is closer to the real man than the portraits which can be found in stodgier biographies. It's not academic history but it's not fiction either. Read it for her take on the spirit of the man. Btw, the DNA evidence which was presented in the journal "Nature" two years ago disproved Brodie's speculations about an affair between Jefferson and Hemmings in Paris (which was was also turned into a popular movie). Two lines of descent were tested. The one linked to Paris didn't pan out. If Jefferson and Hemmings had children together this relationship probably started later.
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Summary: Still Interested Though Somewhat Dated
Review: Brodie's book captured attention when it was originally published, in 1974, because it was the first scholarly treatment of Jefferson to take seriously the claim that Sally Hemings was Jefferson's concubine. The book is far more than that, though, as it is a comprehensive biography of Jefferson. The book was also notable because of its emphasis on "psychohistory," at the time a young or nonexistent field. Reading it now, though, it seems remarkable neither for its emphasis on Jefferson's relationship with Hemings nor for its emphasis on his psyche.Brodie's evidence for a relationship between Jefferson and Hemings is weak. It is based largely on speculation and imaginative interpretations of historical documents. The book does not use the relationship between Hemings and Jefferson as a basis for a critical look at Jefferson. On the whole, the book portrays Jefferson in a sympathetic light. Brodie is critical of him for not doing more to advance the cause of emancipation, but even in this respect she writes of him empathetically. He had made a serious effort earlier in his life and apparently chose not to pursue it more strongly later on practical grounds; he did not believe there was support for it. He believed slavery was wrong, though, and also was convinced that it would die a natural death as time went on. The book portrays Jefferson as a romantic, as not only an idealist but also a person of great passion. He of course thought of himself as a supremely rational person and kept his emotions under tight control. But it was a constant struggle for him, as evidenced in his migraines, his head and heart letter to Maria Cosway, his extreme depression after the death of his wife, etc. Brodie argues that Jefferson's purchase of Louisiana is not always sufficiently credited for how remarkable an achievement it was. Nations prior to that had expanded almost always through conquest rather than through an outright purchase. And she argues, convincingly, that had someone like Hamilton or Burr been President, we would have gone to war with France over possession of the territory. Brodie believes that Jefferson's greatest accomplishments as President were the purchase of Louisiana and the Lewis and Clark Expedition--both of which, of course, had to do with the expansion of the country. The book stills holds its own as a good general introduction to Jefferson's life.
Rating:
Summary: Man of genius, vision and wisdom
Review: Dr. Brodie's biography on Thomas Jefferson is a wondrous piece of work, balancing both the personal and public lives of this remarkable man:
Writer of the Declaration of Independence, author of "Notes on the State of Virginia" and the "Constitution for Virginia", minister to France, war Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State under Washignton, Vice-President under John Adams, two term President of the United States, aquisition of the Louisiana Purchase, founder of the University of Virginia, horticulturist, architect and so much more. He spoke his mind and he spoke it for the people: "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."
Without a doubt, Jefferson's private life was controversial and Brodie brings this to light. Although his personal life story reads like a soap opera, we see how both the personal and public worlds, at times, influence each other. Brodie unfolds his relationships with such women as Betsey Walker, Maria Cosway and the slave Sally Hemings, along with delving into his enemies and friends in public circles.
A lengthy but fascinating read and thanks to Dr. Brodie's tenacious research efforts, the reader gains a deep understanding into the life of this extaordinary man.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Awful Revisionist Misrepresentation
Review: I have read this book several times over the past ten years, and referred back to it after reading biographies by others who often slander Ms. Brodies work. It is an excellent portrait of what Mr. Jefferson may have been like, both flattering and not so flattering, but always fascinating. I always enjoy it because it captures so many people around Jefferson so well, such as his mentor George Wythe and his father-in-law John Wayles, both who took a slave concubine after becoming widowers. This book is about relationships and their social times. Ms. Brodie weighed in on Jefferson being the father of Sally Hemming's children when it was not popular to taint him with human emotions. She would be proved right on at least one of Ms. Hemming's children, Eston, being fathered by the same Y chromosome that Jefferson's own father carried. Unfortunately Ms. Brodie did not live to see the scientific vindication of her research and insight. The Jefferson family has long claimed that Sally's children who favored Jefferson were fathered by nephew Samuel Carr, Jefferson's sister Martha's son. But Sam couldn't pass that Jefferson Y chromosome! This book is a must read for everyone who is interested in understanding the Sage of Montecello. It makes the world of Jefferson come to life and allow the reader to walk in the times of his day, his friendships, enemies, depressions, joys, trials, and triumphs. Brodie takes the time to richly describe the other individuals in Jefferson's life, there by providing to the reader great scholarship that is immensely personal and interesting. No single book can capture Jefferson's philosophy and accomplishments; but this book is a must read for a study of the personality of one of the most complex and interesting men in the history of our civilization. It is the most fun book on Jefferson and his times that one can read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellant portrait of a complex man
Review: I have read this book several times over the past ten years, and referred back to it after reading biographies by others who often slander Ms. Brodies work. It is an excellent portrait of what Mr. Jefferson may have been like, both flattering and not so flattering, but always fascinating. I always enjoy it because it captures so many people around Jefferson so well, such as his mentor George Wythe and his father-in-law John Wayles, both who took a slave concubine after becoming widowers. This book is about relationships and their social times. Ms. Brodie weighed in on Jefferson being the father of Sally Hemming's children when it was not popular to taint him with human emotions. She would be proved right on at least one of Ms. Hemming's children, Eston, being fathered by the same Y chromosome that Jefferson's own father carried. Unfortunately Ms. Brodie did not live to see the scientific vindication of her research and insight. The Jefferson family has long claimed that Sally's children who favored Jefferson were fathered by nephew Samuel Carr, Jefferson's sister Martha's son. But Sam couldn't pass that Jefferson Y chromosome! This book is a must read for everyone who is interested in understanding the Sage of Montecello. It makes the world of Jefferson come to life and allow the reader to walk in the times of his day, his friendships, enemies, depressions, joys, trials, and triumphs. Brodie takes the time to richly describe the other individuals in Jefferson's life, there by providing to the reader great scholarship that is immensely personal and interesting. No single book can capture Jefferson's philosophy and accomplishments; but this book is a must read for a study of the personality of one of the most complex and interesting men in the history of our civilization. It is the most fun book on Jefferson and his times that one can read.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: I titled this review "A Great Read" because of all the previous reviewers who said that (or words to that effect) this book is a great read BUT,....and there follows whatever psycho-sociological angst this work engendered in them, and then they proceeded to give it a low rating. This is an exceedingly well written and researched book which will give anyone some insight into our most complex and intelligent founding father. It is as honest as the evidence at hand allowed Fawn Brodie to be. The complicated relations between the white southern gentleman and his slaves reverberates to this day in our national unconsciousness. The only way to resolve these complexes and be free of them is to understand that they exist. If the problem of slavery so altered the inner life of one of our greatest Americans, how did it effect the more ordinary among us?
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Awful Revisionist Misrepresentation
Review: My title for this review says it in a nutshell. One star for being reasonably well written/edited. But, why are some of these authors so intent on trying to defame Jefferson by twisting history the way Jefferson's original slanderer, Callender, did? It is certainly not good objective history. I would not want to lead any young reader down the wrong path with this revisionist history based on weak, weak opinion and speculation.
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Summary: A humanistic look
Review: Over the years, I have read much on the Sphinx. But this book was the first that actually believed he was human and not a god and took great pains to put a human face to the man. Given that he guarded his legacy and shaped it during his lifetime, we will never know the real man. But at least someone is trying to show us that he was human and had all the strengths and weakness of a man. For that, and only that, this book is invaluable. For those who only take interest in him because of the Hemmings controversy, you are missing out on so much. The political intrigue alone is worth reading this book.
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Summary: Where no woman had gone before
Review: This book besides having been distinguishly recognized, is bold, daring, extensively researched, and very good. The book does not basically center around Jefferson's alleged affair with Sally Hemings. Brodie attempts to describe events from Jefferson's birth through his retirement and demise as the Sage of Monticello. She discusses his childhood experiences in moving in the same house, along with his parents with relatives that had lost their father, how he must have later felt when he also lost his own father in his youth, and his subsequent living with his mother. Brodie goes on to describe the impeccable education he received and the mentors he attributed it to. Also mentioned is Jefferson's training as an accomplished violinist, his love for books and reading, the books he collected and the personal libraries he established and lost, first to fire and later in life from having to sell it to the Library of Congress to help pay for personal debts. Brodie also discusses Jefferson's political life, from his exceptional writing of the Declaration of Independence, and how his subsequent views against slavery in the original composition of the Declaration of Independence were ommitted against his will. However, Brodie does seem to feel that later in life Jefferson abandoned or too severely compromised his views against slavery. Brodie also mentions his near capture from British troops while he was governor of Virginia, and his lifelong friendship with Lafeyette that resulted from the revoulutionary war. She also discusses the events which occured in his life during his appointment as minister of France, the group of friends he associated with while in Paris, and the beautiful women that fascinated him there. Bodie goes on to mention Jefferson's political clashes with Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, and the off and on again friendship with John Adams. Brodie details how Jefferson goes on to achieve perhaps his most well known political victory and presidential triumph from the acquisition of the Louisianna Territory. She presents Jefferson as an extraordinay man capable of ordinary emotions. Brodie makes a good attempt to present detailed information about Jefferson's family life from the time he married and the limited descriptions that are known about his wife and the decade of marriage they enjoyed which was unfortunately ended by her death at a young age. Brodie emphasize how fond Jefferson was of his daughters and grandchildren, and how deeply affected he was by the lost of loved ones he endured during his lifetime. Jefferson's returns to Monticello are described as opportunites he cherished which allowed him to relax, polish his thoughts, and spend time with his family while enjoying the splendor of Monticello's nature on daily horseback rides he took on a favorite horse named Eagle. Some of Brodie's speculations about Hemings I believe she puts a little too much thought into, such as her description of the increased use of the word mulatto in Jefferson's notes during his trip in 1788 which was the spring after Hemings arrival in Paris. Brodie describes Jefferson's excessive use of the word mulatto in his notes as subconscious thoughts about Hemings. Another theory which seems distant is when Jefferson was writing to Maria Cosway about the noses of Strausburg. Jefferson's mentioning of the nose in this letter, Brodie believes were additionanl personal thoughts he was having about Hemings which focused on the traits she may have had in her nose from a negro ancestor. In actuality, Jefferson's thoughts at the time were of a more explicit nature. However, I believe most of Brodies theories regarding Hemings are well thought out and within reason. Particularly when she mentions the other thoughts that Jefferson may have been having about Hemings during his 1788 trip. While on the trip Jefferson writes to Cosway in the same letter about the delicious feeling that a painting of Abraham receving a young slave girl as concubine from his wife Sarah gave him. I believe Brodie was right in theorizing that it could have possibly been an analogy of what was going on in his personal life at the time. I think it is relevant in wondering who was Jefferson buying a locket for the following fall within the same time frame he revisted one of his romantic hangouts he had shared with Maria Cosway. It does not seem appropriate that he would take his daughters to a place he described so romantically in his My Head and My Heart letter to Maria Cosway. Maria Cosway, who was in England at the time, was a lady he was possibly having an affair with, and in the most intimate letter he ever wrote, and possibly one of the most intimate letters ever written, he recalls very fondly to Maria the very special moments they had shared there. Brodie also raises a good point in wondering why Jefferson just started paying Hemings a salary in December of 1788 after she had already been in Paris for over a year. Particularly when some believe that Hemings was an igorant slave girl with limited skills, or that she may have lived at another location, up until four months of there departure from Paris. If she lived at another location, how was Jefferson able to evaluate her work to determine it met a standard deserving of a salary? One of the most relevant questions raised by Brodie is why would Jefferson in the month of April 1789 apparently buy Hemings a new wardrobe of clothes. Perhaps it was in prepartation of an alleged planning of the introduction of his daughter Martha into society in the following months. But the fact is that during the same month that Jefferson bought the clothes he already had boxes packed and was preparing to leave at any moment pending notification of permission of his request to return to America. The basis of allegations from a previous reviewer about Brodie being incorrect about a Jefferson, Hemings affair possibly having originated in Paris due to a lack of DNA evidence to confirm that Tom Woodson was Jefferson's son is unsubstantiated. This is because there is no documented proof that Tom Woodson was a biological son of Sally Hemings. Apparently, neither Thomas Jefferson or Sally Hemings ever stated, wrote, or suggested that Tom Woodson was a biological son of Sally Hemings. There are no records of a Tom Woodson ever having lived at Monticello. Sally Hemingses own son Madison alleged that the child conceived in Paris died shortly after birth. I think the main reason for the rejection from various people of this book is because it goes against the norm of previous biographies written before the publishing of Brodie's biography and against present day propaganda of defenders of Jefferson today who would like to believe that Jefferson was as Mr. Spock in Star Trek. As in comparison to Mr. Spock, Jefferson is incapable of succombing to an intimate relationship where he could not be in control of his personal feelings. This seemed to have been that because such feelings, left too vulnerable could ultimately destroy him. As a result he thought too logically about the events which affected his life to subject himself to an intimate error or to an intimate relationship at all. Consequently, some have concluded, as Brodie did not, that Jefferson remained celibant for over four decades between the death of his wife and his own death. However, Brodie could see that like Mr. Spock, Jefferson had a side to him that was also human, and he sometimes very well may have succombed to human emotions he could not control. Brodie's human assessment of Jefferson possibly removed all obstacles which would have led to traditional conclusions and cleared the way for her to write, which was for her time, a fresh, new, perspective which became known as an atypical, and intimate portrait of Jefferson. Brodie then proceeded where no woman had gone before.
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