Rating: 
Summary: Dull, dull, dull
Review: Pass on this one. Monticello itself takes a back seat to the Levy saga of buying the estate.
Rating:
Summary: Dull, dull, dull
Review: Saving Monticello was a history-lover's dream. The author made it easy to become intimate with the real-life characters, enabling this wonderful story to unfold without becoming just a recitation of historical facts. It was also obvious that the author went to great pains to accurately depict the sequence of events. Great read!
Rating: 
Summary: History brought to life....
Review: Saving Monticello was a history-lover's dream. The author made it easy to become intimate with the real-life characters, enabling this wonderful story to unfold without becoming just a recitation of historical facts. It was also obvious that the author went to great pains to accurately depict the sequence of events. Great read!
Rating:
Summary: Saving Monticello: The House That Jefferson Built
Review: Saving Monticello: The Levy Family's Epic Quest to Rescue the House That Jefferson Built written by Marc Leepson is a wonderful book as it chronicles that "essay in architecture" Thomas Jefferson called Monticello his mountain-top estate in Virginia. What happened after Thomas Jefferson died is a story begging to be told and it is a story of a family by the name of Levy that brought the estate back twice from near ruin, this is a tale that recounts the turbulent saga of this fabled estate.Being one of the millions of people that has visited Monticello in the past, I always wondered about the history of Monticello after Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 to the time I visited the estate. I asked one of the tour guides at that time, she filled me in on some of the juicy parts, but it wasn't as comprehensive as this book. I later sat down with another tour guide and asked some more questions about the history of the estate, the grounds, the upkeep of the house and the purchase of artifacts once owned by Jefferson at the time he lived at Monticello... again they were very helpful and pointed my curiosity to what is referenced in the bibliography in this book. So, I did some further digging and what Marc Leepson has uncovered in this book is spot-on with good work in telling this fascinating story of a house, history, family-life and times through the years. "Saving Monticello" is a book with a history of a family, with who's efforts, we should all be grateful for saving a national treasure, a family whos little-known story of the remarkable commitment to Monticello's preservation. This is the account of Uriah P. Levy and his nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy in this well-written compelling story. "Saving Monticello" is a story filled with fascinating detail about the life and times of one of the most beloved national monuments, for almost ninety years in private hands, until 1923 when the Levy family relinquished it to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. As you read "Saving Monticello" you'll see the veil of history being slowly and with great detail lifted to reveal a stoey that is reflective to our nations history, a story that is fully appreciated, from early on, a cast of characters a different as America herself played a roll with Monticello. This is a fascinating read and well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Saving Monticello: The House That Jefferson Built
Review: Saving Monticello: The Levy Family's Epic Quest to Rescue the House That Jefferson Built written by Marc Leepson is a wonderful book as it chronicles that "essay in architecture" Thomas Jefferson called Monticello his mountain-top estate in Virginia. What happened after Thomas Jefferson died is a story begging to be told and it is a story of a family by the name of Levy that brought the estate back twice from near ruin, this is a tale that recounts the turbulent saga of this fabled estate. Being one of the millions of people that has visited Monticello in the past, I always wondered about the history of Monticello after Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 to the time I visited the estate. I asked one of the tour guides at that time, she filled me in on some of the juicy parts, but it wasn't as comprehensive as this book. I later sat down with another tour guide and asked some more questions about the history of the estate, the grounds, the upkeep of the house and the purchase of artifacts once owned by Jefferson at the time he lived at Monticello... again they were very helpful and pointed my curiosity to what is referenced in the bibliography in this book. So, I did some further digging and what Marc Leepson has uncovered in this book is spot-on with good work in telling this fascinating story of a house, history, family-life and times through the years. "Saving Monticello" is a book with a history of a family, with who's efforts, we should all be grateful for saving a national treasure, a family whos little-known story of the remarkable commitment to Monticello's preservation. This is the account of Uriah P. Levy and his nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy in this well-written compelling story. "Saving Monticello" is a story filled with fascinating detail about the life and times of one of the most beloved national monuments, for almost ninety years in private hands, until 1923 when the Levy family relinquished it to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. As you read "Saving Monticello" you'll see the veil of history being slowly and with great detail lifted to reveal a stoey that is reflective to our nations history, a story that is fully appreciated, from early on, a cast of characters a different as America herself played a roll with Monticello. This is a fascinating read and well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: The Facts Behind the Fiction: The True Story of Monticello
Review: So much of the history of Monticello has been swept under the rug for generations and generations. As a Virginian living in such close proximity to Monticello, I, as the majority of people who have made the requisite trip through Mr. Jefferson's estate had literally no grasp on its actual history. Mr. Leepson's watershed book is eminently readable, even for those of us who are not students of historical preservation and brings to light the actual gritty past of this now pristine national monument. The fact that the Jefferson family or the Jefferson Foundation has not exclusively owned Monticello is often downplayed by many persons associated with it in its current condition. Perhaps the greatest merit of Saving Monticello is that it reveals the fact that this estate has a much deeper and more complex history than many Americans realize or may be willing to believe. Mr. Leepson has masterfully peeled back the onion skin of history and shows the reader that Monticello's historical significance is not restricted to early American or Architectural history alone, but can actually stand as a microcosm of American History in its full form. From the birth of the nation to civil war to anti-Semitism- Monticello has seen it all. Mr. Leepson's book artfully reveals Monticello's sometimes colorful, often tragic history in a text that marries the all too frequently opposing qualities of being both informative and entertaining. This book is worth every minute spent reading it and may even entice its readers to delve further into Monticello's family tree. We truly owe the Levy family a debt of gratitude for preserving Monticello for future generations. Without their intervention, this estate would not be in existence today for us to enjoy and appreciate. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and I thank Mr. Leepson for finally giving us, the reader, access to the story behind this historical treasure.
Rating:
Summary: Monticello was saved by the Levys
Review: Thank you Mr. Leepson for "Saving Monticello". I found it a very enjoyable read and very interesting. As a Virginian, we are proud of all our historic sites and heritage and the story of the Levy family is one of the best that I have read in a long time. Anyone who reads this book will discover that Uriah and Jefferson Levy deserve a lot credit for "Saving Monticello". Preserving Monticello was the Levy's way of keeping the memory of Thomas Jefferson alive. If it wasn't for the resources of the Levys, the many treasures of Monticello would have been lost to future generations.
Rating:
Summary: Monticello was saved by the Levys
Review: Thank you Mr. Leepson for "Saving Monticello". I found it a very enjoyable read and very interesting. As a Virginian, we are proud of all our historic sites and heritage and the story of the Levy family is one of the best that I have read in a long time. Anyone who reads this book will discover that Uriah and Jefferson Levy deserve a lot credit for "Saving Monticello". Preserving Monticello was the Levy's way of keeping the memory of Thomas Jefferson alive. If it wasn't for the resources of the Levys, the many treasures of Monticello would have been lost to future generations.
Rating: 
Summary: Title is Reversed
Review: The title really should have been "An Exhaustive Look at the Levy Family & a Little About Monticello. I'm a huge fan Thomas Jefferson and admirer of Jefferson's work on Monticello. I had hoped the book would be more focused on Monticello. Instead, it focused on a detailed history of the Levy family and occasionally steered back to Monticello. If you want to know everything there is about the Levy family, this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Stripping Away a False Veneer of History
Review: This extensive and thoughtful history of the Levy family's rescue and stewardship of Monticello is a microcosm of the rise and near demise of Thomas Jefferson's beloved estate itself. For decades the measures that this remarkable, energetic American family took to stop Monticello's free-fall to destruction were suppressed and neglected. Not even a simple plaque gave credit to a family who revered the founding father who created Monticello. Marc Leepson has literally unearthed, revitalized and energized a unique chronology that mirrors life in this country - optimism, a robust spirit, the rise and fall of fortunes, as well as changes in political climates and hopeully, a more realistic and generous attitude towards history itself. In a graceful, elegant and fluid style, Marc Leepson examines fact and rumor and with deft strokes paints a human mural of the trials and triumphs of "Saving Monticello." Fascinating - I couldn't put this book down. My only question is: what will Marc Leepson discover for us next? - I can't wait.
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