Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty - (Jefferson and His Time) by Dumas Malone (Paperback)

About the Book

The third volume in Dumas Malone's distinguished study of Thomas Jefferson and his time includes the story of the final and most crucial phase of his secretaryship of state; his retirement to Monticello; his assumption of the leadership of the opposition party; and the crisis during the half-war with France when the existence of political opposition was threatened and the freedom of individuals imperiled.

Book Synopsis

Dumas Malone's classic six-volume biography Jefferson and His Time was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in history and became the standard work on Jefferson's life.

Volume 3. Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty

Beginning with Jefferson's final year of service as secretary of state in Washington's cabinet, this volume takes on one of the most significant and controversial years in Jefferson's life and indeed in modern Western history, while also exploring Jefferson's retirement to Monticello, his decision to lead the opposition party, and his own election as president in 1801.

From the Back Cover

The third volume in Dumas Malone's distinguished study of Thomas Jefferson and his time deals with one of the most fascinating and controversial periods of Jefferson's life.

Review Quotes

Not only has Mr. Malone mastered the vast body of Jefferson's correspondence and the writings of his contemporaries, but he has fully explored the wealth of monographic material devoted to this epoch.... Throughout the book there is a sense of proportion and balance which might well be called classic.

--Harry Ammon "Virginia Magazine"

About the Author

Dumas Malone, 1892-1986, spent thirty-eight years researching and writing Jefferson and His Time. In 1975 he received the Pulitzer Prize in history for the first five volumes. From 1923 to 1929 he taught at the University of Virginia; he left there to join the Dictionary of American Biography, bringing that work to completion as editor-in-chief. Subsequently, he served for seven years as director of the Harvard University Press. After serving on the faculties of Yale and Columbia, Malone retired to the University of Virginia in 1959 as the Jefferson Foundation Professor of History, a position he held until his retirement in 1962. He remained at the university as biographer-in-residence and finished his Jefferson biography at the University of Virginia, where it was begun.