About this item
Highlights
- "A balanced, readable portrait.
- Author(s): Christopher Hitchens
- 208 Pages
- Biography + Autobiography, Presidents & Heads of State
- Series Name: Eminent Lives
Description
About the Book
This compelling new biography of Jefferson is set amid the historical drama of the new nation's struggle for independence. The author presents a portrait of a formative figure and a turbulent era in history.Book Synopsis
"A balanced, readable portrait. A refreshing perspective." --New York Times Book Review
With intelligence, insight, eloquence, and wit, bestselling author Christopher Hitchens gives us an artful portrait of a complex, formative figure in American history and his turbulent era.
In this unique biography of Thomas Jefferson, leading journalist and social critic Christopher Hitchens offers a startlingly new and provocative interpretation of our Founding Father--a man conflicted by power who wrote the Declaration of Independence and acted as ambassador to France yet yearned for a quieter career in the Virginia legislature. A masterly writer, Jefferson was an awkward public speaker. A professed proponent of emancipation, he elided the issue of slavery from the Declaration of Independence and continued to own human property. A reluctant candidate, he left an indelible presidential legacy.
From the Back Cover
In this unique biography of Thomas Jefferson, leading journalist and social critic Christopher Hitchens offers a startlingly new and provocative interpretation of our Founding Father--a man conflicted by power who wrote the Declaration of Independence and acted as ambassador to France yet yearned for a quieter career in the Virginia legislature. A masterly writer, Jefferson was an awkward public speaker. A professed proponent of emancipation, he elided the issue of slavery from the Declaration of Independence and continued to own human property. A reluctant candidate, he left an indelible presidential legacy. With intelligence, insight, eloquence, and wit, Hitchens gives us an artful portrait of a complex, formative figure and his turbulent era.
Review Quotes
"The acidic British political commentator is a perfect biographer for the disputatious Founding Father." -- Time magazine
"Hitchens . . . levels the Monticello of cant that has been written about our third president and offers a balanced, readable portrait. A refreshing perspective." -- New York Times Book Review
"Masterful . . . Hitchens sets out to debunk not so much Thomas Jefferson as his biographers." -- New York Sun
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