Thomas Jefferson

by R.B. Bernstein

Book Overview

Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone, describing himself simply as "Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia." It is in this simple epitaph that R.B. Bernstein finds the key to this enigmatic Founder--not as a great political figure, but as leader of "a revolution of ideas that would make the world over again."

In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195181301
• ISBN13: 9780195181302
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Buy This Book

A wonderful read for any fan of the era. With it's shortness of pages you don't get bogged down in mundane minutia. It's an excellent first book for those interested in Thomas Jefferson, or a good re-cap for those who've read other works on this great Founding Father.

Good Concise Biography of Jefferson

I have always admired many of the principles espoused by Thomas Jefferson, including the ideas expressed in the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, his defense of civil rights and his statements on religious freedom and separation of church and state. Indeed, when compared with most revolutions, we in the United States were most fortunate in our founding fathers. Not just Jefferson, but Washington, Adams, Maddison, Franklin and several others as well. However, all leaders have their warts and Jefferson had quite a few. These included his view that blacks were inferior, his preference in maintaining his southern gentleman life style over freeing his slaves, his relationship with Sally Hemings, his tendency to relegate women to the hearth and his fiery temper and often unforgiving nature in political fights. Despite all this he laid the foundation for a much broader view of civil rights and fortunately this broader view has taken hold, despite the fact that it is still not as good as it could be. As a case in point, Thomas Jefferson's old position as Secretary of State (under Washington) is now held by a black woman! Although we are not there yet, we have come a long ways! Still, Jefferson had a way with words, was a great architect, a fairly competent scientist, a voracious reader and a brilliant diplomat. It is seldom that we come upon such talent and a few (if egregious) warts are probably to be expected, but of course should not be overlooked because of hero worship. The life, philosophy, triumphs and failings of our third president are concisely covered in a very readable manner by R. B. Bernstein in his book "Thomas Jefferson". I think every American citizen should read this book, or something like it, in order to at least have some understanding of the beginning of our country and the principles on which it was founded. It is somewhat comforting to note that the period of the early republic was often as turbulent as is our current time and that even great leaders like Washington, Maddison, Adams and Jefferson had their sometimes grievous faults and often disagreed among themselves over the best course of action.

I Loved this Book. Very Concise and Insightful

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. If you want to read an excellent, thick book on Jefferson, buy Merrill Peterson's classic "Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation." But if you want an excellent, concise book on Jefferson, buy this superb book. 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. On the back cover of this book are these rave 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 o

My Honest Opinion

Out of fairness, I feel compelled to tell everyone this. As a history teacher and Jefferson reader, I immediately inhale each new book about Thomas Jefferson that comes out, and have just finished R.B. Bernstein's "Thomas Jefferson". Once again I come away thinking that this is another commendable book like the others. However, once again, I still come away thinking that the book by Norman Thomas Remick (West Point:..Thomas Jefferson), though not a full blown biography, is, because of just that, uniquely the only one that ever brought the mind and heart of Thomas Jefferson into clear focus to me. That's my honest opinion. But don't get me wrong. I fully enjoyed Mr. Bernstein's book and I do recommend it to you.

Essential basis for understanding Jefferson in his own time

Jefferson will forever be ensconced in the hallowed halls of American Mythic figures. Indeed his eloquence in expounding the rights of the common man in the close of the 18th century give him an immortality which few in world history will ever attain. And yet, Jefferson has bedeviled his biographers. He almost seems to taunt at them from beyond the grave. He is a figure that echoes Hamlet's speech to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern back to the recorders of his history, "You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery, you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass. ... 'Sblood do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me."In the face of this brilliant, enigmatic, contradictory figure Richard Berstein has taken the only legitimate interpretation of Jefferon possible. He reflects him in his own time. Pulling together a wealth of information from various sources Bernstein manages to create an image of the man himself, as judged by the values and ideas of his own time. And this is where Jefferson's Brilliance and Human Frailty come to the fore. And it allows the audience to understand how Jefferson became revered in his own time and how this reverance could last to the present day.Truly a first rate job, this is an excellent, balanced introduction to one of our greatest Founding Fathers.