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yup, our very own (well, used to be, anyways) RBB has a new book out that has gotten splendid reviews, "Thomas Jefferson"... have you guys already talked about this?!?!?!?! If so, would somone pls point me to the thread? I haven't been around much these days...
" In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein offers the definitive short biography of this revered American--the first concise life in six decades. Bernstein deftly synthesizes the massive scholarship on his subject into a swift, insightful, evenhanded account. Here are all of Jefferson's triumphs, contradictions, and failings, from his luxurious (and debt-burdened) life as a Virginia gentleman to his passionate belief in democracy, from his tortured defense of slavery to his relationship with Sally Hemings. Jefferson was indeed multifaceted--an architect, inventor, writer, diplomat, propagandist, planter, party leader--and Bernstein explores all these roles even as he illuminates Jefferson's central place in the American enlightenment, that "revolution of ideas" that did so much to create the nation we know today. Together with the less well- remembered points in Jefferson's thinking--the nature of the Union, his vision of who was entitled to citizenship, his dread of debt (both personal and national)--they form the heart of this lively biography." Oxford University Press
"It is difficult to be objective about Thomas Jefferson, but this book succeeds wonderfully. Neither attacking Jefferson for his sins nor lauding him for his accomplishments, Thomas Jefferson does equal justice to Jefferson's political, intellectual, and personal life in a concise biography that can be enjoyed by all. Bernstein has given us an admirably balanced life in context."--Joanne B. Freeman, Professor of History, Yale University
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