Cabinet Members - 18th & 19th Century - Biography, Presidents of the United States - Biography, General & Miscellaneous Political Biography, 19th Century American History - Politics & Government - Presidents, 18th Century American History - Politics & Gov
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Overview
It is the major premise of this book that the story of Thomas Jefferson in American History is a strange case of mistaken identity resulting in part from willful misrepresentation but even more from the wishful thinking of both admirers and detractors.
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A monumental reassessment of Jefferson's character and impact.Publishers Weekly -
Scholars long have noted paradoxical aspects of Jefferson's life: a slaveholder, he wrote the ``Declaration of Independence''; a traditionalist, he innovated in politics; an avowed humanist, he pursued a closet theology. In this excellent first installment of a projected two-volume study, Mapp sifts through legend, and sometimes erroneous scholarship, in search of Jefferson. Tracing his subject's life through the presidency, he finds that underneath his public roles (statesman, architect, writer, etc.) Jefferson was a passionate artist whose creative growth accounts for many of his paradoxical views. Making fine use of abundant recent scholarship, Mapp gives us a greater appreciation of this complex Virginian who came to embody the very tensions between tradition and experiment that are the ``principal source of vitality in a society.'' Mapp's books include The Virginia Experiment. Photos not seen by PW. BOMC featured alternate. (May)Book Details
Published
March 28, 1987
Publisher
New York ; Madison Books, [c1987]
Pages
487
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780819157829