Product Description

"A major contribution." Washington Post
The authoritative single-volume biography of Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the most significant figure in American history. He was a complex and compelling man: a fervent advocate of democracy who enjoyed the life of a southern aristocrat and owned slaves, a revolutionary who became president, a believer in states' rights who did much to further the power of the federal government. Drawing on the recent explosion of Jeffersonian scholarship and fresh readings of original sources, IN PURSUIT OF REASON is a monument to Jefferson that will endure for generations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1135795 in Books
• Published on: 1988-05-12
• Released on: 1988-05-12
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 9.20" h x .85" w x 6.05" l, 1.05 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

From Amazon.com
The life of Thomas Jefferson, demonstrably the most intellectual of America's presidents, has fascinated scholars for generations. A careful but elusive autobiographer, Jefferson left behind such a wealth of information about himself and his times that he has fueled hundreds of studies. Noble Cunningham's one-volume life is somewhat dispassionate, giving only a little sense of Jefferson's greatness, but it covers the essential episodes in the Founding Father's life with admirable balance and conciseness. Read this along with Joseph Ellis's American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, and you'll have a very good idea of why we continue to find the early statesman fascinating today. --Gregory MacNamee

From Publishers Weekly
Historian Cunningham "succeeds admirably in his biography of Jefferson," reported PW, and "writes well and with evident authority in this rich work," which describes both the details of Jefferson's political career and the evolution of his thinking, as expressed in his writings. Photos.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Finally we have a sensible one-volume biography of America's most multifaceted Founding Father. Cunningham, an expert on Jefferson's politics and presidency, has admirably condensed the variegated life and tumultuous times into a manageable and readable book. Cunningham's Jefferson is a man occasionally given to emotional turmoilas on the death of his wife and his flirtation with Maria Coswaybut mainly he is a personification of the Enlightenment's faith in human reason, progress, and education. It is a traditional interpretation, even conservativeJefferson's faults and mistakes are downplayed or excusedbut consistent with the weight of academic evidence. This is now the beginning biography for students and scholars alike. History Book Club main selection. Harry W. Fritz, History Dept., Univ. of Montana, Missoula
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.