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Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives) by Christopher Hitchens
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Christopher Hitchens Edition: Hardcover Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2005-05-31 ISBN: 0060598964 Number of pages: 208 Publisher: Eminent Lives
Book Reviews of Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives)Book Review: History is a tragedy, not a morality tale Summary: 4 StarsIf you need an extremely well-written, concise, sympathetic, balanced and reasonably complete introduction to Thomas Jefferson, Hitchens has produced just the thing. Hitchens does particularly well where Thomas Jefferson's views mesh with his own - namely on religion and the disestablishment thereof. Hitchens does not hide Jefferson's many flaws but rather emphasises that first and foremost Jefferson was a man, not some disembodied icon. What others might see as Jefferson's hypocrasies, Hitchens sees as inconsistiencies or as a willingness to be opportunistic. Hitchens lauds Jefferson's victory in separating church and state and in establishing the United States as a continental force.
Hitchens sees Jefferson as an extraordinarily talented writer and a man attuned to the longer view. Less clear is Jefferson's failure to grasp the realities of the emergent US economy and his personal stakes in a slave-fueled plantation economy. The brevity of the book (and perhaps Hitchens own blind spots) leaves this subject and Jefferson's own profligacy largely unexplored.
The great tragedy Hitchens highlights is that for all that Jefferson transcended in helping to establish a republic based on human rights and natural law, he was unable to or chose not to deal with the wolf of slavery. He sees Jefferson's handling of slavery issues, especially when he was in a position to do something about it, as a deep flaw.
Overall, I think Hitchens is too forgiving of Jefferson's flaws as a person, a politician and as an aristocrat but he leaves the reader plenty of room to have a conversation about this intriguing and paradoxical man.
One aside: Hitchens uses none of his famous acid writing on Jefferson but he does remind us of what he can do when he lets himself go. The most obvious victim is Dumas Malone and his 6 volume biography of Jefferson. Hitchens describes (p181) Jefferson's creation of a philosophic bible, as Jefferson's "profane exercise of cutting up the holy book with a razor blade and throwing away all the superfluous, ridiculous, and devotional parts." Then adds paranthetically, "This is an exercise that I have long wanted to repeat in the case of the multivolume hagiography of Jefferson himself, penned so laboriously by Dumas Malone." I guess Hitchens simply couldn't resist.
There is no bibliography or index, but the acknowledgement provides a good summary of Hitchens' sources.
Summary of Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives)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. Situating Jefferson within the context of America's evolution and tracing his legacy over the past two hundred years, Hitchens brings the character of Jefferson to life as a man of his time and also as a symbolic figure beyond it. Conflicted by power, Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and acted as Minister to France yet yearned for a quieter career in the Virginia legislature. Predicting that slavery would shape the future of America's development, this professed proponent of emancipation elided the issue in the Declaration and continued to own human property. An eloquent writer, he was an awkward public speaker; a reluctant candidate, he left an indelible presidential legacy. Jefferson's statesmanship enabled him to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase with France, doubling the size of the nation, and he authorized the Lewis and Clark expedition, opening up the American frontier for exploration and settlement. Hitchens also analyzes Jefferson's handling of the Barbary War, a lesser-known chapter of his political career, when his attempt to end the kidnapping and bribery of Americans by the Barbary states, and the subsequent war with Tripoli, led to the building of the U.S. navy and the fortification of America's reputation regarding national defense. In the background of this sophisticated analysis is a large historical drama: the fledgling nation's struggle for independence, formed in the crucible of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, and, in its shadow, the deformation of that struggle in the excesses of the French Revolution. This artful portrait of a formative figure and a turbulent era poses a challenge to anyone interested in American history -- or in the ambiguities of human nature. 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. Situating Jefferson within the context of America's evolution and tracing his legacy over the past two hundred years, Hitchens brings the character of Jefferson to life as a man of his time and also as a symbolic figure beyond it. Conflicted by power, Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and acted as Minister to France yet yearned for a quieter career in the Virginia legislature. Predicting that slavery would shape the future of America's development, this professed proponent of emancipation elided the issue in the Declaration and continued to own human property. An eloquent writer, he was an awkward public speaker; a reluctant candidate, he left an indelible presidential legacy. Jefferson's statesmanship enabled him to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase with France, doubling the size of the nation, and he authorized the Lewis and Clark expedition, opening up the American frontier for exploration and settlement. Hitchens also analyzes Jefferson's handling of the Barbary War, a lesser-known chapter of his political career, when his attempt to end the kidnapping and bribery of Americans by the Barbary states, and the subsequent war with Tripoli, led to the building of the U.S. navy and the fortification of America's reputation regarding national defense. In the background of this sophisticated analysis is a large historical drama: the fledgling nation's struggle for independence, formed in the crucible of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, and, in its shadow, the deformation of that struggle in the excesses of the French Revolution. This artful portrait of a formative figure and a turbulent era poses a challenge to anyone interested in American history -- or in the ambiguities of human nature. Discover More Eminent Lives Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code by Matt Ridley | Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind by Peter Kramer | Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power by Ross King | Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time by Karen Armstrong | George Washington: The Founding Father by Paul Johnson | Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy's Guide by Joseph Epstein |
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