Thomas Jefferson: A Life

I have been familiar with the works of Willard Sterne Randall for some time now. He is best known for his biographies of the notorious Benedict Arnold, and Benjamin Franklin. But he has also written a couple of books about George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. However, I have stared across the room at his monumental life of Thomas Jefferson sitting unread on my bookshelf for several years now. In the doldrums of the winter months of 2013, however, I finally decided to see what the colonial author had to say about the third president of the United States. I soon found out just how much he had to say! This is one of the most thorough treatments of Jefferson's early life that I have personally encountered. Yet, I was compelled to take umbrage with several glaring problems. Firstly, Randall's blatant denial of any romantic relationship between Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings, simply cannot go unchallenged. Of course, given the fact that the author wrote this biography in the early 1990s (publication date is 1993)--several years prior to the release of DNA testing that undeniably linked Jefferson's offspring with those of Hemings--this misstatement can be forgiven. Still, unlike Joseph Ellis, who corrected his misstatements about the Jefferson-Hemings relationship in a subsequent edition of his "American Sphynx" published after the DNA results, I have been unable to locate any retraction made by Randall. Another problem with this biography is the uneven amount of time spent on Jefferson's early years as a Virginia lawyer (a profession he is supposed to have hated), and his time as minister to France in the mid-1780s. Both sections of the book offer very in-depth analysis of the life of a Virginian fighting to build a new world through the use of law and reason, as well as the vantage point of an American witness to the end of monarchical France and the start of the French Republic. But, both sections also take up several hundred pages between the two of them, leaving very little room for discussion of Jefferson's terms as Secretary of State, Vice President, and President of the United States. In fact, the later two positions are covered in less than a hundred pages! Lastly--and this is more a fault of the printer than the author--the book suffers from an extremely miniscule font that makes it intensely difficult to maintain focus! All-in-all, I was pleased with the time I spent with Mr. Randall and Mr. Jefferson; especially since Randall spends some time refuting the analysis of Fawn K. Brodie, one of the first authors on Jefferson I ever read. But, while I heartily recommend it to the Jeffersonian enthusiast, I must warn the reader who wishes only a cursory introduction to Jefferson to consider one of the lesser dense biographies--perhaps Bernstein's short introduction.

A very good biography from Willard Sterne Randall. He goes into detail every aspect of Jefferson's life. You really get to know the man and what made him what he became. He went into considerable detail about his time France which was about 10 years. While this had great influence on Jefferson a bit too much space is taken from this part of his life and not enough time given to his Presidency and his life after being President. I would gladly traded some information about his exploits in France for more about what he his was thinking during Lewis and Clark's expedition of the west. Also this book was written in 1993 before DNA testing was widely used. So his misgivings about Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemmings and possible other slaves can be somewhat ignored. But to my knowledge Randall has never written any updates to what his thinking now is after DNA testing has proven that someone in the Jefferson family,most likely TJ, fathered children with Hemmings. This cannot be ignored now. Still this is a fine book that was extremely well researched. Randall is terrific in giving many details, sometimes too many. But I rather an author err on the side of too much information than not enough. I have now read two books by Randall. The other was his biography on Benedict Arnold. I have his book on Washington on my wish list. So I consider him a fine author and that anyone interested in early American history should read his books.

Thomas Jefferson: A Life by William Sterne Randall was a highly enjoyable read. The book flowed well, particularly the second half. Randall presents a dignified portrait of his subject throughout, carefully avoiding getting bogged down in any of the tabloid-ish myths that so many biographers relish. I appreciate that.In the latter half of the book Jefferson really comes alive through the pages. One section in particular stands out for me. It is the portion of the book that covers Jefferson's years in Paris. This was not a section I was looking forward to and planned to rush through. However, I got completely pulled into the narrative, and now this is the most memorable part for me.I do have a couple of minor disappointments with the book though. First, I felt short-changed on the parts dealing with Jefferson's drafting of the Declaration of Independence. I would have loved to have gotten more inside the mans head as he wrote those words. I also would have appreciated more of the interaction between he, Franklin, and Adams in the refining process. But I guess too much detail here would have required a good bit of conjecture so I guess I should be grateful. Another unpleasant surprise was the fact that Jefferson's entire presidency is covered in one chapter. More time was spent on his diplomatic ventures in Europe than on his executive duties in America. I almost got the feeling the author got to that portion of the book and just got tired of writing or realized his deadline had arrived! Overall, though I am very glad I read the book.

Other reviewers have complained that this book gives too brief a treatment to Jefferson's presidential and post-presidential years, and certainly, if you're interested in a thorough study of Jefferson's presidency, this isn't the book for you. But it is, after all, called "Thomas Jefferson: A Life", not "Thomas Jefferson: A President". About 50 pages are devoted to the eight years of Jefferson's presidency, out of a touch less than 600 pages. Not an unreasonable percentage to devote to eight years out of a touch over eighty. Granted, his post-presidential years are skimmed over quite briefly, and could have been given a bit more attention, but it's a minor quibble.The major quibble is that the writing style can get a bit ponderous at times; I occasionally found myself struggling to keep my eyes open if at all drowsy. But the book is certainly worth a read for anyone interested in a close look at our third president, and the writer of the Declaration of Independence.

Fantastic in-depth portrayal of an important Statesman and integral character of Independence. Perhaps one not so well known to non Americans but an important foundational personality and intellect who suffered much tragedy in his personal life and struggled with the issue of slavery. Franklin has suffered from the modern historical 'fad' of historical revisionism and this excellent work puts the past into context and delivers a well written and erudite portrait of a remarkable character. Highly recommend.

I found this book informative and well-written. I learned much about this significant period of history. The only slight problem is that the scanning of the original text was not always accurate, with some rereading needed to work out what was meant.

an interesting man

My wife enjoyed it

Wonderful Biography of a Great Hero of mine xx