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Title: Thomas Jefferson
G. P. Putnam's Sons
Item Number: 9780399111662
Number: 1
Product Description: Thomas Jefferson
Universal Product Code (UPC): 9780399111662
WonderClub Stock Keeping Unit (WSKU): 9780399111662
Rating: 3.5/5 based on 2 Reviews
Image Location: https://wonderclub.com/images/covers/16/62/9780399111662.jpg
Weight: 0.200 kg (0.44 lbs)
Width: 0.000 cm (0.00 inches)
Heigh : 0.000 cm (0.00 inches)
Depth: 0.000 cm (0.00 inches)
Date Added: August 25, 2020, Added By: Ross
Date Last Edited: August 25, 2020, Edited By: Ross
Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
$99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub (9296 total ratings) |
John Combs
reviewed Thomas Jefferson on July 31, 2012For reasons that pass all human understanding, i have embarked on a mission to read biographies of all the presidents in order. and while i was planning on reading "american sphinx" by joseph ellis, i was informed that that book was more of an analysis. so i looked for a more direct biography, and figured i'd read "sphinx" later.
This book was on the list of suggested reading at the "Thomas Jefferson Hour", a podcast/radio show featuring humanity scholar Clay Jenkinson who portrays Jefferson in a weekly broadcast. And since my altneratives seemed to be 1) throwing myself on the mercy of the Amazon user reviews, 2) reading a series of bios of various aspects of Jefferson's life (his time in France, or his relationship with Sally Hemmings, or his presidency), or 3) devoting the next six months of my life to Dumas Malone's 6 volume work, i picked this work up.
what a mistake.
first, Mapp's style is to quote so liberally from Jefferson's letters that at times the book reads like a high school "cut and paste" report. No wonder he credits Julian Boyd at the end of the book with his brilliant cataloguing of Jefferson's letters, and equally, that Mapp's method seems to suddenly end in 1791, the point to which the letter cataloguing had progressed when he published this book.
second, and probably as a result of the former, there is no analysis of Jefferson in this volume. No discussion of the contradictions as they happen. For example, at the end of the revolution, the dutch want to call in the loans they made to the U.S. Adams, who is about to return to the states to be vice president, and who has been dealing directly and personally with the dutch for several years, says the U.S. should refuse. Jefferson, who has not, and who's knowledge of finances at this point is marginal at best, presses Adams to accept. Adams finally tells Jefferson he can do what he likes, since he is leaving the continent. Jefferson then renegotiates. And then, many pages later, we learn that while Jefferson was doing so, he also wangled a personal loan to cover his own debts, from these very same dutch bankers. Does this not seem odd? Does this not require some kind of comment? But Mapp is silent.
Or there's the story of jefferson demanding that his youngest daughter come to Europe, after he'd already left her when she was 5, hadn't seen her in three years, and was tearing her away from people she'd come to regard as family. The child is, as one would imagine, heartbroken. But Jefferson is adamant - he cannot live without his daughter. She is shipped over to England where her father does not meet her (and her 14 year old slave who is minding her), so she ends up staying with the Adamses for a few weeks. Then does Jefferson come to get her? No, he sends his valet to tear her away from Abigail Adams whom she has grown attached to. And then, finally, when she arrives in Paris, Jefferson promptly goes on a six week trip to southern France! Alone! This is the behaviour of a man who couldn't live without his youngest daughter? Doesn't this seem worthy of comment? Not to Professor Mapp.
third, again, not surprising considering the above, Jefferson really fails to emerge as a living breathing person. Mapp records the events of Jefferson's life, without going the extra mile to reveal the man. As a result, Jefferson comes off as something of an automaton. It could be argued that perhaps Mapp thinks Jefferson WAS a robot - but there's a difference between showing that and forcing readers to come to that opinion by process of elimination.
but lastly, the most disappointing part of this biography was the final chapter when Professor Mapp ostensibly sets out to answer the peculiar claim of his title. That is, that Jefferson has been completely misunderstood by legions of biographers to this point. For apparently Jefferson has been co-opted by legions of liberal biographers who have mistakenly seen Jefferson as one of them. But he's not! According to Professor Mapp, he has far more in common with conservatives than he does with liberals. Professor Mapp goes to the principles of conservativism as laid out in a 1960s conference featuring William F. Buckley to show how truly conservative Jefferson is (including claiming that Jefferson was anti-communist because he swore to fight tyranny wherever he found it. I don't know how you feel about communism, but this seems to me the most general of connects at best). And as for Jefferson being a liberal? Mapp goes to early 20th century definitions of liberalism to refute that claim, which itself seems a poor argument. If your definition of conservatism came from the 1960s, wouldn't it make sense to have your definition of liberalism come from then too? Of course, Professor Mapp goes to great lengths to say that any definitions of "liberal" and "conservative" are highly contextual and shift with the times. Indeed, he spends more paragraphs on shooting down the relevance of the argument he is about to make than he does discussing the profound contradiction of Jefferson's ownership of slaves (according to Mapp, he was far more liberal than most of his Virginia neighbors on this issue, even though he didn't free them and indeed sold them, bought them, and broke up families. And that's about all Professor Mapp has to say on that subject).
Look, I've read enough biographies to realize that no one dedicates years of their life to research and write about someone they hate. There is an inherent bias in every biography. How could there not be. So as a reader of biographies, one must take that into account and try to read "through" the bias to get a sense of the person and by doing so, appreciate and evaluate their accomplishments and achievements all the more. But this biography - so devoid of analysis for so long, and then so clearly biased politically at the end - is such a profound disappointment and failure that one can only shake one's head in dismay.
It should be noted, this is the first of a two volume biography; this covers up to Jefferson's presidency, the second covers presidency through death. Will I read the second volume? Yes, probably. Because I'm a glutton for punishment. But should you read either? No. Indeed, if you read or have read another biography of Jefferson, I would appreciate you suggesting it to me.
In the meantime, bring on "American Sphinx"
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