In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson

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