What do you think?
Rate this book
Thomas Jefferson A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity
It is the major premise of this book that the story of Thomas Jefferson in American History is a strange case of mistaken identity resulting in part from willful misrepresentation but even more from the wishful thinking of both admirers & detractors.List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsThe paradoxical patriotThe world beckons "Seminary of sedition" Reverberations of a soft voice Fire on the hill, snow on the mountainYear of decision Self-evident truths in a Virginia accent"With a single eye"Horseback governor "Divine discontent" Retreat from the world Return to the fray Paris & lifeHead, heart, & glandsStruggle of Titans"The only vice" "The child is father of the man"NotesSelect Critical BibliographyIndexAbout the Author
Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
2 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 26, 2009
For 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"
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"
September 18, 2018
I'd read Mapp's biography of Alfred the Great previously and was surprised to see that he'd also written this about our third president until I learned that Jefferson himself had been a student of Anglo-Saxon and the early history of the British Isles--as, indeed, he had been a student of a wide variety of topics, being, along with Franklin, one of the primary representatives of the Enlightenment in the Americas of the 18th century.
Anyway, I was preparing for a trip to Vermont to visit a retired historian and had just finished biographies of Washington and Adams, our first two presidents, and picked up this biography of Jefferson to supplement what I'd learned, years previously, from other works. Unlike Fawn Brody's work, however, Mapp's concerns itself exclusively with Jefferson up to his inauguration, focusing most at getting at, as his title suggests, the character, particularly the intellectual/ideological character, of the man.
Mapp's work pays off in his last section as he attempts, and admittedly fails, to put Jefferson within the categories of 'radical', 'liberal', 'moderate' and 'conservative', showing how, in his opinion, it is impossible to categorize and thereby limit a personality which he sees as having embodied genius--and, in most part, virtue. This is, in a word, an admiring biography. It's also a dated one, debates about Jefferson's mulatto progeny and sexual relations with Sally Hemings being addressed and dismissed--this being before the genetic analyses became available.
Notwithstanding, this is an excellent, accessible biography of the pre-presidential Jefferson which, as the author notes, explains how radicals, liberals, moderates and conservatives have, throughout the following years, been prone to consider him one of their own.
Anyway, I was preparing for a trip to Vermont to visit a retired historian and had just finished biographies of Washington and Adams, our first two presidents, and picked up this biography of Jefferson to supplement what I'd learned, years previously, from other works. Unlike Fawn Brody's work, however, Mapp's concerns itself exclusively with Jefferson up to his inauguration, focusing most at getting at, as his title suggests, the character, particularly the intellectual/ideological character, of the man.
Mapp's work pays off in his last section as he attempts, and admittedly fails, to put Jefferson within the categories of 'radical', 'liberal', 'moderate' and 'conservative', showing how, in his opinion, it is impossible to categorize and thereby limit a personality which he sees as having embodied genius--and, in most part, virtue. This is, in a word, an admiring biography. It's also a dated one, debates about Jefferson's mulatto progeny and sexual relations with Sally Hemings being addressed and dismissed--this being before the genetic analyses became available.
Notwithstanding, this is an excellent, accessible biography of the pre-presidential Jefferson which, as the author notes, explains how radicals, liberals, moderates and conservatives have, throughout the following years, been prone to consider him one of their own.
May 29, 2019
The book goes through Jefferson's journey and the impact he made on the US. Besides writing the Declaration of Independence, becoming a lawyer at such a young age, and being our third president of the United States of America, Thomas had a lot challenges he faced. From people judging and criticizing his every moves he had to fight for his respect. If you like to learn about US history and get just a little more in depth or incite this is the book for you! One of the cons from this book was the wording but overall the book shows a great massage.
June 1, 2024
I have read numerous books about Thomas Jefferson including Dumas Malone's multi-volume biography, Fawn Brodies and Jon Meachams, and Henry Adams account of Jefferson's Presidency in the first volume of his "History of the United States 1801-1819". This is a worthy addition to this oeuvre. Mapp covers some territory that the previous books did not cover, and particularly an assessment of his personality, his influence then and now, and an analysis of his political ideology expressed in terms of whether he was a liberal or conservative, or a mixture. Highly recommended.
August 15, 2019
The writing was good and propelled me to the end of this large book. It is not a comprehensive biography; Mapp only goes so far as to elaborate and support his thesis that Jefferson is misunderstood by historians.
Read
November 8, 2008So far this is a good intro to the life and times of Jefferson. It provides detailed, but non mind-numbingly so, descriptions of who and what influenced our third president. I think this is a good foundation for those who want to read Joseph Ellis' more in-depth tome, American Sphinx.
July 1, 2014
A pleasant read, but not a scholarly one. More for popular dissemination. No new ground or prospective, just the same old doubts raised about this enigmatic American hero.
April 19, 2013
Among the dozens of Jefferson biographies out there, Mapp's is among the best.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews