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ROAD TO MONTICELLO: The Life And Mind Of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was an avid book-collector, a voracious reader, and a gifted writer, a man who prided himself on his knowledge of classical and modern languages and whose marginal annotations include quotations from Euripides, Herodotus, and Milton. And yet there has never been a literary life of our most literary president.
In The Road to Monticello, Kevin J. Hayes fills this important gap by offering a lively account of Jefferson's intellectual development, focusing on the books that exerted the most profound influence on his writing and thinking. Moving chronologically through Jefferson's life, Hayes reveals the full range and depth of Jefferson's literary passions, from the popular "small books" sold by traveling chapmen, such as The History of Fortunatas and The History of Tom Thumb that enthralled him as a child, to his lifelong love of Aesop's Fables and Robinson Crusoe, his engagement with Horace, Ovid, Virgil and other writers of classical antiquity, and his deep affinity with the melancholy verse of Ossian, the legendary third-century Gaelic warrior-poet. Drawing on Jefferson's letters, journals, and commonplace books, Hayes offers a wealth of new scholarship on the literary culture of colonial America, identifies previously unknown books held in Jefferson's libraries, reconstructs Jefferson's investigations of such different fields of knowledge as law, history, philosophy, and natural science and, most importantly, lays bare the ideas which informed the thinking of America's first great intellectual.
In The Road to Monticello, Kevin J. Hayes fills this important gap by offering a lively account of Jefferson's intellectual development, focusing on the books that exerted the most profound influence on his writing and thinking. Moving chronologically through Jefferson's life, Hayes reveals the full range and depth of Jefferson's literary passions, from the popular "small books" sold by traveling chapmen, such as The History of Fortunatas and The History of Tom Thumb that enthralled him as a child, to his lifelong love of Aesop's Fables and Robinson Crusoe, his engagement with Horace, Ovid, Virgil and other writers of classical antiquity, and his deep affinity with the melancholy verse of Ossian, the legendary third-century Gaelic warrior-poet. Drawing on Jefferson's letters, journals, and commonplace books, Hayes offers a wealth of new scholarship on the literary culture of colonial America, identifies previously unknown books held in Jefferson's libraries, reconstructs Jefferson's investigations of such different fields of knowledge as law, history, philosophy, and natural science and, most importantly, lays bare the ideas which informed the thinking of America's first great intellectual.
749 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2008
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June 23, 2025
Historian Kevin J. Hayes brings us the literary pursuits, personal libraries, thoughts, correspondence, and advances in education and government bestowed to the United States (and the world for that matter) by Thomas Jefferson. From the opening chapters, the research is meticulously brought to the pages—perhaps almost too detailed—where Hayes delves into certain phrases, inscriptions, and quotes drafted and highlighted by Jefferson and thereby presumes the young classically-educated boy used these as dogma throughout his life. The more interesting material is found through his conversations, letters, books, and education gained from such figures as his best friend and eventual brother-in-law Dabney Carr, their fellow classmate John Page, and teachers James Maury, William Small, and George Wythe.
The Road to Monticello is a homage to Jefferson’s literary, scientific and educational pursuits, with Hayes connecting his works such as the Summary View of the Rights of British America and the Declaration of Independence to famous diatribes of the time given by budding congressmen Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, as well as being influenced by fictional works and the relevant theater of the eighteenth century. Whether following Jefferson’s marital pursuit of Martha Skelton, or his sudden rise in ranks to the House of Burgess and later Continental Congress, the reader will find he had a genuine passion for seeking out his family, peer, and local gentry’s literature tastes and libraries that he was in good graces with—and his opinion and approval certainly mattered to them in good turn.
Hayes at times speculates too far into Jefferson’s supposed influences from literature and classical works that are seen in his letters, as he takes us through Jefferson’s travels abroad in Europe and captures the food, art, landscape, and culture in one instance, and yet later loses the reader’s attention due to random musings on irrelevant conversations and purchases. It becomes more apparent following Jefferson’s European sojourns and on into his political campaigning and role in the Early U.S. Republic that the book itself lacks the engagement of other character studies on the enlightened Founder. Indeed, the reader at times may wander off and become disinterested in the text due to both its length and Hayes’s further elaboration of Jefferson’s various correspondence and works. Nonetheless, there are interesting tidbits found throughout his escapades in the French, German, and Italian countrysides:
After a few days in Milan, he turned south toward Genoa. Along the way, he passed through Rozzano, where he observed how to make parmesan cheese and recorded the process for posterity. He also sampled mascarpone, which he found delicious. And he fell in love with pasta. When Short traveled through Italy later, Jefferson asked him to buy a mold for making spaghetti and macaroni. Frustrated with the difficulty and expense of importing pasta to Virginia, he eventually designed his own pasta maker. Beyond his importance as author, leader, and thinker, Thomas Jefferson deserves the gratitude of his fellow Americans for domestic reasons, too: he personally introduced macaroni and cheese to the United States.
Hayes aptly covers Jefferson’s contributions to the Library of Congress with his own collection of books being purchased after the British burned most of the Capital in the War of 1812, though he fails to note that this was not all out of charity as this was a much needed windfall in order to make due on his notorious profligate spending and debts incurred. He includes Jefferson’s authorship and advances to the field of literature late in life with his biography of Meriwether Lewis and his own autobiography, as well as his long overdue amends to his friendship with John and Abigail Adams which included over a decade of wonderful and inspiring letter writing back and forth—thankfully spurred on by Benjamin Rush. The infamously fascinating The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth is discussed in detail, to which Jefferson was marred an atheist due to his literal cutting and pasting of verses. He goes further to remove the divine miracles found in various versions and languages of the Bible, and thence focuses on Jesus as a philosopher and teacher, rather than as a man of miracles and deity.
Closure is brought in a rather quick manner with Jefferson’s tribute to the educational system through his founding of the University of Virginia, a monumental and groundbreaking task for an ex-president in his retirement years. While this is indeed important, Hayes unfortunately follows this with only a brief mention of his final days and death. The reader will no doubt find that this work will stand through the ages as a sound source of study on the literature and letters of Jefferson, with portraits and illustrations scattered throughout that depict the Founder, his family, acquaintances, as well as Monticello and other buildings associated with his life.
The Road to Monticello is a homage to Jefferson’s literary, scientific and educational pursuits, with Hayes connecting his works such as the Summary View of the Rights of British America and the Declaration of Independence to famous diatribes of the time given by budding congressmen Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, as well as being influenced by fictional works and the relevant theater of the eighteenth century. Whether following Jefferson’s marital pursuit of Martha Skelton, or his sudden rise in ranks to the House of Burgess and later Continental Congress, the reader will find he had a genuine passion for seeking out his family, peer, and local gentry’s literature tastes and libraries that he was in good graces with—and his opinion and approval certainly mattered to them in good turn.
Hayes at times speculates too far into Jefferson’s supposed influences from literature and classical works that are seen in his letters, as he takes us through Jefferson’s travels abroad in Europe and captures the food, art, landscape, and culture in one instance, and yet later loses the reader’s attention due to random musings on irrelevant conversations and purchases. It becomes more apparent following Jefferson’s European sojourns and on into his political campaigning and role in the Early U.S. Republic that the book itself lacks the engagement of other character studies on the enlightened Founder. Indeed, the reader at times may wander off and become disinterested in the text due to both its length and Hayes’s further elaboration of Jefferson’s various correspondence and works. Nonetheless, there are interesting tidbits found throughout his escapades in the French, German, and Italian countrysides:
After a few days in Milan, he turned south toward Genoa. Along the way, he passed through Rozzano, where he observed how to make parmesan cheese and recorded the process for posterity. He also sampled mascarpone, which he found delicious. And he fell in love with pasta. When Short traveled through Italy later, Jefferson asked him to buy a mold for making spaghetti and macaroni. Frustrated with the difficulty and expense of importing pasta to Virginia, he eventually designed his own pasta maker. Beyond his importance as author, leader, and thinker, Thomas Jefferson deserves the gratitude of his fellow Americans for domestic reasons, too: he personally introduced macaroni and cheese to the United States.
Hayes aptly covers Jefferson’s contributions to the Library of Congress with his own collection of books being purchased after the British burned most of the Capital in the War of 1812, though he fails to note that this was not all out of charity as this was a much needed windfall in order to make due on his notorious profligate spending and debts incurred. He includes Jefferson’s authorship and advances to the field of literature late in life with his biography of Meriwether Lewis and his own autobiography, as well as his long overdue amends to his friendship with John and Abigail Adams which included over a decade of wonderful and inspiring letter writing back and forth—thankfully spurred on by Benjamin Rush. The infamously fascinating The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth is discussed in detail, to which Jefferson was marred an atheist due to his literal cutting and pasting of verses. He goes further to remove the divine miracles found in various versions and languages of the Bible, and thence focuses on Jesus as a philosopher and teacher, rather than as a man of miracles and deity.
Closure is brought in a rather quick manner with Jefferson’s tribute to the educational system through his founding of the University of Virginia, a monumental and groundbreaking task for an ex-president in his retirement years. While this is indeed important, Hayes unfortunately follows this with only a brief mention of his final days and death. The reader will no doubt find that this work will stand through the ages as a sound source of study on the literature and letters of Jefferson, with portraits and illustrations scattered throughout that depict the Founder, his family, acquaintances, as well as Monticello and other buildings associated with his life.
August 16, 2022
https://wp.me/p302YQ-5Yu
Kevin Hayes's "The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson" was published in 2008 and is the first 'literary life' of Thomas Jefferson. Hayes is emeritus professor of English at the University of Central Oklahoma and is the author of "George Washington: A Life in Books" and "The Mind of a Patriot: Patrick Henry and the World of Ideas."
Of this country's 45 presidents, Thomas Jefferson stands out as one of the most fervent fans of the written word. He was a voracious reader, an extremely skilled writer and an extremely devoted collector of books. Given this backdrop, Hayes has written a unique - and impressively thorough - account of Jefferson's intellectual life by focusing on the letters he wrote and the books he collected and studied.
Early in its 644-page run, this book exhibits most of the look and feel of a traditional, comprehensive biography...but with a pronounced emphasis on Jefferson's literary life. And intermittently throughout its forty-two chapters, nearly all of the critical elements, milestones and events of Jefferson's life are introduced.
But in no way is "The Road to Monticello" a traditional biography of Jefferson, nor can it serve as a reasonable substitute for one. Instead, this is a remarkably deep, detailed and erudite study of Jefferson's intellectual life as gleaned through careful investigation of the written words which infused his personal and professional lives.
As a result of the book's unique mission, however, its content will appeal only to a narrow audience - a very small slice of those readers already familiar with Jefferson who are interested in a scholarly (and almost philosophical) exploration of his intellectual evolution. In addition, anyone specifically interested in connecting his most famous works (such as the Declaration of Independence and Notes on the State of Virginia) to his literary and oratorical influences will find that well-explored here.
But Hayes is far more concerned with the books Jefferson bought, traded, loaned and read than he is concerned with revealing Jefferson's personal or professional relationships, how or why he sought the presidency or what he actually did while in political office.
Indeed, the reader learns far more of Jefferson's literary curiosities during his "retirement" years in the mid-1790s than of his tenure as Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State or his two terms in the White House. As a result, anyone expecting to obtain a thorough introduction to Jefferson's personal and political lives will find these facets of his life difficult (if not impossible) to discern and digest.
Overall, Kevin Hayes's "The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson" is quite good at offering a robust exploration of Jefferson's relationship with the printed word. But while this book contains much of the skeleton of a traditional biography, it offers virtually none of the texture or topography that would animate or delineate this former president's persona.
Overall Rating: "Unrated" as Biography
Kevin Hayes's "The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson" was published in 2008 and is the first 'literary life' of Thomas Jefferson. Hayes is emeritus professor of English at the University of Central Oklahoma and is the author of "George Washington: A Life in Books" and "The Mind of a Patriot: Patrick Henry and the World of Ideas."
Of this country's 45 presidents, Thomas Jefferson stands out as one of the most fervent fans of the written word. He was a voracious reader, an extremely skilled writer and an extremely devoted collector of books. Given this backdrop, Hayes has written a unique - and impressively thorough - account of Jefferson's intellectual life by focusing on the letters he wrote and the books he collected and studied.
Early in its 644-page run, this book exhibits most of the look and feel of a traditional, comprehensive biography...but with a pronounced emphasis on Jefferson's literary life. And intermittently throughout its forty-two chapters, nearly all of the critical elements, milestones and events of Jefferson's life are introduced.
But in no way is "The Road to Monticello" a traditional biography of Jefferson, nor can it serve as a reasonable substitute for one. Instead, this is a remarkably deep, detailed and erudite study of Jefferson's intellectual life as gleaned through careful investigation of the written words which infused his personal and professional lives.
As a result of the book's unique mission, however, its content will appeal only to a narrow audience - a very small slice of those readers already familiar with Jefferson who are interested in a scholarly (and almost philosophical) exploration of his intellectual evolution. In addition, anyone specifically interested in connecting his most famous works (such as the Declaration of Independence and Notes on the State of Virginia) to his literary and oratorical influences will find that well-explored here.
But Hayes is far more concerned with the books Jefferson bought, traded, loaned and read than he is concerned with revealing Jefferson's personal or professional relationships, how or why he sought the presidency or what he actually did while in political office.
Indeed, the reader learns far more of Jefferson's literary curiosities during his "retirement" years in the mid-1790s than of his tenure as Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State or his two terms in the White House. As a result, anyone expecting to obtain a thorough introduction to Jefferson's personal and political lives will find these facets of his life difficult (if not impossible) to discern and digest.
Overall, Kevin Hayes's "The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson" is quite good at offering a robust exploration of Jefferson's relationship with the printed word. But while this book contains much of the skeleton of a traditional biography, it offers virtually none of the texture or topography that would animate or delineate this former president's persona.
Overall Rating: "Unrated" as Biography
July 1, 2011
A kind of "literary biography" of President Jefferson. Kevin Hayes focuses on Jefferson as a man of letters and learning, and what that might have meant for the identity of young America.
There is certainly plenty of material, and much of it is a pleasure. If you, like me, are interested in books and book collecting, much of the book's value and enjoyment will come simply from reading about the building of Jefferson's library, about the sheer numbers of books he bought, and the influences that books had on Jefferson's literary talent. Much of the book in general is devoted to this: titles, editions, provenance- we are treated to a dizzying amount of detail about Jefferson's collection. I found all of this quite enjoyable, because I'm a book collector myself.
For the nonspecialist or non-aficionado, however, the detail can sometimes be too much, particularly because Hayes doesn't really attempt to place Jefferson's reading or book collecting in context with his political life.That angle would have seemed obvious to me, especially because the effect of Jefferson's reading on his literary talent is documented in some detail. The political aspect is dealt with, but not in solid context with the literary. The duality sometimes makes the book heavier going than it had to be.
And not heavier as in " weightier" or "more substantive"; as long as this book is, it doesn't develop a position or thesis effectively; it simply tells a story, which in a book this length, begins to ramble a little- as does Hayes' academic, bloodless voice. I don't see how this would have been any less effective at a third of the length; maybe not as enjoyable in parts, but there's definitely some padding here.
I would probably read this as a complement to a more straightforward and comprehensive biography of Jefferson. This one is a little specialized, and more inaccessible than generally makes for an effective one-volume biography.
There is certainly plenty of material, and much of it is a pleasure. If you, like me, are interested in books and book collecting, much of the book's value and enjoyment will come simply from reading about the building of Jefferson's library, about the sheer numbers of books he bought, and the influences that books had on Jefferson's literary talent. Much of the book in general is devoted to this: titles, editions, provenance- we are treated to a dizzying amount of detail about Jefferson's collection. I found all of this quite enjoyable, because I'm a book collector myself.
For the nonspecialist or non-aficionado, however, the detail can sometimes be too much, particularly because Hayes doesn't really attempt to place Jefferson's reading or book collecting in context with his political life.That angle would have seemed obvious to me, especially because the effect of Jefferson's reading on his literary talent is documented in some detail. The political aspect is dealt with, but not in solid context with the literary. The duality sometimes makes the book heavier going than it had to be.
And not heavier as in " weightier" or "more substantive"; as long as this book is, it doesn't develop a position or thesis effectively; it simply tells a story, which in a book this length, begins to ramble a little- as does Hayes' academic, bloodless voice. I don't see how this would have been any less effective at a third of the length; maybe not as enjoyable in parts, but there's definitely some padding here.
I would probably read this as a complement to a more straightforward and comprehensive biography of Jefferson. This one is a little specialized, and more inaccessible than generally makes for an effective one-volume biography.
March 15, 2011
The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson by Kevin J. Hayes. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. 752 pages.
While I was visiting my aunt in Washington, D.C., in the early 1990s, she suggested a road trip: first, to Luray Caverns, then down Skyline Drive to a town where we’d stay overnight, then over to Charlottesville for the triple play of Monticello, Michie Tavern (lunch), and Ash Lawn. Off we went, stopping in Charlottesville first at the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center. It was at the center that I first started falling in love with founding father and American sphinx Thomas Jefferson. Here and at Monticello, Jefferson’s inventive mind and hands-on applications are revealed in a variety of ways, including the oddities he imagined and the nails he made.
In The Road to Monticello, Kevin J. Hayes explores that Enlightenment mind set through the books Jefferson read, acquired, and cherished and through his writings, from personal letters to his major works, from his “Head and Heart” letter to Maria Cosway to the Declaration of Independence, Notes on the State of Virginia, and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom. The biography is more or less chronological, from his early life under the tutelage of George Wythe, during which he developed his interests in law and languages, to his design for his epitaph and his death on July 4, 1826—followed five and one-half hours later by that of friend and foe John Adams.
Hayes covers Jefferson’s many advanced interests and everything that can be known or conjectured about his library, his passion for books as objects, his political and religious beliefs, his travels, his family and friends, and the influences and experiences that informed his views and convictions. By the end, Hayes seems to have created that which he set out to: a comprehensive portrayal of Jefferson’s life and mind gleaned from his books and intellectual pursuits.
Hayes falls short in two areas, one of which he concedes at the beginning. Like Adams and Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson was keenly aware that he would become a historical figure and that future Americans would pore over his words and life story. Adams and Franklin wrote their letters and messages accordingly, knowing that they would become part of posterity. Adams in particular seems to have held little back; both wanted to be understood. In contrast, Jefferson worked to efface his personal life and feelings from the record. The “Head and Heart” dialogue, and the form in which it’s written, reveal Jefferson’s discomfort with emotions as well as his apparently inability to express them directly. Perhaps he found this frustrating; “Head” poses a hyperbolic argument against forming attachments, but “Heart,” according to Hayes, gets in the last word and “rejects the pleasures of solitude and upholds the value of friendship.”
The second problem is Hayes’ lack of objectivity and the skewed picture that results. While he lavishes attention on such details as the backgrounds of the booksellers from whom Jefferson acquired his books, he mentions little that is controversial or negative about Jefferson. He glosses over his attitude toward his slaves and his refusal to free them, his relationship with Sally Hemings, his proclivity for overspending, and the financial straits in which he left his family. The uninformed reader won’t learn from Hayes about the unapologetic Jefferson’s secret collaboration with Benjamin Franklin Bache to smear John Adams’ character or how deep was the bitterness that grew between the two men. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought they merely disagreed on some key issues, become estranged over them, and reconciled late in life. Jefferson’s duplicity and manipulations are as protected from public view as he would have wished them to be.
The Road to Monticello is a solid if lopsided biography that delivers part of its promise, a glimpse into the life and mind of Thomas Jefferson, but only in idealizing soft focus. His heart and soul are missing, and so are the negative traits that round out his character and make him more than just an Enlightenment thinker; they make him a human being as flawed as the rest of the species. You can’t go wrong reading The Road to Monticello; knowledge of the breadth and depth of Jefferson’s readings and interests alone will expand your mind and thought process. But you would do yourself—and, dare I say it, Jefferson—a real disservice if you stopped here and didn’t dig deeper to explore the darker aspects of his enigmatic nature. For all its length and the research behind it, The Road to Monticello is just a detailed sketch. Supplement it with a full portrait, shade and shadows included.
Copyright © 2011 by Diane L. Schirf
Friday, 11 March 2011
While I was visiting my aunt in Washington, D.C., in the early 1990s, she suggested a road trip: first, to Luray Caverns, then down Skyline Drive to a town where we’d stay overnight, then over to Charlottesville for the triple play of Monticello, Michie Tavern (lunch), and Ash Lawn. Off we went, stopping in Charlottesville first at the Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center. It was at the center that I first started falling in love with founding father and American sphinx Thomas Jefferson. Here and at Monticello, Jefferson’s inventive mind and hands-on applications are revealed in a variety of ways, including the oddities he imagined and the nails he made.
In The Road to Monticello, Kevin J. Hayes explores that Enlightenment mind set through the books Jefferson read, acquired, and cherished and through his writings, from personal letters to his major works, from his “Head and Heart” letter to Maria Cosway to the Declaration of Independence, Notes on the State of Virginia, and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom. The biography is more or less chronological, from his early life under the tutelage of George Wythe, during which he developed his interests in law and languages, to his design for his epitaph and his death on July 4, 1826—followed five and one-half hours later by that of friend and foe John Adams.
Hayes covers Jefferson’s many advanced interests and everything that can be known or conjectured about his library, his passion for books as objects, his political and religious beliefs, his travels, his family and friends, and the influences and experiences that informed his views and convictions. By the end, Hayes seems to have created that which he set out to: a comprehensive portrayal of Jefferson’s life and mind gleaned from his books and intellectual pursuits.
Hayes falls short in two areas, one of which he concedes at the beginning. Like Adams and Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson was keenly aware that he would become a historical figure and that future Americans would pore over his words and life story. Adams and Franklin wrote their letters and messages accordingly, knowing that they would become part of posterity. Adams in particular seems to have held little back; both wanted to be understood. In contrast, Jefferson worked to efface his personal life and feelings from the record. The “Head and Heart” dialogue, and the form in which it’s written, reveal Jefferson’s discomfort with emotions as well as his apparently inability to express them directly. Perhaps he found this frustrating; “Head” poses a hyperbolic argument against forming attachments, but “Heart,” according to Hayes, gets in the last word and “rejects the pleasures of solitude and upholds the value of friendship.”
The second problem is Hayes’ lack of objectivity and the skewed picture that results. While he lavishes attention on such details as the backgrounds of the booksellers from whom Jefferson acquired his books, he mentions little that is controversial or negative about Jefferson. He glosses over his attitude toward his slaves and his refusal to free them, his relationship with Sally Hemings, his proclivity for overspending, and the financial straits in which he left his family. The uninformed reader won’t learn from Hayes about the unapologetic Jefferson’s secret collaboration with Benjamin Franklin Bache to smear John Adams’ character or how deep was the bitterness that grew between the two men. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought they merely disagreed on some key issues, become estranged over them, and reconciled late in life. Jefferson’s duplicity and manipulations are as protected from public view as he would have wished them to be.
The Road to Monticello is a solid if lopsided biography that delivers part of its promise, a glimpse into the life and mind of Thomas Jefferson, but only in idealizing soft focus. His heart and soul are missing, and so are the negative traits that round out his character and make him more than just an Enlightenment thinker; they make him a human being as flawed as the rest of the species. You can’t go wrong reading The Road to Monticello; knowledge of the breadth and depth of Jefferson’s readings and interests alone will expand your mind and thought process. But you would do yourself—and, dare I say it, Jefferson—a real disservice if you stopped here and didn’t dig deeper to explore the darker aspects of his enigmatic nature. For all its length and the research behind it, The Road to Monticello is just a detailed sketch. Supplement it with a full portrait, shade and shadows included.
Copyright © 2011 by Diane L. Schirf
Friday, 11 March 2011
April 17, 2013
Magisterial. As fine a literary tribute as the subject could deserve. Jefferson was a pre-eminent man of letters and his life was defined more by his pursuit of books and knowledge, than by the offices through which he expressed his learned views on government, society and nature.
Hayes provides an insight not only into what Jefferson was reading at all stages of his life(not just titles but story and themes), as well as how the book was received at the time, and how Jefferson later made use of the ideas of phrases of it in his life. This helps show how one of Americas finest writers, author of the incomparable Declaration of Independence, gained the language and ideas which he then could put forth.
If you want to know the mind of Thomas Jefferson, this is the book to read.
Hayes provides an insight not only into what Jefferson was reading at all stages of his life(not just titles but story and themes), as well as how the book was received at the time, and how Jefferson later made use of the ideas of phrases of it in his life. This helps show how one of Americas finest writers, author of the incomparable Declaration of Independence, gained the language and ideas which he then could put forth.
If you want to know the mind of Thomas Jefferson, this is the book to read.
August 24, 2015
Way too much around Jefferson's library. What he read, what books he bought, and less about his actual life.
June 27, 2016
I can't finish this one. 95 pages in and nothing happening but a review of the books he read.
March 25, 2025
This is a very thorough look at the life and times of Thomas Jefferson, our 3rd president. I think this could have been condensed a little, some repetitive spots and places where it gets bogged down. So much to love here though. My favorite part was his emphasis on the reading, writing, and library stuff being such an avid reader myself. Learned a lot of things about his life and about some of the characters that he interacted with in his long life. The author downplays anything about God or the supernatural which is a downer throughout. Such an amazing thing that he and John Adams both dies on Independence Day's 50th anniversary.
May 12, 2017
A very long, but worthwhile reading experience. No matter how many times I read about Jefferson, I always learn more about the magic of early America and the living history of my own understanding. I especially enjoyed this authors close attention to Jefferson's personal reading habits and the extensive library that became the first library of Congress.
February 9, 2020
It was an interesting biography that discussed his many friendships and supporters but it was a tedious book. I skimmed several parts of the book. I have read other more interesting books about him and John Adams, in particular.
June 5, 2023
Not a political biography, the author's choice of title is literal. Go in with this knowledge.
March 29, 2020
Though at times the book loses itself in details, I found that overall it gave a wonderful image of the mind of Thomas Jefferson. I've often been interested in Jefferson the intellectual over Jefferson the politician. While his political side is of course of extreme importance, I've found myself sifting through biographies searching for his daily lifestyle and reading habits. This book focuses very deeply on the development of Jefferson's views and career, not just the public debates but the private reflection, information, correspondents and major emotional events that shaped him outside of legislation.
It gives insight not only to Jefferson's lifestyle but also to the American intellectual social circle of the late 1700's and early 1800's, the books they were reading, the art they were enjoying, the movements they were participating in, the arguments they were having and the events they were discussing. What was the social climate like for an outsider invading the salons of pre-revolutionary Paris? What was it like to read, consider, and decide on independence? What was university like? What was the composition of his library, and what does that say about him?
This book provides rich context for all of this.
It gives insight not only to Jefferson's lifestyle but also to the American intellectual social circle of the late 1700's and early 1800's, the books they were reading, the art they were enjoying, the movements they were participating in, the arguments they were having and the events they were discussing. What was the social climate like for an outsider invading the salons of pre-revolutionary Paris? What was it like to read, consider, and decide on independence? What was university like? What was the composition of his library, and what does that say about him?
This book provides rich context for all of this.
September 7, 2016
Looking at it as a typical biography, it’s a bit weak. Most of the major events of Jefferson’s life are covered but aren’t always given much more than a passing mention. As a literary and cultural biography of Jefferson, though, it’s excellent. Hayes’ focus on the books Jefferson bought for himself and others and the impact his reading and writing had on his life gives readers a chance to know the man in a way standard biography can’t.
February 2, 2009
The author has conducted a great deal of research and provides tremendous insights into the origins and developments of Jefferson's thoughts as understood through his books. It is jam-packed with information. However it is written in an academic style, which is fine as long as the reader knows to expect it.
April 15, 2010
It is hard to think of a better subject than Thomas Jefferson for such a fine extended literary biography as the one at hand. Here the scholar Kevin Hayes nicely and authoritatively relates how books and the love of learning formed the central core to the elusive life that was Mr. Jefferson's, one of the most important political, diplomatic, and educational figures in our nation's history.
July 29, 2010
I'm scanning this one for Jefferson's thoughts on religion and morality. This is a very interesting book that is focused on Jefferson's reading and analysis on his library, notes, letters and writings rather than just a straight biography. Very interesting comments on the apostles and the idea of the trinity.
February 5, 2014
The Scholarship of this history is not only very compelling but it shows Mr. Jefferson in a new light. How the composition of his Great Library helped shape his mind and make him the man he was.
While I wish Mr. Hayes dedicated more time to Mr. Jefferson's presidency and his association with the other founding fathers, overall the book was excellent.
While I wish Mr. Hayes dedicated more time to Mr. Jefferson's presidency and his association with the other founding fathers, overall the book was excellent.
January 14, 2017
This is a refreshing picture of Jefferson. Its emphasis is on Jefferson the lover of books. Controversial topics like Sally Hemings barely appear. This picture suggest new perspectives on his political philosophy, his political career and his personal vision of his place in history.
Want to Read
October 31, 2009Learning a lot from this book but it's LONG...have to table it for awhile!
April 4, 2010
Good information on TJ. A bit of a slog though - not sure if I care how he arranged vol. 1, 2nd edition on the 3rd shelf and the sun shone in at 2 p.m. from a 45 degree angle.
October 19, 2011
I got it from the Library and returned it unread.
It was hard to read, there were many refurences that I did not understand.
I will chose another author, same subject.
It was hard to read, there were many refurences that I did not understand.
I will chose another author, same subject.
January 5, 2012
كتاب معقد ويحتاح إلى سعة بال وصبر وبحث كثير، أكثر مايكون بحتاً مطولاً في التطور الفكري لتوماس جيفرسون من أنه عرض حياته
March 17, 2012
Informative about Jefferson but could have been shortened quite a bit if the author had not wrtten so much about his addiction to books. I got that point in the early part of the book.
July 28, 2012
Fascinating approach - Thomas Jefferson as writer and reader. Definitely one to re-read some day.
June 16, 2012
Didn't finish; was more about his book buying habits ; I picked up another book on his life;
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