This book wasn't extremely long, but it was packed full of good information. There were a lot of things about Jefferson that I had not learned before when I was reading this. It doesn't hide some of the poor decisions and poor actions that he made while he was living and working. We know the usual stories about Thomas Jefferson, but some of these are lesser known.

I like this author. I have read a few books by Joseph Ellis, and I have liked all of them. His work is very readable, as well as educational. I always learn something from his books. Thomas Jefferson is one of my favorite historical figures to read about. He was very dynamic in his political dealings, and his personal life was extremely dramatic and sometimes vile. I wish it wouldn't have taken me so long to get to this book, because I really enjoyed reading it. I appreciated the fact that he didn't make it a book condemning Jefferson for his slave ownership and relationship with his slaves. I also appreciated that it didn't make him into some type of Great American Hero. One problem with figures like this is that people want to only laud the good qualities and never take an objective look. Just because someone does some really great things, their negative attributes cannot be discounted...or vice versa. I think the author did a good job of being objective.