THE LIVING JEFFERSON

by James Truslow Adams ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 1936

Anything that Adams writes is certain to be stimulating, due to his lucid, fluent style -- and his uncompromising viewpoint. The Living Jefferson is no exception; the subject is still a controversial one. This book is at one and the same time, less than a biography and more than one:- less, because it sketches Jefferson's life in broad strokes, with no cluttering of details and dates and events; more, because the author paints in a vivid background of the whole period covered by his life, a performance possible only to an historian who has the whole American scene at his command. His text is Jefferson's rank as a great liberal, and the vitality of his ideals, which have kept -- him like Hamilton and for different reasons -- a living American force down to the present day. Almost -- and with amazing balance -- the book is as much a life of Hamilton as of Jefferson, the two are so inextricably involved. Not the least interesting feature of the book are the author's side comments on conditions today. The final chapter -- certain to arouse heated controversy -- contrasts the promise of the 1932 platform, lip service to Jefferson, with the performance.

Pub Date: April 3, 1936

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1936

Categories: NONFICTION