Friday, March 10, 2017

Review: Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Meacham's biography and history is not bad, but it could meander a bit. He weaves in many little stories and anecdotes about aspects of Jefferson's personal, daily life that I found less interesting. I get why Meacham does this: he wants to show Jefferson as a complete human being, but I found it distracting. The book is at its best when it focuses on the more historical aspects of Jefferson's life.

While Meacham's expressed goal was not to lionize Jefferson -- and this book is not a hagiography -- there are times that I think he glosses over the more problematic, partisan, or inconsistent Jefferson to focus on the grander Jefferson. He covers the former elements, but they are down played maybe a bit too much. This might just be a factor of having recently also listened to Chernow's bio of Hamilton where Jefferson doesn't come off grand at all. Speaking of Hamilton, it was surprising how little a role Hamilton has in Meacham's biography. Adams is Jefferson's antagonist here, not Hamilton.

Edward Hermann was a fantastic reader: I could listen to him read the phone book.

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