A revelatory new Biography of Thomas Jefferson, focusing on his ethical and spiritual life Kidd\'s Biography may well be the best treatment of Jefferson\'s religious and moral life available, and certainly it is among the few to take those two subjects seriously while carefully avoiding hagiography or anachronism.
In doing so, he offers a unique perspective on one of American history\'s most studied figures..
Kidd tells the story of Jefferson\'s ethical life through the lens of these tensions, including an unapologetic focus on the issue where Jefferson\'s idealistic philosophy and lived reality clashed most obviously: his sexual relationship with his enslaved woman Sally Hemings.
In this book Thomas S.
Indeed, three tensions defined Jefferson\'s moral life: democracy versus slavery, republican virtue versus dissolute consumption, and veneration for Jesus versus skepticism about Christianity.
But the ethical realities of his personal life and political career did not live up to his soaring rhetoric.
It is well written, well researched, judicious, and entirely convincing.--Timothy Larsen, Wheaton College Thomas Jefferson was arguably the most brilliant and inspiring political writer in American history.
This is the definitive account.
It deserves a wide readership.--Miles Smith, National Review Set aside everything you think you know about Thomas Jefferson and religion, and read this book.
A revelatory new Biography of Thomas Jefferson, focusing on his ethical and spiritual life Kidd\'s Biography may well be the best treatment of Jefferson\'s religious and moral life available, and certainly it is among the few to take those two subjects seriously while carefully avoiding hagiography or anachronism
