Ranked in the top quarter of my audio books this year.

I don't recall a variety of voices in this performance, Thomas was the focus.

I came for the knowledge of Jefferson and felt I received a great deal of that here.

Perhaps undeserving of the reverence heretofore granted this founding father.

This book, combined with a recent article in "Smithsonian," has dethroned this former hero of mine. Jefferson is revealed as a duplicitious schemer, rabid partisan and bigot. His performance as president seems lackluster, with his crowning achievement, the Lousiana Purchase, having fallen in his lap.

I loved the insights into Jefferson's life, but the story telling left much to be desired. It was easy to put this down, and forget you were reading it. Unlike JOHN ADAMS, which I found riveting, this writing did not keep me engaged. However, it is well worth reading to learn more about a fascinating man, who's personality and choices live in our daily lives because of the impact he made to the country. The author, with his resources, could have done a much better job. I felt like he read kept reading through his notes and said, "Oh, I forgot to add this, so I'll pop it in here."

This book was far more honest and realistic then I anticipated. The truth and clarity is outstanding. I have learned many fascinating details not to mention a great deal of guidance which I believe can be extracted from this book. If there were ever a time to read a book on Jefferson, it would be in these modern times. It was fascinating to learn what went on inside this mans head. I feel small knowing his immense mental power and craft. I cannot see such a mind fashioned as he was, and as were so many of his contemporaries coming to pass in these ages. Are we ever to know another great mind such as Jefferson again? Listen to this book I never once shut it off for any other reason then I had to. I promise, it is absolutely engulfing and frankly, one of the most interesting books I've bought in a long time.

Edward Hermann was the perfect narrator. It truly is a top of the line book and Edward Hermann makes it incredibly pleasant to listen to for hours at a time.

Jefferson no doubt

This is one of the best Narrators of our time. No doubt on historical topics as he is the man for the History Channel.

Thomas Jefferson, the man America needed then and now.

A democratic Republic is not a spectators sport, it requires participation all the time.

After winning the Pulitzer Prize for his masterful biography of Andrew Jackson, Jon Meacham turned his considerable skills to the most enigmatic man in American History: Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson ranks at the top of any list of most important men in the history of the United States.

Born to the planter class in Virginia he never knew anything other than a life of luxury. That did not shield him from the troubles of life. Loss was something that Jefferson knew quite well. He lost his father at a young age. His beloved wife died from complications of childbirth. He outlived all but one of his children. He was also a man who loved liberty. His vision of a nation of liberty would come to dominate the debate in the formative years of the United States. Here we encounter the enigma. Jefferson was a believer in freedom who owned slaves. The story of Jefferson's slaves are very much wrapped up in his own story. Meacham comes back to this topic over and over again. The subject of Sally Hemmings is never far away and it makes for an interesting topic.

Jefferson was a man of many accomplishments. He served in the Virginia legislature, the Continental Congress, as governor of Virginia, as ambassador to France, As the first secretary of state, as the second vice-president of the United States, and as the third president. He wrote letters, books, and legislation. Of course he is famous as the author of the Declaration of Independence. On his tombstone he only asked that three items be remembered. Those accomplishments are the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Statutes of Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia. In some ways this sums up his life quite nicely.

Any biography of Thomas Jefferson is a daunting task. There is a wealth of primary source material and an avalanche of secondary material. Huge multi-volume biographies are out of style in our time and that may not be a bad thing. Instead of trying to cover every aspect of Jefferson's life in detail he gives an overview of Jefferson's story, but the focus of the book can be found in the title. Jefferson was a man who craved the power to make the world a better place. This is part of the contradiction. In the thought of the time no leader of a free society was supposed to desire power. Jefferson actively desired power, but had to cultivate an image of indifference. A vocal enemy of political parties he helped to create and lead the first political party in the United States. In a usual Jeffersonian twist this party was an opposition party that he led as Washington's secretary of state and Adams' vice-president.

Meacham has given a wonderful start to Jefferson studies for this generation. His prose is always delightful to read. The book is well researched, but is accessible to the general reader. It is doubtful that we will ever truly be able to understand Thomas Jefferson, but this volume will help to gain insight into fascinating person.

Jon Meacham has penned an enjoyable biography of the third president, who also (save, possibly, for Benjamin Franklin) was the most talented man of his day -- and perhaps who ever lived. It starts with Jefferson's birth in Shadwell, Virginia, and ends 83 years later not far away at Monticello, which among all of the homes of the Founders most completely reflects its occupant. Of course, Jefferson also designed the structure, and as Meacham notes, spent most of the years until his retirement tinkering with it -- at one point demolishing much of the original building to (eventually) more than double its size.

In between, we have Jefferson the young student; the young lawyer; the delegate to the Continental Congress where he became the primary author of the Declaration of Independence; the Governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War (one of his least noteworthy roles); a representative to the Confederation Congress; minister to France in the 1780s; Secretary of State during Washington's first term; then leader of the opposition to the Federalists, including his old friend John Adams; and, finally, President. And then he became the Sage of Monticello for his last two decades, managing to found (and design many of the buildings for) the University of Virginia.

Just listing those posts that Jefferson held is itself somewhat exhausting . . . and in addition to his vibrant political contributions to his country, Jefferson was a lawyer, surveyor, naturalist, author, inventor, and architect. Yet his reputation has diminished somewhat in recent years, as popular biographies have exalted his rival John Adams at Jefferson's expense -- and as revelations about his relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings, have become newsworthy, with DNA tests confirming that he indeed fathered many of her children. Meacham does not gloss over this relationship, and instead presents a kind of warts-and-all portrait: a man who thought slavery should be abolished, yet owned as many as 600 slaves himself; who thought there was nothing wrong with evicting Native tribes to make way for white settlement; who served one Federalist president yet came to resist him and his successor; and who opposed the concentration of power in the national government, yet was sanguine about its use when he became chief executive himself.

The Jefferson that emerges here, then, is a complex and contradictory figure -- very much a man of his time, with prejudices that would make him politically incorrect today. Yet he was also one of the most pivotal of the Founders, probably their most eloquent writer, and a man who learned how to use power to achieve what he thought best for his nation -- perpetuating his views through four of the next five presidential administrations.

He is also perhaps the most accessible of the Founders. As Meacham says, while it's hard to imagine having a glass of wine and dinner conversation at Mount Vernon with George Washington, it's easy to imagine doing so at Monticello with Jefferson. Meacham's biography reminds us that, for all his flaws, Jefferson's extraordinary talents, his political contributions to the young republic, and his unceasing opposition to monarchy, lift Jefferson far above his human failings. The book is brought enjoyably to life by Edward Herrmann, who though nearly 70 has a voice that is still strong and clear, and one of the best narrators working today.

I got to know this man who was one of the founders of the country in a much deeper way.

Jefferson

Haven't read the book.

The Mind of Jefferson

yes - this is a well balanced synopsis of the complex life of Thomas Jefferson, which helps to not only explain the Federalist - Anti-Federalist debates, but also paints a picture of the talented man who played a key role in nurturing and protecting the otherwise fragile Democratic Republic experiment which we and the rest of the world all take for granted.

Jefferson's love of his fellow man and his talent for keeping the peace through respect and empathy, extending to all walks of life, including even his slaves. Jefferson's early [failed] attempts to win support for emancipation, his relationship with his slave Sally Hemmings, who was also his dead wife's half sister - their children, all of whom eventually won their freedom - all add an interesting element to what might on the surface otherwise seem to be simply a shameful slave owning southern plantation story.

I recall visualizing the scenes of the younger Jefferson, reciting prose and playing music with his older sister Jane, his failed attempts at love, followed by a classic life love, and more (don't want to say too much here). Jefferson's on again, off again relationships with his political rivals, and his eventual burying of the hatchett with John Adams resulting in a series of over a hundred letters in their old age.

Not quite extreme. In classic Jeffersonian style, this book avoids too much extremeism and unnecessary drama - just like Jefferson lived his life.

I want more - I would like more details on Jefferson's life and the lives of those around him.

enlightening and riveting

Jefferson...no need to explain why

no

there's way more to the Thomas Jefferson you learned about in 8th grade!

The objective review of Thomas Jefferson as a complex man.

Thomas Jefferson, a man who was concerned with liberties while being pragmatic.

Both were excellent and kept you involved throughout the lengthy reading.

The same as the Title.

The audio version makes the experience of Jefferson personal

The contrast of the individual person, the intellectual and the practical

The personal and reflective approach

The very end-the summing up of a lfe