Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

By: Jon Meacham

Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jon Meacham

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer Jon Meacham, “a big, grand, absorbing exploration of not just Jefferson and his role in history but also Jefferson the man, humanized as never before” (Entertainment Weekly)

“Probably the best single-volume biography of Jefferson ever written.”—Gordon S. Wood

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, The Seattle Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, BookPage

This magnificent biography brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times, giving us Thomas Jefferson the man, the politician, and the president. A Founder whose understanding of power and of human nature enabled him to move men and marshal ideas, to learn from his mistakes and to prevail, Jefferson was passionate about many things—women, his family, science, architecture, gardening, Monticello, Paris, and more. He strove, despite fierce opposition, to realize his vision: the creation, survival, and success of popular government in America.

Drawing on archives in the United States, England, and France, as well as unpublished transcripts of Jefferson presidential papers, Jon Meacham shows us the personal Jefferson, a man of appetite, sensuality, and passion. He also presents Jefferson as the most successful political leader of the early republic, and perhaps in all American history, a leader who found the means to endure and to win. His story resonates today not least because he led his nation through ferocious partisanship amid economic change and external threats. Jefferson also embodies an eternal drama, the struggle of the leadership of a nation to achieve greatness in a difficult and confounding world.

A Man and Biography Relevant to Our Day

With this biography, Meacham appears to continue to float in that narrative sphere between popular journalist-historians (Alter,Woolfe) and popular academic-historians (Ellis, Kearns Goodwin, Morris). His writing most closely resembles (in many, many ways) Walter Isaacson and David McCullough. They write similar types of biographies and seem to inhabit a similar clumped intellectual range.

That said, while Meacham's style will never perfectly thrill academic historians, this biography is interesting and paced-well and shouldn't trouble too many presidential history buffs. Meacham has never had a real boat-tipping agenda with his biographies. He certainly wants to make Jefferson's life, times and experiences (told largely through secondary sources, anecdotes and at times brilliant story-telling) relevant to our current political and social setting. He did this wonderfully with FDR and Jackson and has continued his record with this excellent bio of Jefferson.

As far as narration goes, Hermann seems to have a talent for reading big books. He was blessed with one of those voices that don't make you want to drive your car off the road after listening for a couple hours straight. This quality makes him perfect for long narrative histories and biographies. He reads with clarity, but also manages to largely float behind the text. Also, his voice works well for Audible's 1.5 & 2x speed, but 3x speed was just a little much.

Use History as Your Guide for the Times We Live In

This beautifully read book is a thoroughly enjoyable journey through the tumultuous early days of the republic. Certainly, Jefferson is a flawed man, we all know that - but aren't we all flawed? He was a staunch believer and defender of the fledgling nation, and his writing, read so wonderfully, is full of character. You feel transported to his life, and a part of the pressures and decisions.

This book was suggested to me to give context for our current political climate. The passions were certainly as high as they are now. Through this book, I learned far more than I ever knew about the founding of our nation, and the rich early history. I thoroughly recommend it!

Excellent portrait of Jefferson

This is not a Ron Chernow bio, not that level of detail, but more of a survey of Jefferson. I think it a somewhat glosses over some of the more negative aspects of Jefferson’s life and his hyper partisan tendencies. That being said, I think it is overall an excellent bio, beautifully read by Mr Herrmann.

Mitch and supporters of Thomas Jefferson is worth your time

I thought I knew who Thomas Jefferson was, but I can tell you after finishing listening to this book. I had no idea what I didn’t know if you love history and you love presidential biographies you will love this book

Riveting, enlightening, fascinating

I loved this book. So much for what I thought I knew of TJ. I now feel like I know the actually man and I have a new found love for him, Thank you Jon.