Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War [Hardcover]

Michael Kranish (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2010

When Thomas Jefferson wrote his epitaph, he listed as his accomplishments his authorship of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia statute of religious freedom, and his founding of the University of Virginia. He did not mention his presidency or that he was second governor of the state of Virginia, in the most trying hours of the Revolution. Dumas Malone, author of the epic six-volume biography, wrote that the events of this time explain Jefferson's "character as a man of action in a serious emergency." Joseph Ellis, author of American Sphinx, focuses on other parts of Jefferson's life but wrote that his actions as governor "toughened him on the inside." It is this period, when Jefferson was literally tested under fire, that Michael Kranish illuminates in Flight from Monticello.

Filled with vivid, precisely observed scenes, this book is a sweeping narrative of clashing armies--of spies, intrigue, desperate moments, and harrowing battles. The story opens with the first murmurs of resistance to Britain, as the colonies struggled under an onerous tax burden and colonial leaders--including Jefferson--fomented opposition to British rule. Kranish captures the tumultuous outbreak of war, the local politics behind Jefferson's actions in the Continental Congress (and his famous Declaration), and his rise to the governorship. Jefferson's life-long belief in the corrupting influence of a powerful executive led him to advocate for a weak governorship, one that lacked the necessary powers to raise an army. Thus, Virginia was woefully unprepared for the invading British troops who sailed up the James under the direction of a recently turned Benedict Arnold. Facing rag-tag resistance, the British force took the colony with very little trouble. The legislature fled the capital, and Jefferson himself narrowly eluded capture twice.

Kranish describes Jefferson's many stumbles as he struggled to respond to the invasion, and along the way, the author paints an intimate portrait of Jefferson, illuminating his quiet conversations, his family turmoil, and his private hours at Monticello. "Jefferson's record was both remarkable and unsatisfactory, filled with contradictions," writes Kranish. As a revolutionary leader who felt he was unqualified to conduct a war, Jefferson never resolved those contradictions--but, as Kranish shows, he did learn lessons during those dark hours that served him all his life.

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Take a look at pictures from Flight from Monticello
(Click on images to enlarge)

Thomas Jefferson by John Trumbull, from life, 1787-1788. Courtesy of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello.

Jefferson’s diary entry for June 4, the day he fled Monticello just before the enemy arrived, says, “British horse came to Monticello.” Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

View from Monticello, looking toward Charlottesville, 1827, by Jane Pitford Braddick Peticolas. Courtesy of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello.

Thomas Jefferson’s sketch of the first version of Monticello. Jefferson was in the midst of building this early iteration of his mansion when the British invaded. Courtesy of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello.

Fry-Jefferson Map, of Virginia and Maryland, co-drawn by Thomas Jefferson’s father, Peter Jefferson. Courtesy of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

No great figures are now without multiple biographies, so why not slice up their lives into smaller subjects? Since that seems to be the current way, we're lucky to have a serious slice like this one. Kranish (a Boston Globe reporter and coauthor of John F. Kerry) focuses on Jefferson's much criticized yearlong governorship of Virginia during the last throes of the American Revolution. The British had invaded Virginia, the state militia was weak, and regular forces had not yet arrived. So Jefferson and the state legislature had to flee westward to avoid capture. By the time American forces, aided by the French, had forced a showdown at Yorktown in 1781, Jefferson's term in office had ended. Yet many held him responsible for Virginia's near disaster. That's allowed critics ever since to assail his behavior as cowardly and incompetent. Without making his book an open argument for the defense, Kranish relates the historical context and musters the facts that absolve Jefferson of the charges against him. It's hard to see how a stronger case could be made. Fluid prose makes the book readable; solid research makes it dependable. 21 b&w illus., 1 map. (Feb.)
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Review

"Crisply written and well documented, this book is popular history at its best and will appeal to a wide readership. Highly recommended."
-- Library Journal

"This is edge-of-your-seat history, meticulously researched and laid out, but written with such high drama and cinematic clarity that even well-known events of America's Revolutionary War are made to seem suspenseful-as if this time their outcomes might be different."
-- ForeWord

"Students of Jefferson's life will want to read Flight From Monticello."
-- Newsweek

"...superb narrative of the high-minded Virginian's turbulent wartime years." -- Wall Street Journal

"...a readable and surprisingly fresh take on Jefferson, the Revolutionary War, and Colonial Virginia...this is solid, entertaining history that debunks some myths while conveying the fog of war." -- Boston Globe

"Thomas Jefferson's wartime conduct as governor of Virginia haunted him down the decades, and Michael Kranish has now brought this critical episode in American history to vivid life. Anyone interested in the Revolutionary War, in Jefferson, or in the formation of political character will find Kranish's book both delightful and instructive."
--Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion

"My admiration for Flight from Monticello knows no bounds. Michael Kranish, one of America's best reporters, draws a brilliant portrait of Thomas Jefferson in turmoil. His analysis of Jefferson's strategic blunders is pioneering. Only Dumas Malone equals Kranish in dissecting Jefferson the Virginian. Highly recommended!"
--Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, and The Great Deluge

"Michael Kranish has written a vivid and compelling account, with wonderful illustrative and often unfamiliar anecdotes, including descriptions of Benedict Arnold's wearing a British general's uniform and riding along the Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg, and Jefferson's last-minute escape from Banastre Tarleton's troops. Flight from Monticello is an exciting account of a little-known but important chapter of revolutionary history."
--Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy, director International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, professor at the University of Virginia, fellow of the Royal Historical Society

"Flight From Monticello succeeds superbly well in opening a new window on Thomas Jefferson during the Revolution. In this period of his life, he proved to be an incompetent military leader, poor planner and touchy and defensive Virginian. Kranish's suspenseful narrative illuminates Jefferson's shortcomings, and with great sympathy and skill reveals why this crucial moment of his life forever haunted America's favorite Renaissance Man." --Jonathan Alter, author of The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (February 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195374622
• ISBN-13: 978-0195374629
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #378,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #79 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( J ) > Jefferson, Thomas

More About the Author

Michael Kranish is a reporter in the Washington Bureau of The Boston Globe and a historian. A native of the Washington, D.C., area and graduate of Syracuse University, he has a longtime interest in politics and the presidency. His latest book is Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War, a narrative of the invasion of Virginia by Benedict Arnold and Jefferson's flight from the British.
For more information, visit: www.michaelkranish.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thomas Jefferson At War, January 31, 2010

By 

Michael Gunther (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

"Flight from Monticello," by journalist Michael Kranish, is a narrative history of the worst year of Thomas Jefferson's life: 1781, his last year as governor of Virginia, when a British invasion forced the government of Virginia to relocate from Richmond to Charlottesville, and nearly resulted in the capture of Jefferson himself. Jefferson never lived it down, and even at the end of his life was still concerned to defend his gubernatorial conduct against charges of incompetence and even of personal cowardice.

Jefferson's governorship occupies the last 200 pages of Kranish's book; the first 100 pages recount Jefferson's history from his student days in Williamsburg through the Revolution, as background to understanding the events of 1781. Kranish adopts an objective tone throughout; rather than personally assigning blame or praise, he mostly lets Jefferson and his contemporaries speak for themselves. Kranish's own opinion acknowledges Jefferson's faults as a war leader but allows for extenuating circumstances. For example, when writing about the British invasion of Richmond (pp. 256-257), Kranish says: "Jefferson, who later would be accused by enemies of cowardice during the invasion, in fact remained in Richmond even as many other government leaders refused to show up... Whether the complaint [that Jefferson was a weak governor] had merit or not, the failure in Virginia went beyond Jefferson's lack of authority; legislators, councilors, and thousands of draft resisters shared the blame."

"Flight from Monticello" is more than the story of Thomas Jefferson's governorship; Kranish provides much collateral information about the Revolutionary War in Virginia, the situation of Blacks, the economics of war, and a parade of personalities that includes such notables as Benjamin Harrison, Patrick Henry, the Marquis de Lafayette, Benedict Arnold, and Lord Cornwallis. We see Lafayette gallantly refusing to allow his sharpshooters to assassinate Benedict Arnold, and the same Benedict Arnold then distinguishing himself in action as a British general.

The book's thoroughness, objectivity, and insight, and the American people's lasting interest in Thomas Jefferson the man, make "Flight from Monticello" a book that every Revolutionary War buff will want to own.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent treatment of one of the most controversial aspects of Jefferson's public career., February 14, 2010

By 

R. B. Bernstein "R. B. Bernstein, Adjunct Pro... (Brooklyn, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War (Hardcover)

Today people are convinced that politicians all trail a cloud of scandal, and today people are starting to see the founding fathers that way, too, in particular Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was often beset by controversy, but the most enduring controversy in his public career during his lifetime had nothing to do with slavery or with Sally Hemings. It had to do with his service as governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781, two of the most difficult years of the American Revolutionary War. As his second term was ending, the British invaded Virginia, sought to capture the state's government and its governor, and nearly succeeded. Did Jefferson show cowardice? Was he woefully inadequate to the job? Did he deserve the Virginia legislature's vote to hold an inquiry into his conduct -- or the shame-faced resolution of thanks that they later adopted instead of holding the inquiry?

Michael Kranish illuminates this turbulent and painful episode in FLIGHT FROM MONTICELLO, a well-written, solidly-researched, and thoughtful assessment of Jefferson's role in the coming the Revolution, his evolving political career, his attempts to balance his duty to his country with his duty to his family (in particular, his wife Martha, whose frequent pregnancies sapped her fragile health), and hsi struggles to stand by his political principles when increasingly some of them came to conflict with strategic and tactical reality. Kranish ably reminds us just how difficult it was in the late eighteenth century to fight a war with unreliable intelligence, inadequate sources of information, and a constitution that gave the governor a great deal of responsibility with pitifully little power to carry those responsibilities out. As a veteran political journalist, Kranish has all the skills -- research, synthesis, and writing -- to produce an exemplary work of popular history that will satisfy scholars, and he has done so.

In sum, Kranish acquits Jefferson of the charge of cowardice but takes him to task for his idealism (which led him ot place greater reliance on the spontaneous uprising of the militia and the Virginia citizenry than his own knowledge and experience would have warranted), his occasional hesitancy to decide, and his optimism (which regularly led him to view events as being in a better state than they actually were).

Kranish notes that Jefferson was far better at dealing with the conceptual level of politics than with the challenges of administration in a time of crisis. My own study of the man -- THOMAS JEFFERSON [Oxford U. Press, 2003] -- substantiates that view as well. Jefferson was at his best when he was able to shape events; he was far less effective when he had to respond to rapidly-moving events beyond his power to control.

All told, a valuable book, both entertaining and enlightening.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Telling of Jefferson's Challenging Hour as Governor During the Crucial Time of the Revoloution in VA., February 16, 2010

By 

Daniel Hurley (Chesapeake, VA.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War (Hardcover)

For anyone interested in Jefferson, this book fills a really fascinating, and usually under appreciated time, of Jefferson's stress time as governor of Virginia when the militia in Virginia were under equipped and man power was limited while the British invade Virginia. As noted by the author, Jefferson was criticized by members of the Virginia Assembly for being ill prepared to defend the Commonwealth during the British invasion that not only took Richmond, Petersburg, Norfolk, and Portsmouth but also almost captured the legislature and Jefferson himself in Charlottesville and Monticello respectively. Although Jefferson took time to get his family under way, he returns to Monticello to gather papers narrowly missing the British cavalry under Tarleton. The author provides a brief early history and his association with Patrick Henry, who after the war becomes a life long nemesis. The author not only provides an excellent profile of Virginia during the war, the early heroics of Virginians chasing Lord Dunmore early on during the separation from Briton but also captures the burning of Norfolk by patriots to keep it out o British hands, detailing the weariness the wars effects had on the population, crippling the militia and supplies. In addition, of course, Benedict Arnold is a major part of the book as his greatest achievements as a British Officer is his time in VA. where he successfully travels up the James almost uncontested to Richmond opening the door for greater risk taking by the British leading to Cornwallis' arrival and command. Of note is Jefferson's fear that a governor could have too much executive power and assisted in limiting a post Britain governor's power that ironically haunts him as governor during the war. His inability to be a strong executive exercising wartime powers is fascinating due to his own self-limitations but good intentions. Troubled by militia that was disbanding in many areas, lacking weapons, attempting to provide men to the Continental Army, lacking strong navy, Indian problems with the British coming and going virtually unchallenged was beyond any governor's ability. One has to wonder if a charismatic leader such as Patrick Henry could do better in time of crisis. The other part of the controversy was Jefferson ending his term at the high point of the British invasion, distracted by family needs. This opened the challenge to his abilities as governor that never completely healed. Adding to the depth of the Virginia story is the arrival of Lafayette, who was preceded by General Von Steuben. One criticism, much is made of the once modest friendship between Jefferson and Henry that turns bitter after accusation of Jefferson's conduct during the war; yet there is little mention of Henry during Jefferson's tenure as governor. That one fascinating detail seems left out particularly since Henry had the ability to rally men to a cause; however, limited in leading it. Thus, one has to wonder why Jefferson never called on Henry to help rally the militia in time of need. One respectful note is the role that Thomas Nelson holds in the field and after Jefferson as governor, although given more power by the legislature, mixes no bones about executive authority in time of war.