113 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A worthy object for Hitchens' distinctive style, July 4, 2005
This review is from: Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives) (Hardcover)
I've read two volumes in the Eminent Lives series now, and have been very impressed with both. Paul Johnson's
George Washington: The Founding Father (Eminent Lives) and Christopher Hitchens' essay on Thomas Jefferson are very different books. But each was in its own way remarkable. I think it's safe to say that this is a book that few readers will soon forget.
As Hitchens notes early on, Jefferson was more than just a "man of contradictions." He more or less embodied contradiction. Few writers, in my experience, are better equipped to identify contradictions, expose hypocrisies, and "call B.S." when necessary, than Christopher Hitchens. He did it with (or to) Clinton, he did it with Kissinger, and it seems only right to have spent a few hours on this Fourth of July exploring with him the evolving ideas and motivations of Mr. Jefferson himself.
Today, conservatives, libertarians, and leftists, Republicans and Democrats, anti-government "militias" and activist social-engineer types all claim Jefferson as one of their own. And each does so with some justice. Hitchens does an excellent job of walking through Jefferson's shifting opinions on questions like the proper powers of government, centralization versus "states' rights", the necessity of revolution, international relations, and much more. This is far from a comprehensive biography of Jefferson, and it certainly lacks the Olympian objectivity we get from most modern biographers. Hitchens has strong opinions, especially about religion, and he's not in the least hesitant about making those part of his discussion. Unlike another reviewer I wouldn't recommend this title for someone who has never read much about Jefferson before. But given Hitchens' keen eye and sharp pen, I think it certainly ranks among the best *interpretations* of Jefferson I've yet seen.
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53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Opinionated and idiosyncratic, December 25, 2005
This review is from: Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives) (Hardcover)
I bought this biography because I like Christopher Hitchens' hard-hitting journalism, e.g. his "Trials of Henry Kissinger". Hitchens tells it like he sees it, which is generally pretty left-wing, but he doesn't toe the party line, e.g. his continued support for the war in Iraq. I thought he was the perfect man to explain Thomas Jefferson, because he would have assimilated Jefferson's ideas into his own active life shaped by the school of hard knocks.
However, I am disappointed in this book, for the following reasons:
First, the book seems to have been written hastily - facts are thrown in here and there, associations to other events in Jefferson's life, without sufficient explanation, and violating the chronology of the narrative. This makes the book confusing to read, espcially if the reader is not already familiar with Jefferson's life.
Secondly, the book places a lot of emphasis on issues that are "Politically Correct" at the present time. In fact, Hitchens adopts a kind of sermonizing tone with regard to these issues, which the hastiness of his scholarship renders unconvincing. It reads like the kind of grandstanding you see in journalists giving speeches at universities.
Nonetheless, there is something to be learned in this book, and Hitchens' unique background does enable him to select some interesting moments to highlight in Jefferson's life and writings. I would recommend this book only as a companion to a fuller biography of Jefferson, such as "American Sphinx" by Joseph J. Ellis.
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126 of 145 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Man Who "Authored" American Democracy, June 12, 2005
This review is from: Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives) (Hardcover)
On April 29, 1962, at a White House dinner honoring Nobel Prize winners, John F. Kennedy said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
As Kennedy's quip indicates, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the third President of the United States (1801-1809), was one of the most brilliant men to occupy the White House. A man of the Enlightenment, he was a voracious reader ("I cannot live without books," he said), well-versed in both science and the humanities.
The newest volume in HarperCollins' "Eminent Lives" Series, Christopher Hitchens' Thomas Jefferson is a compact and sophisticated look at "the author of America," the chief architect of our democratic system of government, whose eloquent words in the Declaration of Independence still ring down through the years since 1776: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
An inveterate opponent of dictators and demagogues of every stripe, Jefferson's words still inspire freedom-loving people throughout the world. "I have sworn upon the altar of God," he said, "eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
According to Hutchinson, Jefferson threw down this gauntlet against any and all political and priestly authorities that arrogantly asserted their power to enslave, oppress, and intimidate. "The tree of liberty," Jefferson asserted, "must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Needed words--these ... but dangerous words if their truth is twisted by ruthless insurgents.
Hitchens' work is not an exhaustive treatise; it is, rather, a compact survey, written in a sophisticated style, of the salient points of Jefferson's life and works. One finds here, of course, his relationship with Sally Hemings, a slave at Jefferson's Monticello who fathered several of his children; the Louisiana Purchase from France; and the war against the Barbary pirates (which inspired the line in the Marine Corps hymn: "from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli").
"It would be lazy or obvious," writes Hitchens, "to say that he [Jefferson] contained contradictions or paradoxes. This is true of everybody, and of everything. It would be infinitely more surprising to strike upon a historic figure, or indeed a nation, that was not subject to this law. Jefferson did not embody contradiction. Jefferson was a contradiction, and this [is] found at every step of [this] narrative."
Was Jefferson's anticlericalism a manifestation of Deism or atheism? Concerning his question, Hitchens sends mixed signals. On one hand, he writes, "As a 'Deist,' he did not believe that God intervened in human affairs at all." (So much for doctrine of providence and the efficacy of prayer.) On the other hand, he points out, "As his days began to wane, Jefferson more than once wrote to friends that he faced the approaching end without either hope or fear. This was as much as to say, in the most unmistakable terms, that he was not a Christian."
After finishing this volume, I felt vaguely disappointed with the book's total effect, although it's difficult to explain the reason for such discontent. Nevertheless, Hitchen's mini-biography, a credible summary view of Jefferson's life, is more laudatory than critical, and receives a passing grade, if not outstanding marks.
Roy E. Perry may be reached at rperry1778@aol.com
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