Perhaps the most hotly debated character in American history Jefferson standsas an enigma representing different and often contradictory ideas. This concisebiog... » 

Perhaps the most hotly debated character in American history Jefferson standsas an enigma representing different and often contradictory ideas. This concisebiography answers many of the contradictions of Jeffersons fruitful life.Specifically it finds continuity in his evolving philosophy of politicaleconomy. Because Jefferson was not a man intellectually tied to a singleideology he was able to embrace competing _persuasions_ that seem to usincompatible today. Indeed Jeffersons rhetoric was more a matter of time andcircumstance than an element of absolute belief. The Jefferson that emerges isnot only a facile thinker but also a consummate politician. «