My most recent read is something I don't normally read about, history. I've never been a big history fan. I think it stems from my history class in high school. The teacher really didn't care, and therefore didn't make it something that interested me. However, living right outside of Washington D.C., you can't help but be inundated by history. I've become interested more and more by the founding fathers, especially Thomas Jefferson. The Jefferson Memorial is one of my favorites to visit. Recently, the hubby and I made a trip to Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. You can read about it and see pictures of our visit at my other blog (
click here). We loved our visit and learning more about our 3rd president. With our local Border's going out of business, we finally decided to pick up a biography about Jefferson.
We chose
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph Ellis since it was a well known biography of Jefferson and was a National Book Award Winner. This book examines several different time periods in Jefferson's life, starting with his time in Philadelphia, examining his life in France, his tenure as president, and ending with time in Monticello.
There are so many interesting tidbits in this book. We learn about his views on slavery. He was torn about ending slavery because he wasn't sure if the slaves would be able to properly incorporate themselves into American life. We learn about the establishment of his beloved University of Virginia, where he was adamant that it have no religious affiliation. We learn about his views on government. He preferred state rights and despised the Supreme Court. We learn about his love/hate relationship with John Adams and the letters they exchanged later in life.
This book was truly interesting and I learned a lot. It can be dense at times, especially when it comes to political dealings, but then it breaks into these wonderful sections about Jefferson's personal views on different topics, and that is what I really enjoyed. So, if you want to learn more about this founding father, I think this is a good place to start.
This biography is extremely well written and absolutely enjoyable. It covers Franklin's entire life, from his running away from home at 17, to his death at the age of 84, with everything in between. I really enjoyed reading about his life as a printer, as a scientist, and later as a statesman. The book is nicely divided up into sections based on years. You find out many interesting facts, like that he was the toast of Paris when he was in France, with ribbons and coins with his likeness put on them. He had an illegitimate son, who had an illegitimate son, who had an illegitimate son. That's quite the family legacy. Also, he often started flirtations with younger women, but then distanced himself by acting very much the father figure through letters he would write them.
