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American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson

$6.99

Author Joseph Ellis

Format Paperback

Publisher Vintage

Category Presidents

In American Sphinx, Ellis sifts the facts shrewdly from the legends and the rumors, treading a path between vilification and hero worship in order to formulate a plausible portrait of the man who still today "hover(s) over the political scene like one of those dirigibles cruising above a crowded football stadium, flashing words of inspiration to both teams." For, at the grass roots, Jefferson is no longer liberal or conservative, agrarian or industrialist, pro- or anti-slavery, privileged or populist. He is all things to all people. His own obliviousness to incompatible convictions within himself (which left him deaf to most forms of irony) has leaked out into the world at large - a world determined to idolize him despite his foibles. We watch him exhibiting both great depth and great shallowness, combining massive learning with extraordinary naivete, piercing insights with self-deception on the grandest scale. We understand why we should neither beatify him nor consign him to the rubbish heap of history, though we are by no means required to stop loving him. He is Thomas Jefferson, after all - our very own sphinx.

Authors

Joseph Ellis

Additional Info

  • Release Date: 1998-04-07
  • Publisher: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9780679764410
SKU Condition Store Shelf Price  
1899085 Very Good Warehouse 52-10-4 $6.99 Add to Cart