In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson - Paperback

by Noble E. Cunningham (Author)

"A major contribution." Washington Post
The authoritative single-volume biography of Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the most significant figure in American history. He was a complex and compelling man: a fervent advocate of democracy who enjoyed the life of a southern aristocrat and owned slaves, a revolutionary who became president, a believer in states' rights who did much to further the power of the federal government. Drawing on the recent explosion of Jeffersonian scholarship and fresh readings of original sources, IN PURSUIT OF REASON is a monument to Jefferson that will endure for generations.

Front Jacket

A major contribution. Washington Post
The authoritative single-volume biography of Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the most significant figure in American history. He was a complex and compelling man: a fervent advocate of democracy who enjoyed the life of a southern aristocrat and owned slaves, a revolutionary who became president, a believer in states' rights who did much to further the power of the federal government. Drawing on the recent explosion of Jeffersonian scholarship and fresh readings of original sources, IN PURSUIT OF REASON is a monument to Jefferson that will endure for generations.

Back Jacket

Cunningham follows Jefferson from his birth in what is now Albemarle County, Virginia, through his early education, and on to his student days at the College of William and Mary. Beginning his political career in the Virginia House of Burgesses at the age twenty-six in 1769, Jefferson displayed the brilliant mind and skillful pen that a few years later led the Continental Congress Of 1776 to rely on him to draft the Declaration Of Independence.

Author Biography

Noble E. Cunningham, Jr. (1926-2007) was the Middlebush Professor of History at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He was the author of many works on Thomas Jefferson.