study materials

Instructors are invited to tailor the presentation to meet their class needs. Study materials can be provided to help students prepare to ask questions and engage Mr. Jefferson in conversation. See below for a short list of informative works on Jefferson.

 A Jefferson Reading List

In order to present Thomas Jefferson in his own words and to bring his personal and public life into the classroom, I have read a shelf full of books on his life, his writings, and his historical period. Below is a selection of some titles I have found helpful in my research. It is a far from exhaustive index of works on Jefferson but, as Christopher Hitchens points out in the foreword of his work on Jefferson, “anyone who writes about America is writing about Jefferson in one way or another”. Meaning that there are many, many works whose focus lies outside Jefferson’s compass yet still serve to round out our knowledge of the man.

  • “Thomas Jefferson: Author of America” by Christopher Hitchens (2005)

  • “The Wolf by the Ears” by John Chester Miller (1977)

  • “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family” by Annette Gordon-Reed (2008)

  • “John Adams” by David McCullough (2001)

  • “Jefferson’s Great Gamble” by Charles A. Cerami (2003)

  • “Founding Brothers” by Joseph J. Ellis (2000)

  • “American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson” by Joseph J. Ellis (1996)

  • “The Inner Jefferson: Portrait of a Grieving Optimist” by Andrew Burstein (1995)

  • “In Pursuit of Reason” by Noble E. Cunningham Jr. (1987)

  • “Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History” by Fawn Brodie (1974)

  • “Scandalmongers” by William Safire (historical novel)

  • “The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson” by William Howard Adams (1997)