JOSEPH J. ELLIS is the author of many works of American history including Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize; and American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, which won the National Book Award. He recently retired from his position as the Ford Foundation Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife and their youngest son.
"This elegant book on Jefferson sets a standard--history at its best." --Chicago Tribune Editor's Choice
"A brilliant, unconventional look at Jefferson ... beautifully written, cogently argues, full of both zealous scholarship and lively imagination." --Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Magnificent.... Ellis has a Jeffersonian gift for language." --Newsweek
"Lively and provocative ... first-rate." --David McCullough