Jefferson Abroad (Modern Library)
The man who penned the sweeping words of America's Declaration of Independence was nonetheless a natural pragmatist who preferred details to grandiose statements. That is one of the enjoyable revelations contained in this collection of Thomas Jefferson's writings during the years 1784 to 1789, when he served in France as the representative of the American Congress. "Of political correspondents I can find enough," Jefferson writes to his friend James Currie. "But I can persuade nobody to believe that the small facts which they see passing daily under their eyes are precious to me." Though his own correspondence does not lack for pungent generalizations ("I like a little rebellion now and then," he tells Abigail Adams. "It is like a storm in the Atmosphere"), Jefferson's personality emerges most colorfully in his informal comments. "Hampton Court. Old fashioned. Clipt yews grown wild," reads a note on his tour of English gardens. Flirtatious letters to various women highlight his charm, trenchant comments on the deteriorating situation in France reveal his hatred for economic and social injustice, and exchanges with James Madison and other confidants at home limn his ongoing concern for events in the United States. Useful annotations by two scholars from the International Center for Jefferson Studies add to this book's value for Jefferson fans and students of American history.--Wendy Smith