The Paris years of Thomas Jefferson
By: William Howard Adams ; original photography by Adelaide De Menil.
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 354
ISBN-13: 9780300069037
Copyright date: 1997
Subjects: Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 -- Homes and haunts -- France -- Paris; Americans -- France -- Paris -- History -- 18th century; Presidents -- United States -- Biography; Diplomats -- France -- Paris -- Biography; Enlightenment -- France -- Paris; Paris (France) -- Intellectual life -- 18th century; Paris (France) -- History -- 1715-1789
Description: In 1784 Thomas Jefferson moved to the sophisticated and exhilarating city of Paris, where he spent the next five years as minister from the new United States of America. These were formative years for France, for the United States, and for Jefferson's cultural and intellectual development. This engaging book recreates in word and illustration the atmosphere and personalities of prerevolutionary Paris, and it reveals the profound impact they had on one of America's first transatlantic citizens.

Adam's principal focus is on Jefferson's role as the preeminent American envoy in Europe after the departure of Benjamin Franklin, his participation in the cultural and political life of the city, and his private intrigues to help his friends bring the Bourbon monarchy to heel. Finally, Adams places the author of the Declaration of Independence in the middle of his second revolution and chronicles the dramatic events leading to the upheaval of 1788-1789.

The book is richly illustrated with art of the period and with specially commissioned photographs of Parisian sites by Adelaide de Menil.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-339) and index.
Table of contents: title: Taking leave; title: A provincial prelude; title: The city; title: The patriot aesthete; title: The liberal, literary, scientific air of Paris; title: The diplomat; title: The women in his life; title: "Storm in the atmosphere"