6.13.2010
Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War
by Michael Kranish, 331 pgs, hardcover
Overall Grade: B+
In case you thought that all the interesting bits of the Revolutionary War had to do with Washington and the Continental Army, here is something to prove you wrong. While giving a brief recounting of Jefferson's life before and after the war, this book focuses on his life during the war itself. After penning the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson leaves the Continental Congress, and returns home to Virginia, where they elect him governor. Then he has a heck of a time trying to drum up his "state's" quota for the army, the militia, and just about anything else, including their defense when the British finally get tired of New England and come down to Virginia to make life miserable for the colonists. Oh, and did we mention that Jefferson almost gets captured several times while desperately running around Virginia being governor. And his wife dies, poor guy.
Labels: genre: biographical, genre: historical, genre: non-fiction, media: book
