Jefferson and His Time

This is the first of six Pulitzer Prize-winning volumes on the life and times of Thomas Jefferson written by distinguished historian Dumas Malone. It is based on vast sources, which cover Jefferson's ancestry, youth, education, and legal career; his marriage and the building of Monticello; the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the Notes on Virginia; his rich, fruitful legislative career; his highly controversial governorship; and his early services to the development of the West.

The second volume in this Pulitzer Prize-winning six-volume biography tells the story of the eventful middle years in the life of Thomas Jefferson: his ministry to France in the years just before the French Revolution and during the early stages of that conflict; his service as secretary of state in President George Washington's first cabinet; the crucial period of his first differences with Alexander Hamilton and the beginnings of his long struggle with the Federalists.

The third volume in Dumas Malone's distinguished study of Thomas Jefferson and his time deals with one of the most fascinating and controversial periods of Jefferson's life. It includes the story of the final and most crucial phase of his secretaryship of state, his retirement to Monticello, his assumption of the leadership of the opposition party, and the crisis during the half-war with France when the existence of political expression was threatened and the freedom of individuals imperiled

The fourth volume in this Pulitzer Prize–winning six-volume work recounts Jefferson's eventful first presidential term. Though characterized by calmer seas than his second presidential voyage, Jefferson's first years in office find him confronting a nation deeply divided following the administrations of Washington and Adams, and many subsequent conflicts. He acquires the vast territory of Louisiana for the United States, challenges the growing power of the federal judiciary, continues to press his opposition to the Hamiltonian doctrine of an overriding central government, assumes the unchallenged leadership of his party, and is universally acknowledged as the preeminent American patron of science and general learning.

The fifth volume of the Jefferson series is a vibrant account of Jefferson's disparate activities, sponsoring the Lewis and Clark expedition, concluding the naval “war” with the Barbary pirates, engaging in a political duel with Chief Justice Marshall over the trial of Aaron Burr, attempting to impose an embargo on exports in reaction to the impressment of American seamen by foreign powers, and, finally, retiring to his beloved haven at Monticello.

The sixth and final volume of Dumas Malone's epic masterwork, The Sage of Monticello brilliantly recounts the accomplishments, friendships, and family difficulties of Jefferson's last seventeen years, including his retirement from Washington and the presidency, his correspondence with John Adams and James Madison, his mounting personal tribulations, and his major role in the founding of the Library of Congress and the University of Virginia.