{"product_id":"being-thomas-jefferson-andrew-burstein-9781639737680","title":"Being Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe deepest dive yet into the heart and soul, secret affairs, unexplored alliances, and bitter feuds of a generally worshipped, intermittently reviled American icon.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePerhaps no founding father is as mysterious as Thomas Jefferson. The author of the Declaration of Independence was both a gifted wordsmith and a bundle of nerves. His superior knowledge of the human heart is captured in the impassioned appeal he brought to the Declaration. But as a champion of the common man who lived a life of privilege on a mountaintop plantation of his own design, he has eluded biographers who have sought to make sense of his inner life. In \u003ci\u003eBeing Thomas Jefferson\u003c\/i\u003e, acclaimed Jefferson scholar Andrew Burstein peels away layers of obfuscation, taking us past the veneer of the animated letter-writer to describe a confused lover and a misguided humanist, too timid to embrace antislavery. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJefferson was a soft-spoken man who recoiled from direct conflict, yet a master puppeteer in politics. Whenever he left Monticello, where he could control his environment, he suffered debilitating headaches that plagued him for decades, until he finally retired from public life. So, what did it\u003ci\u003e feel like\u003c\/i\u003e to be Thomas Jefferson? Burstein explains the decision to take as his mistress Sally Hemings, the enslaved half-sister of his late wife, who bore him six children, none of whom he acknowledged. Presenting a society that encouraged separation between public and private, appearance and essence, Burstein paints a dramatic picture of early American culture and brings us closer to Jefferson's life and thought than ever before.","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50157343998145,"sku":"9781639737680","price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0781\/5512\/0833\/files\/9781639737680.jpg?v=1777046163","url":"https:\/\/www.porchlightbooks.com\/products\/being-thomas-jefferson-andrew-burstein-9781639737680","provider":"Porchlight Book Company","version":"1.0","type":"link"}