This highly acclaimed biography captures, in a single volume, the complete picture of Thomas Jefferson's private and public life. Drawing on extensive research, Willard Sterne Randall presents a stirring biography that Publishers Weekly hailed as "a masterful . . . portrait that brings us closer to Jefferson than any previous biography".

Combining firsthand scholarship and material drawn from the Jefferson Papers, Willard Sterne Randall calls on his skills as an investigative journalist to challenge long-held assumptions about the reasoning, motives, and works of this sage, philosopher, politician, and romantic. Exploring both Jefferson's interior and public struggles, Randall sheds important light on Jefferson's thoughts on slavery and his relationship with the slave Sally Hemmings, as well as Revolutionary and diplomatic intrigues.