Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Most Blessed of the Patriarchs
    Most Blessed of the Patriarchs
    Most Blessed of the Patriarchs
    Audiobook14 hours

    Most Blessed of the Patriarchs

    Written by Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf

    Narrated by Karen Chilton

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A groundbreaking work of history that explicates Thomas Jefferson's vision of himself, the American Revolution, Christianity, slavery, and race. Thomas Jefferson is still presented today as a hopelessly enigmatic figure, despite being written about more than any other Founding Father. Lauded as the most articulate voice of American freedom, even as he held people in bondage, Jefferson is variably described by current-day observers as a hypocrite, an atheist, and a simple-minded proponent of limited government. Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed teams up with the country's leading Jefferson scholar, Peter S. Onuf, to present an absorbing and revealing character study that finally clarifies the philosophy of Thomas Jefferson. Tracing Jefferson's development and maturation from his youth to his old age, the authors explore what they call the "empire" of Jefferson's imagination-his expansive state of mind born of the intellectual influences and life experiences that led him into public life as a modern avatar of the enlightenment, who often likened himself to an ancient figure-"the most blessed of the patriarchs."
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 13, 2016
    ISBN9781501911781
    Most Blessed of the Patriarchs
    Author

    Annette Gordon-Reed

    Annette Gordon-Reed is Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School.

    More audiobooks from Annette Gordon Reed

    Related to Most Blessed of the Patriarchs

    Related audiobooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Tragedy of Edmund Morris

      May 28, 2019

      The Tragedy of Edmund Morris
      5 min read

    • Article

      1776, not 1619

      Oct 29, 2019

      1776, not 1619
      5 min read

    • Article

      Annette Gordon-reed: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Words

      Feb 21, 2020

      THOMAS JEFFERSON BEGAN LIFE IN A MONARCHY, UNDER THE reign of George II, in one of Britain’s North American colonies—Virginia. In this monarchical system everyone knew his or her place, with little expectation of being able to move very far outside o

      3 min read

    • Article

      Annette Gordon-reed: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Words

      Feb 21, 2020

      THOMAS JEFFERSON BEGAN LIFE IN A MONARCHY, UNDER THE reign of George II, in one of Britain’s North American colonies—Virginia. In this monarchical system everyone knew his or her place, with little expectation of being able to move very far outside o

      3 min read

    • Article

      Why Liberalism Disappoints

      Aug 8, 2017

      Why Liberalism Disappoints
      8 min read

    • Article

      Complete Picture

      May 3, 2021

      Complete Picture
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Klansman’s Horrific Reign

      Aug 15, 2023

      A Klansman’s Horrific Reign
      12 min read

    • Article

      Tom Paine’s Bones

      Aug 14, 2022

      Tom Paine’s Bones
      4 min read

    • Article

      From Father Divine to Jim Jones: On the Phenomenon of American Messiahs

      Aug 26, 2019

      Here's the thing about so-called cults: for all their tragic failings, they’ve provided the only genuine resistance to the forward march of capitalism. The post From Father Divine to Jim Jones: On the Phenomenon of American Messiahs appeared first on

      13 min read

    • Article

      Emerson And Thoreau Led A Second Independence Movement – This Time Of Thought

      Dec 8, 2021

      In 1976, Robert A. Gross published “The Minutemen and Their World,” a groundbreaking piece of scholarship about the origins of the American Revolution. Rather than telling the story through accounts of a few Founding Fathers, Gross dramatically broad

      3 min read

    • Article

      Best Books Of The Year

      Nov 26, 2019

      Angry Queer Somali Boy: A Complicated Memoir details Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali’s journey from wartorn Africa to the West. Lost in a strange country (the Netherlands, then Canada) and culture, Ali found it difficult to assimilate. His sexuality was sudde

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Last WASP President

      Dec 2, 2018

      The Last WASP President
      4 min read

    • Article

      Lost Souls

      May 1, 2018

      Lost Souls
      4 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Winslow, Kois, Tóibín, and More

      Jan 17, 2023

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new release titles from De’Shawn Charles Winslow, Dan Kois, Colm Tóibín, and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to he

      7 min read

    • Article

      Animal Tracks

      Jul 24, 2018

      Animal Tracks
      4 min read

    • Article

      Explosive Election

      Nov 17, 2020

      Explosive Election
      12 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Most Blessed of the Patriarchs

    3.5/5

    28 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      Mispronunciations, pseudo-academic “woke” analysis, and circular, repetitive coverage make this fairly dull. The real history contained herein is derivative of other works. Finally, the overuse of “suggests that” suggests that the authors had something in mind and cherry picked the facts to paint that picture.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Absolitely excellent work. Topical and in-depth. Well worth the time to read.
    • 3/5
      I’ll give it a three because the light it sheds on Jefferson’s character outweighs my dissatisfaction with it’s literary merit. The “Empire of the Imagination” of the subtitle seems to refer not only to the glorious republic that Jefferson imagined the new nation could become, but also to the self-image he cultivated, which was often at odds with reality. He extolled the virtues of home life, wherein, he thought were cultivated the spirit of fellowship and civility and moral values that would be the bedrock of the national comity. He often wrote about the central place that home played in his life. Yet he only spent a handful of years actually living in Monticello, and most of that time was in what he considered to be an illicit relationship with a slave. On that biggest question, that of slavery, he recognized its evil, yet came to an accommodation with it, thinking that he could ameliorate it with kindness, and wishfully thinking that his countrymen would quickly come to appreciate its corrosive effect on them and, thus, disavow it. He was a sensitive poet, who may have been out of place in politics, and I love him for his poetry, for his love and care for humanity, which has inspired us, but which, I suspect partly because of the excessive optimism he brought to bear on the practical matters of state, we have fallen short of.
    • 3/5
      This biography focuses on Jefferson's personal life, his home, his family, and his attitudes about them. He was progressive in many ways, a man of the Enlightenment, but his beliefs about gender, race, and religion remained constrained by his times. The impression I'm left with from this book is that Jefferson sincerely meant well and did his best.