The words of the Declaration of Independence, so familiar to us and so important to our country, were those of Thomas Jefferson. He was a primary force behind United States independence. Without his influence, our country would be vastly different from the nation we know today. Jefferson initiated public education, established a national library, and paved the way for the abolishment of slavery. Although he was not a power-hungry or even ambitious politician, Jefferson served in many different offices, including president, in order to help his fledgling country remain on its feet. His faith and dedication to the idea of self-government never wavered, even in the face of many personal hardships. John B. Severance traces Jefferson's life from his plantation boyhood to his two terms as president and his last days preparing for the opening of the University of Virginia, weaving details of both Jefferson's political career and his rich personal life together to create a thoughtful and well-researched biography. Jefferson quotes, bibliography, index. Grade 7-10-This attractive and thorough biography helps bring life to a visionary forefather. Severance follows Jefferson's career from his school days at William and Mary through his rise in American politics. Throughout the concise and swift-moving narrative, the author integrates aspects of world history and of 18th- and 19th-century cultural, scientific, and literary life that help to place Jefferson within his world. Readers will see how the influences of Locke; principles of the Enlightenment; the impact of the French Revolution; and relationships with Adams, Madison, and Hamilton informed Jefferson's philosophy and shaped his ideas. He is depicted as a curious, creative, brilliant champion of democracy: a crusader for individual rights and education. While one might wish for more information on Jefferson's family and personal life, the emphasis here is on political and military history. A wealth of archival drawings and maps and reproductions illuminate the potentially overwhelming detail of text. Severance places Jefferson's paradoxical views toward slavery-his hopes for emancipation although he was a slaveholder himself-within its historical context. The end result is an energetic account of a humane and dynamic leader. Jennifer A. Fakolt, Denver Public Library Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Gr. 7^-12. In this respectful, literate, and handsomely illustrated biography, Severance focuses equally on Jefferson's remarkable accomplishments and the beliefs behind them, portraying him as the crucial link between Age of Enlightenment philosophers and a new form of government. The author also examines Jefferson's family life and his contradictory record on slavery, but the results here are less than illuminating. There are few quotes from Jefferson's personal diaries or correspondence, which, one hopes, could shed some light on his interior life. In another example of a missed opportunity, Severance repeats the rumors and denials of Jefferson's relationship with his slave Sally Hemings but offers nothing to support or refute them. (Coverage of the campaign in 1800 when those charges first aired, however, is a highlight of the book; modern campaigns pale beside this account of mudslinging and moral recriminations.) All in all, the book will leave readers with a rich understanding of Jefferson's vigorous and highly principled public life. But it also leaves unaddressed questions about who the man, aside from his documents and his deeds, really was. A bibliography, thorough index, and compendium of memorable quotes are appended. Randy Meyer A thorough and sympathetic biography; Severance (Gandhi, 1997, etc.) focuses on the early education of Thomas Jefferson, especially on his sister Jane's encouragement of his interest in music and books. As one of the most educated of the early colonists, Jefferson, at 33, was chosen to compose a declaration explaining the resolution that the US colonies ought to be ``free and independent states.'' The wonderful black-and-white archival prints throughout add scholarly and visual credibility to this work; the inclusion of many of Jefferson's famous quotes further enhances this investigation of a man who was, in his time, a model American, as full of contradictions (a man against slavery who owned slaves, a former president who died bankrupt, a devoted family man who had a relationship with a married woman, a deeply private man who held political offices and led a public life) as the young country in which he lived. (b&w reproductions, maps, bibliography, index) (Biography. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. "...an energetic account of a humane and dynamic leader." School Library Journal Formerly a school teacher, John B. Severance now writes full time. He lives in Savannah, Georgia.