| The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution, 1785-1800 Contributor(s): O'Brien, Conor Cruise (Author) |
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ISBN: 0226616533 ISBN-13: 9780226616537 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $89.10 Product Type: Hardcover Published: November 1996 Annotation: Certain to be as controversial and explosive as it is elegant and learned, The Long Affair is Conor Cruise O'Brien's examination of Jefferson, as man and icon, through the critical lens of the French Revolution. Unable to speak the language, endowed with few close friends or colleagues, and curiously detached from Parisian intellectual life, Thomas Jefferson seemed an alienated and somewhat homesick Virginia farmer during most of his tenure as American Minister to France. But the advent of the French Revolution seized Jefferson with a new fervor, and in 1789 he returned to the United States an ardent admirer and ally of that cause. O'Brien argues that Jefferson, though enthralled with the ideological mystique of the French Revolution, nevertheless retained a shrewd political pragmatism, skillfully exploiting the Revolution's popularity with the American public. Ultimately, O'Brien suggests, Jefferson's egalitarian ideals came into conflict with his staunch political support for the slave-based Southern economy. Following the slave insurrection in Haiti inspired by the French Revolution, his revolutionary zeal was tempered and began to cool. Concluding with an evaluation of Jefferson's current role in the system of American political beliefs, O'Brien seriously questions whether we can sustain Jefferson's lofty status in an increasingly multiracial America, and he suggests a disturbing link between Jefferson's vision and white supremacist, survivalist extremists. A provocative analysis of the supreme symbol of American history and political culture, The Long Affair will challenge our traditional perceptions of both Jeffersonian history and the Jeffersonian legacy. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - Revolutionary Period (1775-1800) - Biography & Autobiography | Historical |
| Dewey: 973.409 |
| LCCN: 96002968 |
| Physical Information: 1.36" H x 6.45" W x 9.34" (1.69 lbs) 386 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: As controversial and explosive as it is elegant and learned, The Long Affair is Conor Cruise O'Brien's examination of Thomas Jefferson, as man and icon, through the critical lens of the French Revolution. O'Brien offers a provocative analysis of the supreme symbol of American history and political culture and challenges the traditional perceptions of both Jeffersonian history and the Jeffersonian legacy. The book is an attack on America's long affair with Jeffersonian ideology of radical individualism: an ideology that, by confusing Jefferson with a secular prophet, will destroy the United States from within.--David C. Ward, Boston Book Review With his background as a politician and a diplomat, O'Brien brings a broad perspective to his effort to define Jefferson's beliefs through the prism of his attitudes toward France. . . . This is an important work that makes an essential contribution to the overall picture of Jefferson.--Booklist O'Brien traces the roots of Jefferson's admiration for the revolution in France but notes that Jefferson's enthusiasm for France cooled in the 1790s, when French egalitarian ideals came to threaten the slave-based Southern economy that Jefferson supported.--Library Journal In O'Brien's opinion, it's time that Americans face the fact that Jefferson, long seen as a champion of the 'wronged masses, ' was a racist who should not be placed on a pedestal in an increasingly multicultural United States.--Boston Phoenix O'Brien makes a well-argued revisionist contribution to the literature on Jefferson.--Kirkus Reviews O'Brien is right on target . . . determined not to let the evasions and cover-ups continue.--Forrest McDonald, National Review The Long Affair should be read by anyone interested in Jefferson--or in a good fight.--Richard Brookhiser, New York Times Book Review |