Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone, describing himself simply as "Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia." It is in this simple epitaph that R.B. Bernstein finds the key to this enigmatic Founder—not as a great political figure, but as leader of "a revolution of ideas that would make the world over again."

In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein offers the definitive short biography of this revere...