"The surprising story of how Thomas Jefferson commanded an unrivaled age of American exploration, sending out waves of expeditions into the West after the Louisiana Purchase. In presiding over that era of discovery, Jefferson forged a great nation"--

Traces the history of Jefferson's vegetable garden, which has been painstakingly restored by the author, from the artichokes and asparagus first planted in 1770 through the horticultural experiments of Jefferson's retirement years.

Capturing the essence of the origin and evolution of the so-called "degeneracy debates, " over whether the flora and fauna of America (including Native Americans) were naturally weaker and feebler than species elsewhere in the world, this book chronicles Thomas Jefferson's efforts to counter French conceptions of American degeneracy, culminating in his sending of a stuffed moose to Buffon.

"A study of Jefferson and his campaign to save Virginia through education. Thomas Jefferson shares center stage with his family and fellow planters, all dependent on the labor of enslaved black families. With a declining Virginia yielding to commercially vibrant northern states, Jefferson in 1819 proposed to build a university to educate and improve the sons of the planter elite. They, he hoped, might one day lead a revitalized Virginia free of slavery--and...

"In 1794, Johnny Watkins returns to America from Barbados, intent on becoming a great statesman. Even his hero, John Adams, believes the gifted boy will go far. There's just one catch: Johnny must learn to pass for white. He finds a spirited and lovely confidante in Kate, one of the few who knows that Johnny's father had been born a slave. But as he moves closer toward the new city of Washington, Johnny leaves Kate behind, falling instead for a prominent...