American History: Thomas Jefferson in Paris: The Ministry of a Virginian Looker-on (Hardcover)

Jefferson s years in France as minister plenipotentiary were a time of large edification. He approached his ministry as a looker on Jefferson while in France always kept a critical distance from events so that he could measure and critically examine them from the perspective of a dispassionate natural philosopher. Being dispassionate Jefferson was pulled into events only insofar as circumstances required him to do so. Yet his adventures from his critical distance (e.g. his trip to London to meet the king his ventures in the salons of Paris and his travels through Southern France Northern Italy the Rhineland and the Netherlands) were many and varied. He even at times lost his critical looker-on perspective from distance as he allowed himself to become immersed in events as in the case of his relationship with lovely Italian artist and musician Maria Cosway. This book is a portal into the mind of Thomas Jefferson as looker-on during his tenure in Paris. Why was Jefferson so eager to accept the ministry to Paris? What was his impression of the great city and its people while he stayed? What lessons while in Paris did he learn which he could transport to Virginia and his country? Those and other questions Holowchak aims to answer in this book.