Jefferson Reading List
This section presents a selected list of books containing Thomas Jefferson's writings and books about Thomas Jefferson. Most are still in print.
* Thomas Jefferson's Writings
* The Best Books about Thomas Jefferson
* OtherWorthwhile Books about Thomas Jefferson
* Books about Thomas Jefferson from the Nineteenth Century
* Books about Monticello and Poplar Forest
* Books Refuting the Sally Hemings Story
* Books on the Founding Era
* Videos about Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson's Writings
• The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (20 volumes. A nearly complete collection, and available online), edited by Andrew A. Lipscomb and Albert Ellery Bergh.
• The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (10 volumes. Also a nearly complete collection), edited by Paul Leicester Ford.
• The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (the definitive collection, containing 29 volumes to date and covering Jefferson's life through the late 1790's), edited by Julian Boyd and others.
• Jefferson, Writings (the most comprehensive one volume collection), edited by Merrill D. Peterson.
• Thomas Jefferson: In His Own Words(also an excellent one volume collection), edited by Maureen Harrison and Steve Gilbert.
• Jefferson Himself, edited by Bernard Mayo.
• The Portable Thomas Jefferson, edited by Merrill D. Peterson
• The Jefferson Cyclopedia (Over 9000 quotations, organized topically and available online), edited by John P. Foley.
• The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden.
• The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Edwin Morris Betts and James Adam Bear, Jr.
• The Political Writings of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Merrill D. Peterson.
• The Jefferson Bible (Thomas Jefferson's "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" drawn from the Bible), edited by Forrest Church.
• The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison 1776-1826, edited by James Morton Smith.
• The Wisdom of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Edward Boykin.
• The Political Writings of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Edward Dumbauld.
• Adams & Jefferson: A Revolutionary Dialogue, edited by Merrill D. Peterson.
• To His Excellency Thomas Jefferson: Letters to a President, edited by Jack McLaughlin.
• Jefferson's Memorandum Books, Vols. 1 and 2, edited by James A. Bear and Lucia C. Stanton.
• The Garden and Farm Books of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Robert C. Barn.
• Jefferson's Literary Commonplace Book, edited by Douglas Wilson.
Recommended Books About Thomas Jefferson
• Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation, by Merrill D. Peterson.
• Jefferson and His Time: by Dumas Malone. Vol. 1: Jefferson the Virginian; Vol. 2: Jefferson and the Rights of Man; Vol. 3: Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty; Vol. 4: Jefferson the President, First Term 1801-1805; Vol. 5: Jefferson the President, Second Term 1805-1809; Vol. 6: The Sage of Monticello.
• The Jefferson Image in the American Mind, by Merrill D. Peterson.
• The Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson,
by Noble E. Cunningham, Jr.
• Mr. Jefferson, by Albert Jay Nock.
• Thomas Jefferson: A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity, by Alf J. Mapp, Jr.
• Thomas Jefferson: Passionate Pilgrim, by Alf J. Mapp, Jr.
• Thomas Jefferson: A Life, by Willard Sterne Randall.
• The Turning Point: Jefferson's Battle for the Presidency, by Frank van der Linden.
• The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson,by William Howard Adams.
• The Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson, by Charles B. Sanford.
• Thomas Jefferson, (Great Americans Series), by Nancy Skarmeas.
Other Worthwhile Books About Thomas Jefferson
• Thomas Jefferson: A Brief Biography, by Dumas Malone.
• Thomas Jefferson: A Profile, edited by Merrill D. Peterson.
• Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, by Garry Wills.
• The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson, by David N. Mayer.
• The Lost World of Thomas Jefferson, by Daniel J. Boorstein.
• Sworn on the Alter of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson, by Edwin S. Gaustad.
• Thomas Jefferson, by Norman K. Risjord.
• Thomas Jefferson and Music, by Helen Cripe.
• Jefferson and Nature: An Interpretation, by Charles A. Miller.
• Thomas Jefferson: Landscape Architect, by Frederick Doveton Nichols and Ralph E. Griswold.
• The Inner Jefferson: Portrait of a Grieving Optimist, by Andrew Burstein.
• Thomas Jefferson: American Humanist, by Karl Lehman.
• Thomas Jefferson: American Tourist, by Edward Dumbauld.
• Thomas Jefferson's Journey to the South of France, by Roy and Alma Moore.
• Thomas Jefferson, by John T. Morse.
Books About Monticello and Poplar Forest
• Jefferson and Monticello: The Biography of a Builder, by Jack McLaughlin.
• Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.
• Jefferson's Monticello, by William Howard Adams.
• Visitors to Monticello, edited by Merrill D. Peterson.
• The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, by Susan R. Stein.
• Jefferson at Monticello: Recollections of a Monticello Slave and of a Monticello Overseer, edited by James A. Bear, Jr.
• Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest: A Private Place, by the Corporation for Jefferson 's Poplar Forest .
• Poplar Forest and Thomas Jefferson, by J. Allen Chambers, Jr.
Books Refuting the Sally Hemings Story
• The Jefferson-Hemings Controversy(the definitive refutation), by Robert F. Turner and the Jefferson-Hemmings Scholars Commission (This book will be published in 2004 based on the Commission's comprehensive study of the matter, completed in 2000).
• The Jefferson-Hemings Myth: An American Travesty, by the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society.
• Anatomy of a Scandal: Thomas Jefferson and the Sally Hemings Story, by Rebecca L. McMurray and James F. McMurry, Jr.
• The Jefferson Scandals: A Rebuttal, by Virginius Dabney.
Books on the Founding Era
• Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution, by Benson Bobrick.
• The Spirit of Seventy-six, edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris.
• Vindicating the Founders, by Thomas G. West.
• The Radicalism of the American Revolution, by Gordon S. Wood.
• The Creation of the American Republic, by Gordon S. Wood.
• American Afire: Jefferson, Adams and the First Contested Election, by Bernard A. Weisberger.
Books About Thomas Jefferson from the Nineteenth Century
• The Life of Thomas Jefferson, by Henry S. Randall.
• Sketches of the Life, Writings and Opinions of Thomas Jefferson, by B.L. Rayner.
• The Life of Thomas Jefferson, by George Tucker.
Videos About Thomas Jefferson
• Thomas Jefferson - A filmby Ken Burns (1997)
• Thomas Jefferson: Philosopher of Freedom (A&E, 1995)
• Monticello: Home of Thomas Jefferson (1995)
• Thomas Jefferson: The Pursuit of Liberty (1991)
• Williamsburg - The Story of a Patriot: A New Democracy is Born (1957)