Re-examines the controversy over the nature of Thomas Jefferson's relationship with his slave Sally Hemings by looking at the DNA evidence, written accounts, oral histories, and other sources in an attempt to resolve ambiguities and speculations, and determine their relevance and credibility. Includes 20 pages on Jefferson's brother, Randolph Jefferson and his sons.

Winter and Widener tell the story of James Madison Hemings's childhood at Monticello, and, in doing so, illuminate the many contradictions in Jefferson's life and legacy. Though Jefferson lived in a mansion, Hemings and his siblings lived in a single room. While Jefferson doted on his white grandchildren, he never showed affection to his enslaved children. Though he kept the Hemings boys from hard field labor instead sending them to work in the carpentry...

Historian and legal scholar Gordon-Reed presents this epic work that tells the story of the Hemingses, an American slave family and their close blood ties to Thomas Jefferson.

Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson, with good reason: His life was a great American drama-one of the greatest-played out in compelling acts. He was the architect of our democracy, a visionary chief executive who expanded this nation's physical boundaries to unimagined lengths. But Twilight at Monticello is something entirely new: an unprecedented and engrossing personal look at the intimate Jefferson in his final years that will change the...