Chronicles of America Volume 15 - Jefferson and his Colleagues

The founding generation was smaller than we remember, and far more fractious. This volume traces Thomas Jefferson and his Virginia successors, Madison and Monroe, as they navigate the dangerous early years of the republic. We witness the audacious Louisiana Purchase that doubled the nation in a single stroke, the humiliating War of 1812, and the emergence of American power on the global stage through the Monroe Doctrine. But Johnson also illuminates the shadow that lengthens over the land: the Missouri Compromise reveals that the question of slavery, sidestepped in 1776, would no longer be ignored. This is popular history at its best, vivid, urgent, and aware that the choices of these men still shape our present. For readers who want to understand how America became America, this is essential ground.