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Title: Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side by Leonard Williams Levy ISBN: 0-929587-11-1 Publisher: Ivan R Dee, Inc. Pub. Date: October, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: Knocking off Jefferson's halo
Comment: Jefferson is often praised for his writings on personal freedom, democracy, and civil liberties. This book exposes the complexity of Jefferson. In other words, he did not really practice what he preached. He was a champion of civil liberties on paper, but not in practice.

As President of the United States, he showed a disturbing disregard for basic civil liberties. He showed reckless disregard for the 4th amendment ban on unreasonable search and seizure, and he was no friend of the first amendment and a free press when he was attacked by oppostion newspapers.

Those who worship Jefferson will find this book disturbing. Some will even call it a hatchet job. I disagree. Although Levy does attack Jefferson on civil liberties, he praises Jefferson's strong stand on separation of church and state.

Although Levy is a professional historian, this book should appeal to non-academics. It is a quick read and it makes a strong (and controversial) point without going into mind numbing detail. It is nice to read some history with an edge.

Finally, we can admire the principles that Jefferson stood for while acknowledging that he was far from perfect. I think that is the broader point of this book.