Eagerly awaited by readers of Alf Mapp's best-selling Thomas Jefferson: A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity, this final volume follows Jefferson from his inauguration as President in 1801 to his death at the age of 83 on July 4, 1826. It embraces the eight years as Chief Executive in which he doubled the size of the United States by his daring Louisiana Purchase, sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on one of the world's greatest expeditions of exploration, and challenged the formidable Chief Justice John Marshall with a major program of judicial reform. It proves the falseness of the stereotype that Jefferson ignored national defense and tried to keep the Navy weak. The book shows him late in life, with ideas that have relevance today, planning a system of public education and founding the University of Virginia, and it reveals, better than any other biography to date, the intimate details of the lonely private battle he fought during his last tortured, but ultimately triumphant, decade. In Thomas Jefferson: Passionate Pilgrim, Jefferson the human being, passionate in his loves and hates, is never lost in a revealing portrait of the public figure. Witnessing Jefferson's actions in private life as well as in the arena of history, the reader learns why this founding father was abhorred by some but adored by many more. The book not only is enlightening about Jefferson's personality, character, and career, but also enables us to view America and Europe in the first quarter of the nineteenth century through the eyes of the one person best qualified to see them in all phases. His wide acquaintance on both sides of the Atlantic, his richly varied interests, and his life as both scholar and social animal, gave him a unique perspective. Almost as interesting as Jefferson himself are the many other characters ho enliven the narrative. In addition to such accustomed players in his life drama as Madison, Monroe, and Marshall, there is the President's troublesome cousin, John Randolph, majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives at age twenty-eight, who sometimes entered the chamber in foxhunting togs, followed by a pack of hounds, and gestured with a riding crop as he addressed his colleagues. And there is Margaret Bayard Smith, who boasted that the master of monticello had admitted her to his "sanctum sanctorum" where "any other feet but his own seldom intrude." There was Vice President Aaron Burr, of the hypnotic eyes, who almost founded an empire in the American West. And who could forget Napoleon, completely nude, conducting a conference vital to the fate of both Jefferson and the United States? Read either separately or in conjunction with Mapp's earlier volume on Jefferson, this book offers an illuminating and absorbing view of the person whom columnist George Will describes as the "Man of the Millennium."

The passion of Robert E. Lee and the puritan streak in cavalier J. E. B. Stuart are only two of the surprises in Alf J. Mapp Jr.'s highly regarded psychological analysis of Confederate military and political leaders. In this beautifully written book, Mapp also brings to life the defensively genteel Jefferson Davis, the paradoxically bold retreater Joseph E. Johnston, the amazingly transformed "Stonewall" Jackson, and the mysterious and astonishingly durable Judah P. Benjamin. Mapp's first-rate scholarship, fresh insights, and exciting prose have made Frock Coats and Epaulets essential reading for generations of historians and readers interested in the Civil War. Revised and with a new introduction and updated bibliography, Mapp's classic study of the men who led the Confederate rebellion against the United States will appeal to a whole new generation of Americans.

King Alfred. Everybody knows that he is called "the Great," but few remember why. Forgetfulness is strange, for few men have led lives so full of physical, mental, and spiritual adventure, or influenced in so many ways the lives of people in every part of the globe. The Golden Dragon is his fascinating and moving story, told afresh with the aid of recent archaeological evidence and research in four languages. Alfred's achievements have melted cynicism. Gibbon called him "the greatest of English kings"; Hume, "the greatest man in history." Voltaire declared, "I know not whether there has ever been a man on earth worthier of posterity's respect." When his kingdom was reduced to thirty acres, he fought back with such courage and genius that he expelled the Viking invaders and made possible the saving of Western civilization. His list of accomplishments is amazing: transcendent diplomat, Europe's greatest naval designer, notable architect, law giver, founder of the oldest literary tradition in the Occident, originator of a system of public education, and producer of translations that have endured a thousand years. The author's research led him to the conclusion that the ninth-century English kin was the superior of Charlemagne in almost every respect, and indeed was one of the greatest geniuses Western civilization has ever produced. Alfred's courage, faith, and temperance are enduring examples for modern men.

This groundbreaking biography has been universally acclaimed as a landmark work on Thomas Jefferson's early and mature years. Mapp follows Jefferson from his birth in 1743 through the American Revolution and up until his inauguration as President of the United States in 1801. Along the way we rediscover Jefferson the student at William and Mary, the Virginia politician, and the foreign diplomat. In these pages, Mapp sheds new light on Jefferson's career and private life. The portrait is rich and full of a living complexity that defies the simple sketches often offered by those who would either canonize or demonize this reluctant founding father.

Throughout our nation's history, the religious beliefs of America's founders have been contested and misunderstood. Did our founders advocate Christianity or atheism? In The Faiths of Our Fathers, widely acclaimed historian Alf J. Mapp, Jr. cuts through the historical uncertainty to accurately portray the religious beliefs of eleven of America's founding fathers, including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. He discovers men with religious beliefs as diverse as their political opinions. These profiles shed light on not only the lives and times of the revolutionary generation but also the role of religion in public life throughout American history.

In this intriguing book, best-selling author Alf Mapp, Jr. explores three periods in Western history that exploded with creativity: Elizabethan England, Renaissance Florence, and America's founding. What enabled these societies to make staggering jumps in scientific knowledge, develop new political structures, or create timeless works of art?

The passion of Robert E. Lee and the puritan streak in J.E.B. Stuart are two of the surprises in Alf J. Mapp Jr.'s psychological analysis of Confederate military and political leaders. In this beautifully written book, Mapp also brings to life the defensively genteel Jefferson Davis, the paradoxically bold retreater Joseph E. Johnston, the amazingly transformed "Stonewall" Jackson, and the mysterious and astonishing Judah P. Benjamin. Mapp's first-rate scholarship and exciting prose make Frock Coats essential reading for historians and Civil War buffs. Mapp's study of the men who led the Confederate rebellion against the United States will appeal to a new generation of Americans.

Superb volume.detailed and very entertaining.Reading this volume in conjunction with a trip would provide the best conceivable history lesson, a true appreciation of both the meager and momentous beginnings of this nation.
-"The Washington Post" Lively and engrossing
-The (Louisville, KY) "Courier-Journal" Mapp has a genius for narrative history almost equal to Parkman himself.Fascinating.The reader will be entertained and enriched.
-Arthur Pierce Middleton "The Virginia Magazine of History" A fine scholar, caring teacher, and voluminous communicator who has won several awards as a national educator.
-President Rosanne Runte, Old Dominion University