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The Shelf2Life Literature and Fiction Collection is a unique set of
short stories, poems and novels from the late 19th to early 20th
centuries. From tales of love, life and heartbreaking loss to
humorous stories of ghost encounters, these volumes captivate the
imaginations of readers young and old. Included in this collection
are a variety of dramatic and spirited poems that contemplate the
mysteries of life and celebrate the wild beauty of nature. The
Shelf2Life Literature and Fiction Collection provides readers with
an opportunity to enjoy and study these iconic literary works, many
of which were written during a period of remarkable creativity.
In 1821, at the age of seventy-seven, Thomas Jefferson decided to
"state some recollections of dates and facts concerning myself."
His ancestors, Jefferson writes, came to America from Wales in the
early seventeenth century and settled in the Virginia colony.
Jefferson's father, although uneducated, possessed a "strong mind
and sound judgement" and raised his family in the far western
frontier of the colony, an experience that contributed to his son's
eventual staunch defense of individual and state rights. Jefferson
attended the College of William and Mary, entered the law, and in
1775 was elected to represent Virginia at the Continental Congress
in Philadelphia, an event that propelled him to all of his future
political fortunes. Jefferson's autobiography continues through the
entire Revolutionary War period, and his insights and information
about persons, politics, and events-including the drafting of the
Declaration of Independence, his service in France with Benjamin
Franklin, and his observations on the French Revolution-are of
immense value to both scholars and general readers. Jefferson ends
this account of his life at the moment he returns to New York to
become secretary of state in 1790. Complementing the other major
autobiography of the period, Benjamin Franklin's, The Autobiography
of Thomas Jefferson, reintroduced for this edition by historian
Michael Zuckerman, gives us a glimpse into the private life and
associations of one of America's most influential personalities.
Alongside Jefferson's absorbing narrative of the way compromises
were achieved at the Continental Congress are comments about his
own health and day-to-day life that allow the reader to picture him
more fully as a human being. Throughout, Jefferson states his
opinions and ideas about many issues, including slavery, the death
penalty, and taxation. Although Jefferson did not carry this
autobiography further into his eventual presidency, the foundations
for all of his thoughts are here, and it is in these pages that
Jefferson lays out what to him was his most important contribution
to his country, the creation of a democratic republic.
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