Mr. Jefferson's University [Hardcover]

Wills explains the brilliance of Jefferson's designs well enough, though his Prologue ("Jefferson as Artist") remains frustratingly general. This is no great demerit; greater technical detail would arguably hamper his story and the sweeping descriptions of this "academical village" made me want to visit it as soon as I can. Though he falls short of saying so explicitly, Wills clearly implies one has to *see* Jefferson's work to fully appreciate his genius.

While keeping architectural details limited, Wills more than compensates describing the nearly insurmountable personal and political obstacles in getting the fledgling university built and staffed. I certainly came away recognizing the wonder that anything gets built is not a modern phenomenon; even Jefferson--whose reputation was almost beyond reproach--found himself in endless skirmishes to find funding, lobby reluctant congressmen, find supplies, recruit professors, and fend off competition from the few existing schools. And here the founding father halo certainly disappears; Wills shows Jefferson manipulating friends, swapping favors, bad-mouthing, back-stabbing, and doing whatever was necessary to realize his obsession. ("Jefferson did not flinch as sacrificing a friend's peace and content, and possibly his life, if it stood in the way of completing his great work.")

Wills' emphasis on Jefferson's personal life buttresses his obvious belief in what might be termed "the genius syndrome": that a visionary artist must be tormented by some very ugly personal demons and his obsessive drive brings them out in full flower. The author peppers his story with details of Jefferson's bank account, medical condition, societal clueless-ness, and unswerving devotion to "the Southern way of life." Though some of these personal details might be arguably relevant to work with the new university (in a very new country), I failed to see how, for example, a prostate condition was applicable.

Mr. Wills is a distinguished historian--and his style here is nothing if not elegant--but I ultimately found his book lacking in purpose. Is his intent to honor Jefferson's Herculean effort--warts and all? To put the greatness of the university's design in historical context? To show the improbability of getting the school built--especially at that time--at all? 'Mr. Jefferson's University' seems strangely disinterested in any one of these questions in detail and is far too short to cover all of them. To be fair Wills makes passing attempts at some of these themes but none are developed to any reasonable degree.

So Wills ends his story with a broke, deaf, deluded old man and his pride at having brought a university to his beloved Virginia. But of what was Jefferson proud? We never get a straight answer. Other men lobbied the politicians, hired the workers and recruited the professors; Benjamin Latrobe ("the best architect on the continent") even made non-trivial contributions to the design. Perhaps we're to draw our own conclusions from the detailed brilliance of Jefferson's architectural work--for providing enough of that the book is somewhat redeemed--and from the resulting testament that still proudly stands in Charlottesville.

This little book can be read in an afternoon, but it provides wonderful detail to the academic and architectural legacy of Thomas Jefferson. The only failing is the shortage of illustrations -photos and architectural sketches. If a dozen more photos of the site were included, it would be a perfect book for Jefferson fans.