I get inquiries on a regular basis regarding a good biography of Thomas Jefferson. I generally refer people to the list Kevin Gutzman compiled of Jefferson books.

One book I would stay away from is Albert Jay Nock’s Mr. Jefferson. You’d think this would be a great book. The great antistatist Nock writing on Jefferson? How great. No. No, no, no. This book is atrocious, in my opinion. There is almost nothing in it about Jefferson’s thought! Nothing on natural rights, nothing on states’ rights. The Declaration of Independence gets maybe half a page to a page, and the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, which sum up Jefferson’s view of the Union, are referred to fleetingly and not mentioned by name. A missed opportunity of epic proportions.