"In 1784, travel wrenched Thomas Jefferson out of the darkest period of his life. He sailed to France a broken man, but on the road, he rediscovered a world of hidden beauty and penned a guide he called Hints for Americans Traveling in Europe. During a crisis of his own, Derek Baxter dares himself to follow Jefferson's route. On a series of journeys (piloting a Dutch canal boat, hiking the French Alps, and fishing in the Atlantic), Baxter follows...

This is the little-known story of how a newly independent nation was challenged by four Muslim powers and what happened when America's third president decided to stand up to intimidation. When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, America faced a crisis. The new nation was deeply in debt and needed its economy to grow quickly, but its merchant ships were under attack. Pirates from North Africa's Barbary coast routinely captured American sailors...

Examines how the educations of America's first four presidents, and in particular their scholarly devotion to ancient Greek and Roman classics, informed the beliefs and ideals that shaped the nation's constitution and government.