Benjamin Franklin

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America

Average customer rating:

A Wonderful Biography of Benjamin Franklin!
Benjamin Franklin deserves his place on the face of the $100 bill!
Ponderous & slow
The essential book to understand the importance of What Franklin did in France and how he did it.
I read about 40 pages and couldn't take it anymore.

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America
Stacy Schiff
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805066330
Release Date: 2005-03-10

Amazon.com

Benjamin Franklin began the "the most taxing assignment of his life" at the age of 70: to secure the aid of the French monarchy in helping the fledgling United States establish their republic. The job required tremendous skill, finesse, and discretion, and as Stacy Schiff makes clear in this brilliant book, Franklin was the ideal American, perhaps the only one, to take on the task, due in large part to his considerable personal prestige. One of the most famous men in the world when he landed in France in December 1776, his arrival caused a sensation--he was celebrated as a man of genius, a successor to Newton and Galileo, and treated as a great dignitary, even though the nation he represented was less than a year old and there were many doubts as to whether it would see its second birthday. Though he had no formal diplomatic training and spoke only rudimentary French, Franklin managed to engineer the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the peace treaty of 1783, effectively inventing American foreign policy as he went along, in addition to serving as chief diplomat, banker, and director of American naval affairs.

Franklin recognized and accepted the fact that French aid was crucial to American independence, but some Founding Fathers resented him for making America dependent on a foreign power and severely attacked him for securing the very aid that saved the cause. Schiff offers fascinating coverage of this American infighting, along with the complex political intrigue in France, complete with British spies and French double agents, secret negotiations and backroom deals. A Great Improvisation is an entertaining and illuminating portrait of Franklin's seven-year adventure in France that "stands not only as his greatest service to his country but the most revealing of the man." --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

n December of 1776 a small boat delivered an old man to France.' So begins an enthralling narrative account of how Benjamin Franklin-seventy years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French-convinced France, an absolute monarchy, to underwrite America's experiment in democracy. When Franklin stepped onto French soil, he well understood he was embarking on the greatest gamble of his career. By virtue of fame, charisma, and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers, and hostile colleagues; engineered the Franco-American alliance of l778; and helped to negotiate the peace of l783. The eight-year French mission stands not only as Franklin's most vital service to his country but as the most revealing of the man.

Customer Reviews:

A Wonderful Biography of Benjamin Franklin!.......2007-04-18

This is a wonderful biography of Founding Father, diplomat, and inventor Benjamin Franklin!

Author Stacy Schiff is a talented researcher and author who writes with a great deal of passion and humor. Her life of Franklin is filled with many, many interesting stories and individuals.

Schiff emphasizes the important role played by the French in the American Revolution. They financed Washington and the Continental Army and sent no less than two fleets, some 50,000 French soldiers, tens of thousands of muskets, thousands of cannon and barrels of gunpower, tens of thousands of uniforms, and millions in hard currency to support American independence.

Had it not been for French support, the war, which lasted seven years, would have ended quickly and with a British victory. But that same French involvement caused the French King to overextend his country financially, contributing to his downfall and the French revolution that followed.

Franklin, who was lionized by the French when he arrived in Paris to assume his duties as the Ambassador to France, was instrumental in soliciting military and financial support for the war. Without him there would have been no French involvement and without the French no American independence.

Unfortunately, like many of America's founding fathers, Franklin's greatest enemies were other Americans - small minded men, like John Adams - and especially the Continental Congress. He died without proper recognition of his important role in Paris.

Benjamin Franklin deserves his place on the face of the $100 bill!.......2007-01-28

In my British ignorance, I had led myself to believe that there was only one version of the life of Benjamin Franklin - that of the unique and unparalleled polymath and all-American hero, born in the British Empire but buried at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the great republic that he helped to create.

But Stacy Schiff's extremely readable and obviously well-researched book that covers the period of Dr. Franklin's life when he was an envoy of the second Continental Congress to the Court of King Louis XVI of France also covers the controversy that surrounded this amateur ambassador, stirred most particularly by the brothers Arthur Lee and William Lee of Virginia and John Adams of Massachusetts, later to be the second President of The United States. The former seem to have been motivated by Southern superciliousness and arrogance, 'qualities' battered out of their kind in the later 'War for Southern Independence' by the descendants of the likes of the latter, possessors of their own special sort of sanctimonious superiority complexes.

I can forgive the Lee family for almost anything, for one of my all-time American heroes is General Robert Edward Lee, but it is clear that his older relatives, Arthur and William, disgraced themselves, Virginia and their infant nation by their constant sniping at the one man who was winning over French opinion and, more importantly, attracting French cash and much, much more, for General Washington's army. As to Adams, his distaste for the venerable Dr. Franklin is sufficiently well-documented not to be doubted. The motive for this distaste can reasonably be attributed in part to his narrow and God-fearing New England background, especially when contrasted with Franklin's leading and learned role in enlightening America. The one was old Massachusetts, through and through, whilst the other early 'escaped' to Philadelphia.

I don't suppose it suited some of his critics that Benjamin Franklin was a 'liberal,' not only in his personal and family life but also in his general tolerance of others and his enjoyment of the female attractions of the French Court and of Paris. Of course, they might just have been jealous of the old boy, who, well into his seventies, was getting away with what a twenty-year-old might not have dared to attempt.

Not all were detractors of the good doctor: I was delighted to read - and will remember - the marvellous quote (which I hope is not apocryphal) of the Virginian who was to become the third President of The United States. Mr Jefferson, upon arriving at Versailles in May, 1785, is said to have been asked: "Is it you, Sir, who replaces Dr. Franklin?," to which another of my all-time American heroes replied: "No one can replace him, Sir; I am only his successor."

But, for me, the most surprising portion of this book is its thorough cataloguing of the ingratitude of America and Americans towards Franklin and towards France, without whose financial sacrifices and physical support in the shape of armies and navies, the War of Independence was more likely to have gone the way of innumerable other local revolts. In the absence of French help and of the efforts of Franklin, King George III and his successors would likely have remained the supreme governors, based in London, of all of the squabbling colonies.

Indeed, it seems that it was not until 1917 that the American Government realised - even if it did then - that a deep debt of gratitude was owed to France. By then, of course, Dr. Franklin and King Louis XVI were long dead, but the damage of unpaid debts had been done. France, her treasury depleted by the equivalent of the many billions of dollars spent in the name of America, was riven asunder by her own dreadful revolution that has coloured the judgements of world statesmen and French politics ever since. I well remember, back in the 1960s, when my wife and I first took our young children to visit the areas of northern France that had been fought over so many times in two great wars. We stopped off in a small and attractive village to buy a newspaper and all that was available was "L'Humanité," the Communist party's organ. Some sections of the left-leaning French peasantry still contrast sharply with my right-facing fellow peasants of rural England, a reflection of our different histories.

By my British lights, perhaps Dr. Franklin should have done that which his contemporary critics claimed he was doing - fail. But succeed he did, and America and Americans, at least, can and should be grateful for that, to him and, of course, to France, as well as to her eminent foreign minister at the time of Franklin's vital assignment, the half-forgotten Comte de Vergennes.

On balance, I believe that Benjamin Franklin deserves his place on the face of the $100 bill, and Stacy Schiff's first-rate and five-star book deserves to be read; and not only read, but marked, learned, and inwardly digested.

Ponderous & slow.......2007-01-12

This book is a potted history of the events surrounding the arrival of Benjamin Franklin in the court of Louis XVI and the attempts by the American delegation to gain recognition and material support for the fledgling rebellious states from the kingdom of France.
Ms. Schiff's writing brings to life the intrigue of the royal court and the foibles and petty vanities of the different personalities, French, British and American, describing particularly well the wonderful Franklin himself, in all his apparent absent-mindedness but in reality his single-minded forcefulness.

Within this large tome a slim interesting volume is trying to emerge. There is no doubting that Stacy Schiff writes well; however, given that at least three men named Lee are mentioned in the text, clarity of writing is an essential requirement of the history to avoid confusion; Ms Schiff, to my mind sacrifices clarity of narrative for the flowery phrase. Footnotes - often comprising anecdotes more interesting than much of the text - are included to the point of irritation on most pages; these would have been better included in the text proper.
On balance, the book is worth a read, but only just.

The essential book to understand the importance of What Franklin did in France and how he did it........2007-01-09

Stacy Shiff is a great writer and thorough researcher. This is THE book anyone interested in Franklin's role and the importance of the mission in France should own. Ms. Schiff's book is a great achievement. Buy it, experience it and enjoy it.

I read about 40 pages and couldn't take it anymore........2006-11-17

Flowery. Verbose. Rambling. Compound sentence upon compound sentence. This book was unreadable for me. I quit.

Average customer rating:

Good...but not great.
Fantastic
Father of self improvement
Ben Franklin: An American Life...An American Icon..
Benjamin Franklin Audio Book

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
Walter Isaacson
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 074325807X

Amazon.com

Benjamin Franklin, writes journalist and biographer Walter Isaacson, was that rare Founding Father who would sooner wink at a passer-by than sit still for a formal portrait. What's more, Isaacson relates in this fluent and entertaining biography, the revolutionary leader represents a political tradition that has been all but forgotten today, one that prizes pragmatism over moralism, religious tolerance over fundamentalist rigidity, and social mobility over class privilege. That broadly democratic sensibility allowed Franklin his contradictions, as Isaacson shows. Though a man of lofty principles, Franklin wasn't shy of using sex to sell the newspapers he edited and published; though far from frivolous, he liked his toys and his mortal pleasures; and though he sometimes gave off a simpleton image, he was a shrewd and even crafty politician. Isaacson doesn't shy from enumerating Franklin's occasional peccadilloes and shortcomings, in keeping with the iconoclastic nature of our time--none of which, however, stops him from considering Benjamin Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age," and one of the most admirable of any era. And here's one bit of proof: as a young man, Ben Franklin regularly went without food in order to buy books. His example, as always, is a good one--and this is just the book to buy with the proceeds from the grocery budget. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson shows how the most fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character.

In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin's life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the spunky runaway apprentice who became, during his 84-year life, America's best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard's Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation's alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.

Above all, Isaacson shows how Franklin's unwavering faith in the wisdom of the common citizen and his instinctive appreciation for the possibilities of democracy helped to forge an American national identity based on the virtues and values of its middle class.

Download Description

"Benjamin Franklin is the Founding Father who winks at us. An ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings, he seems made of flesh rather than of marble. In bestselling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin seems to turn to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. By bringing Franklin to life, Isaacson shows how he helped to define both his own time and ours. He was, during his 84-year life, America's best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and business strategist, and he was also one of its most practical -- though not most profound -- political thinkers. He was the only man who shaped all the founding documents of America: the Albany Plan of Union, the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France, the peace treaty with England, and the Constitution. And he helped invent America's unique style of homespun humor, democratic values, and philosophical pragmatism. But the most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself. America's first great publicist, he was, in his life and in his writings, consciously trying to create a new American archetype. In the process, he carefully crafted his own persona, portrayed it in public, and polished it for posterity. In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin's amazing life, from his days as a runaway printer to his triumphs as a statesman, scientist, and Founding Father. He chronicles Franklin's tumultuous relationship with his illegitimate son and grandson, his practical marriage, and his flirtations with the ladies of Paris. He also shows how Franklin helped to create the American character and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century. "

Customer Reviews:

Good...but not great........2007-06-21

This was a very informative book. It is always hard to write a biography on such an important person, you could spend volumes writing about just one part. That being said, I feel that the latter half of Franklin's life got the short shrift, compared to the thoroughness the rest of his life recieved.

Overall, a very good book, and any novice on the founding of our country should read.

Fantastic.......2007-06-19

In my quest to read through all the important figures in American history, I had to read more about Benjamin Franklin. Who was he, really? This biography is detailed, yet has a good flow. It is not as in depth as some of the books on Adams and Hamilton, but gives you enough to chew on. This book it good for someone who loves history, or for someone who just wants to read a good book. I really enjoyed reading this book and once again learning from one of the founding fathers.

There are so many reasons to read this book, the knowledge you will gain, the history you will learn, and the entertainment it will provide. You will love it. I don't say that very often, but this book you will.

JVD

Father of self improvement.......2007-06-05

Walter Isaacson has done a great job of capturing the multi-dimensional personality of Benjamin Franklin. I was pleasantly suprised to learn of the many accomplishments, controversies, and legacies of this historic figure. Often associated with savings, insurance, and seen as the founder of the self-improvement movement, he rose from bottom, and dined with the kings - that's no small feat, and no wonder so many other great men cherished his memoirs. 'An American Life' is a captivating read, you won't regret it.

Ben Franklin: An American Life...An American Icon.........2007-06-01

I throughly enjoyed this book by Walter Isaacson. Benjamin Franklin stands out as the true embodiment of what it means to be an American. His contributions to the founding of this great country are as important as anyone's including Washington or Adams. The level of respect accorded to him by the French and English made him the perfect diplomat. But one description of Franklin will never do him justice, he has so many beyond what most people know(that guy who flew a kite). I highly recommend this enjoyable book about one of the most interesting American characters of all time. You can read other reviews to catch a glimpse of all his accomplishments or just read the book, it goes by quick. It's not all a pretty picture, you get the total man, contradictions and faults. He ostrasized his son because he was a Tory and never looked back. He also discovered the Gulf Stream. Amazing man.

Benjamin Franklin Audio Book.......2007-05-30

Really have been enjoying this audio book. Very informative and interesting.

Average customer rating:

pain over pleasure
Hats off to Mr Franklin
A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned
This Audio Sucks
good to listen it!

Way to Wealth
Benjamin Franklin
Manufacturer: Applewood Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0918222885

Book Description

The first American book on personal finance, The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin is still the best and wisest money book ever written. Originally published in 1758 as the preface to Poor Richard' s Almanack, this little gem has been through innumerable printings and sold millions of copies to those in search of smart but entertaining advice about hard work, earning and saving money and debt. As the 21st Century charges along and the current economic climate continues to send out mixed messages, Franklin' s simple but wise commentary on the value of industry and frugality resonates as much for us today as it did for listeners nearly 350 years ago. Here is a sample: • â Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.â • â If you would be wealthy, think of saving, as well as of getting.â • â If you would have your business done, go; if not, send.â • â Think what you do when you run into debt; you give to another power over your liberty.â • â Creditors have better memories than debtors.â Although older than the United States itself, The Way to Wealth is still very popular. It is handed out by major companies and financial institutions to friends, clients, and customers and is the January, 2004 selection of The Washington Post' s the Color of Money Book Club. As Michelle Singletary, director of the Club wrote in a column about The book, â At just 30 pages, this pocket– size book takes less than an hour to read but will give you a lifetime of financial wisdomâ that is if you' re wise enough to follow the advice.â

Customer Reviews:

pain over pleasure.......2007-05-16

Franklins pithy, short but sweet maxims are timeless. Truly if followed will lead to wealth. Nix laziness, find your niche, work hard, avoid overspending, learn continuously are all basic but sound principles that need to be remembered. after all, "the used key is always bright"

Hats off to Mr Franklin.......2007-03-21

A short but excellent read, Benjamin Franklin writes a lucid account of what is needed to become a wealthy person, not just in a monetary sense but in a more holistic context. Well worth a read and further study.

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned.......2007-01-22

Therefore, you should earn a few pennies and not buy this volume. I say that for the following reasons:

1: The book's size (30 pages) is misleading. Not only is this a pocket sized book, but the words are pretty big. As a result, if this book were written on normal sized pages in a normal sized font, it would likely be less than five pages. I breezed through it in less than 1/2 an hour.
2: As this essay is part of a larger work (Poor Richard's Almanack), paying $9 for the first few pages when you can buy the whole thing for a few dollars more makes no sense.
3: This work is in the public domain. In fact, I ran a search on "way to wealth benjamin franklin" and found the entire text online in a number of places, including Wikipedia and the Department of State's website. And considering the brevity of the work, if this is all you want, you can just print it.

I only recommend buying this book if and only if you have read the essay and you have decided you would like to have this essay on your bookshelf, something I've done with other books.

This Audio Sucks.......2006-12-18

I purchased this several months ago and just got around to listening to it. It is a computer generate voice reading the book! You can't hardly understand it. Save your money. Read the book. This audio is crap!!!

good to listen it!.......2006-10-08

The Way to Wealth: Three Rules That Made Benj. Franklin One Of the Top 100 Richest Americans

Nothing but money is sweeter than honey. - Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin is famous for giving advice to aspiring entrepreneurs on ways to create and maintain a profitable business.

The Way to Wealth (published originally as part of his Poor Richard's Almanac)

is an inspiring "how-to" pamphlet filled with Franklin's maxims and proverbs on how to build a successful money-making enterprise.

What most people forget is that Franklin was also a successful investor after he retired from his printing business at the youthful age of 42.

Despite war and numerous financial setbacks, he died a very wealthy man, and today is listed in the Wealthy 100: The 100 Wealthiest Americans in History.

Having just completed the final 33 years of his famous Autobiography (more on this later), I can tell you how he did it. It's an amazing story...

Ben Franklin's Sound Investment Philosophy

In 1743, at the age of 42, Ben Franklin turned over his printing business to his partner David Hall, receiving an annual income for over 20 years afterwards.

He never completely retired, however. He worked for the government as a postmaster, colonial agent in London and minister to France. Nevertheless, over the years, he built up a substantial fortune, and relied on his savings and investment income to pursue a gentleman's career in science, politics and community service.

Franklin's way to wealth included building his investment retirement portfolio through saving, avoiding debt, placing well-collateralized loans (bonds) and investing in rental properties.

So how did Franklin manage his money?

The Way to Wealth Rule #1: Be an Optimistic Investor

Franklin ignored the doomsayers and profited from his prediction that America was destined to be a great, prosperous nation.

An incurable optimist, Franklin was always bullish on America, and life in general.

At the end of the War for Independence, he predicted, "America will, with God's blessing, become a great and happy country." The United States, he said, is "an immense territory, favored by nature with all advantages of climate, soil, great navigable rivers and lakes.... [and] destined to become a great country, populous and mighty."

He was critical of the doomsayers and complainers: "I saw in the public papers of different states frequent complaints of hard times, deadness of trade, scarcity of money, &c.," he wrote in 1785. "It is always in the power of a small number to make a great clamor.

But let us take a cool view of the general state of our affairs, and perhaps the prospect will appear less gloomy than has been imagined."

In his Autobiography, he told the story of an elderly man who repeatedly predicted economic depression and a real estate collapse in Philadelphia, and warned Franklin to sell his printing house and his real estate investment holdings. Franklin ignored his advice and prospered. Eventually, he said, "I had the pleasure of seeing him give five times as much for one [piece of land]."

Chairman's Note: Know the signs of the times. Franklin recognized a great future for America, for he took advantage and invested in real estate, banking and other investments, even during a time of war.

In order to make the right investment decisions, you need to have a sound view of the future. What is the future of America and global investing? Measure the pros and cons and make up your own mind. Personally, I've found there is usually some investment area worth pursuing, whether it be U.S. stocks, foreign investing, precious metals or real estate. There's always a bull market somewhere.

The Way to Wealth Rule #2: Beware of "Sure Deals"

Limit your speculative opportunities, so as not to jeopardize your entire portfolio with speculations that promise "guaranteed" profits.

You are bound to be misled and overly optimistic about the risk involved.

In 1769, Franklin joined with some partners/friends to seek a land grant of 20 million acres in the Ohio territory from the British Crown.

His friends told him that the land grant was almost guaranteed. "We were daily amused with expectations that it would be completed at this or other time, but I saw no process made in it," he wrote a friend. His British agents frequently promised that the deal would take place "any day now," but five years later, nothing came of it. Ultimately, the partnership was never granted the land, and Franklin's investment went up in smoke.

Fortunately, Franklin's loss was small. He made the mistake of mixing money and friendship, but avoided the temptation to put too much money into a "sure deal."

Chairman's Note: Franklin's land grant investment is not unlike speculations some of you may be tempted to take in penny stocks and "private placement" with supposedly great prospects. Most never fulfill their grand promises. My advice is to diversify and minimize your exposure to these speculations. "Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other."

The Way to Wealth Rule #3: How to Handle Financial Setbacks

Diversify your holdings and limit your risks. Franklin made it a point of having a wide variety of income sources, so that a loss in one would not destroy his entire portfolio.

In addition to earning income from his role as minister and postmaster, he maintained seven or eight rental properties; earned interest-bearing bank accounts in Philadelphia, New York, London and Paris; invested in common stocks such as the Bank of North America, which paid a sizeable dividend; and occasionally loaned funds at interest to individuals and institutions.

His sizeable interest and rental income from bank accounts and real estate saved him from several severe financial setbacks during his years abroad.

In 1767, while colonial agent to England, his long partnership in the printing business ended. "A great source of my income was cut off," Franklin wrote, forcing him and his wife to become more frugal in their spending habits. He limited himself to a "single dish" when dining at home.

In 1772, there was a banking crisis in England, but Franklin survived unscathed. "I only hazard a little using my credit with the bank... Being out of debt myself, my credit could not be shaken by any run upon me."
In 1774, Franklin suffered the most serious blow to his finances. As a result of the Hutchinson Letters scandal (where he sent confidential letters among British officials to America, where they were published), Franklin was vilified in England and fired from his job as postmaster and colonial agent, which amounted to a loss of £1,800 a year in income!

Frugal living and their sizeable savings and income properties saved them from certain disaster. Late that year, his devoted wife Deborah died, and he was forced to return home.
Chairman's Note: Franklin warned, "Revenue without economy is never enough." All of us are hit with financial setbacks from time to time. By always living within our means, even when those means occasionally shrink, we can always survive and prosper.

Despite a 10-year war and numerous financial setbacks, Franklin died a very rich man. At the end of his life, he said he wanted to be known as "a man who lived usefully," rather than "a man who died rich." It turns out that he became known for both!

Franklin's life is worth studying as a resource for building your own wealth. This year, we celebrate Franklin's 300th birthday, and of all the Founding Fathers, Ben Franklin can probably teach us the most in terms of practical advice in business and investing.

I urge you to pick up a copy of The Audio CD The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin. This new memoir, covering the final 33 years of his illustrious career - as a revolutionary, diplomat and financial guru - is all in his own words.

Benjamin Franklin was one of the most prominent of the Founders and early political figures, inventor, and a statesmen of the United States.

One of the earliest Founders, Franklin was noted for his curiosity, writings, ingenuity and diversity of interests.

His wise and scintillating writings are proverbial to this day. He shaped the American Revolution; a leader of the Enlightenment, he gained the recognition of scientists and intellectuals across Europe and the United States.

As an agent in London before the Revolution, and Minister to France during, he more than anyone defined the new nation in the minds of Europe. His success in securing French military and financial aid was the turning point for American victory over Britain.

He invented the lightning rod; he was an early proponent of colonial unity; historians hail him as the "First American". The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania marked Franklin's 300th birthday in January 2006 with a wide array of exhibitions, and events citing Franklin's extraordinary accomplishments throughout his illustrious career.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts to a tallow-maker, Franklin learned printing from his older brother and became a newspaper editor, printer, and merchant in Philadelphia, becoming very wealthy. He spent many years in England and published the famous Poor Richard's Almanack and the Pennsylvania Gazette.

He formed both the first public lending library and fire department in America as well as the Junto, a political discussion club.

He became a national hero in America when he spearheaded the effort to have Parliament repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. A diplomatic genius, Franklin was almost universally admired among the French as American minister to Paris, and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. From 1775 to 1776, Franklin was Postmaster General under the Continental Congress and from 1785 to his death in 1790 was President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania.

Franklin was interested in science and technology, carrying out his famous electricity experiments and invented the Franklin stove, medical catheter, lightning rod, swimfins, glass armonica (not the harmonica, which was invented long after Franklin), and bifocals.

He also played a major role in establishing the higher education institutions that would become the University of Pennsylvania and the Franklin and Marshall College.

In addition, Franklin was a noted linguist, fluent in five languages. He also practiced and published on astrology (see Poor Richard's Almanac).

Franklin was also noted for his philanthropy and several liaisons, including that which produced his illegitimate Loyalist son William Franklin, later the colonial governor of New Jersey.

Towards the end of his life, he became one of the most prominent early American abolitionists.

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Ben's wisdom
Ben. Franklin humor
PoorRichards Almanack
American Classic Must Read for All
Excellent humor and wisdom

Poor Richards Almanack
Benjamin Franklin
Manufacturer: Peter Pauper Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

ASIN: 0880889187

Book Description

Hundreds of delightful aphorisms, carefully selected from many issues of Franklin's popular 18th-century publication: "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"; "Love your Neighbor; yet don't pull down your Hedge"; "He that lies down with Dogs, shall rise up with fleas" and many more.

Customer Reviews:

Ben's wisdom.......2007-03-23

Ben's wisdom (or interpretation) are unmistakeable. Wonderful to look at inside and out.

Ben. Franklin humor.......2007-02-21

Relatively short book filled with wit and brief advice (comments) on a variety of topics, definately a lighter and easier style than the autobiography and with more humor.

PoorRichards Almanack.......2007-02-13

Timeless. I read at least a page a day and when I get to the end, start again.

American Classic Must Read for All.......2007-02-11

Benjamin Franklin was a genius and a Renaissance Man. All of these sayings are wise and many are funny. I think this should be required reading for everyone in junior high or high school.

Excellent humor and wisdom .......2007-01-31

Benjamin Franklin puts us all to shame by his wit and wisdom. Poor Richards Almanac is a good reference turn to when life looks dreary; a good pick-me-up on a rainy day.

Fart Proudly: Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in School

Average customer rating:

Great for all fans of Ben Franklin
Franklin is my new hero, but I wish the editor would shut his trap
Wicked!
The footnotes your history book skipped.
A strange perfume

Fart Proudly: Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in School

Manufacturer: Frog, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1583940790
Release Date: 2003-03-31

Book Description

A mention of flatulence might conjure images of bratty high school boys or lowbrow comics. But one of the most eloquent - and least expected - commentators on the subject is Benjamin Franklin. The writings in Fart Proudly reveal the rogue who lived peaceably within the philosopher and statesman. Included are "The Letter to a Royal Academy"; "On Choosing a Mistress"; "Rules on Making Oneself Disagreeable"; and other jibes. Franklin's irrepressible wit found an outlet in perpetrating hoaxes, attacking marriage and other sacred cows, and skewering the English Parliament. Reminding us of the humorous, irreverent side of this American icon, these essays endure as both hilarious satire and a timely reminder of the importance of a free press.

Customer Reviews:

Great for all fans of Ben Franklin.......2007-02-11

The last chapter is the best one and the only one that at all references the title (fortunately). Some of this is better for people who already have some background in the period. I would not recommend this book for anybody who does not have an interest in the history and politics of the era of the American Revolution. If you love Ben Franklin, as I do, then this book is a must-read.

Franklin is my new hero, but I wish the editor would shut his trap.......2006-12-29

Benjamin Franklin, as I knew him (mostly from elementary school TV cartoons), was a busy old man who spent his time inventing stoves and bifocals, getting electrocuted by lightning, writing newspapers, and admonishing us to work hard and "unite or die".

Franklin, it turns out, was also a brilliant humorist and satirist. The opening essay of "Fart Proudly", suggesting the Royal Academy of Brussels drop their efforts on cute mathematical theorems and focus instead on finding ways to make farts smell pleasant, is a riot. Franklin tops it later in his essay "On Choosing a Mistress", which expands upon the merits of older women ("there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produced may be attended with much Inconvenience." "covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old one from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure or corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of improvement.")

Once you get used to the style, the book goes very quickly, and you can read it in an afternoon easily. And, in addition to being a deep repository of wit, the book is also a fun history lesson, as through a variety of Franklin's satirical essays on politics ("Three Fables", "Rules by Which A Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One", "Transporting Rattlesnakes") you can see the evolution of Franklin's grievances with Britain from a perspective far more entertaining than a history text.

My only complaint is that Japiske, the editor, is an ignoramus, and exactly the kind of gentleman Franklin would have gone out of his way to mock mercilessly in print.

Wicked! .......2006-03-09

This book is a terrific compilation of Ben's lesser known writings. Reading this, I have to say - if I could invite any one person to dinner, past, present or future, it would be Benjamin Franklin. He's smart, funny, rebellious, irreverent, and eloquent.

Every schoolteacher in every elementary school history classroom across America - or the world - should have multiple copies of this book freely available at all times. There's a reason Ben was a hero in other countries besides the states.

That said, the preface sucked. Using Ben to push your own politics? Get over it. I agree, but I dislike being told what to think.

So - definitely buy the book, definitely skip the preface, definitely laugh your musical behind off.

The footnotes your history book skipped........2004-12-03

Bland history makes great men look great. Bad history makes great men look bad. This makes a great man look great being a 'bad boy' - a tasty bit of irony and accuracy.

Franklin was one of the first printers in the US - he was a material supporter of freedom of the press, and a severe critic of irresponsible press. He was a statesman and clown, when clowning made his point the best way. He was a politician, scientist, and bawd - how else to take in so much of the human condition?

This collection captures some of the contradictions that comprised Benjamin Frnaklin. Maybe it takes some of the sheen off the gold star that history dumped on him, but it adds toughness and flexibility to the steel that he showed as diplomat. Satire is a voice, and this short book shows a few octaves of his.

I have to admit that poor teachers put me quite off American history. Books like this get me reading history again. It shows Franklin the patriot and firebrand defending the mothers without husbands and deflating the learned academies of Europe. This is short but sweet, and even his choices of words show me a lot about how modern English is used.

//wiredweird

A strange perfume.......2004-03-06

"Fart Proudly" is a wonderfully hilarious collection of some of Franklin's satirical works. It is a brief but highly enjoyable read. Mr. Japikse's introductions provide a handy frame for many of the articles and letters of one of America's exquisite minds.

Book Description

Translated into a dozen languages, printed in hundreds of editions, and read by millions of people, Franklin's autobiography has had an influence perhaps unequaled by any other book by an American writer. Written ostensibly as a letter to his son William, the autobiography offers Franklin's reflections on philosophy and religion, politics, war, education, material success, and the status of women. This edition of the autobiography, prepared by the editors of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, is drawn with scrupulous care from the original manuscript in Franklin's handwriting now in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. The introduction by Leonard W. Labaree places the autobiography in literary and historical contexts. In a new foreword, Edmund S. Morgan writes about Franklin's dual allegiance as an American and a subject of an English king—and his emergence as a leader of the American Revolution. This edition also includes biographical notes, a chronology of Franklin's life, and an updated bibliography.

Customer Reviews:

The Human Side of an American Icon.......2007-02-27

Like so many people I only know Benjamin Franklin from school and history books where he comes across as someone stiff and formal. But here in the first half of this book we find Ben Franklin the boy. We hear him complain of his parents, his restrictions, quarrels with his brothers, and of course things that all boys do. He steals from a construction site to build a fishing pier -- and gets caught. We see him finally breaking away and moving to Philadelphia where he arrives with very little money and must subsist on bread. He describes his youth and his gradual maturity as he builds his life and fortune. Interestingly this book leaves some doubt as to whether he was actually married to Deborah Read or had an "arrangement". I particularly enjoyed his description of General Braddock and his defeat by the Indians. Although this was only briefly touched on this and other similar references to the English gives you insight into why the colonists rebelled. Clearly the English completely misjudged the American Character as most Europeans do even today.

Unfortunately the second half of this book was written after the war and when Franklin was an old man and clearly not terribly interested in finishing this book. It reads as an after thought and really doesn't provide any insight into his role or the extraordinary people and events of which he was a part. But it does show the close relationship he had with his son so when the estrangement came it must have hurt him deeply although this is a subject not mentioned at all in the book.

However, the editors have kindly provided a marvelous timeline in the appendix, which really gives you a summary of the Revolutionary War as it places various key events into perspective. You see the impact that John Paul Jones's victory over the Serapis had on events in Paris. It shows how Franklin's diplomatic skills had a huge effect on the ultimate outcome of the war.

Franklin was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. He writes about himself rather modestly and really doesn't touch on his activities during the war in any detail and for this reason I only gave this book four stars. Still this is an interesting book about a truly fascinating man.

Life Lessons for All.......2007-02-13

Well, it has been nearly 30 years since I first read Benjamin Franklin's autobiography and one can still gain some insights after a second reading. The American icon's wisdom and insights are time honored and worth repeating.

This edition has copious footnotes on every page unlike at the end of the book. The authors may have felt that the reader would be interested in the quick reference aspect verses paging to the back. Though this can be a little strange a first, I get their point and maybe it was better this way.

One aspect that I would have liked; however, would have been if they had added some of his other selected writing like "The Way to Wealth" and others. Irrespective, this is a good edition and recommended as one of the more authoritative editions.

A glimpse into the mind of an American icon.......2006-03-11

The autobiography of Ben Franklin is a worthwhile read simply because of who Ben Franklin is. It is beneficial to understand the character of this great man by judging him through his own words. There is no doubt that Franklin was an ingenius man and his witty rhetoric further confirms his intelligence. It also confirms his egotistical nature I hate to say.... But I suppose he had every right given his success...
Anyhow, I thought the first portion of the book (written before the revolution) was much more interesting that the latter half. Unfortunately the autobiography was never really finished by Franklin. He ends off abruptly during the French and Indian War period and there is nary an remark concerning American Independence, which would have been interesting to read about from his point of view.
Still, overall, it's worth the read.

Why did Franklin write his autobiography?.......2005-03-24

The purpose of the book is difficult to pin down, primarily because Franklin never completed and cohesively tied his biography together. The purpose, it seems, is then left to the effects that it has had upon history. Although difficult to follow and often a confusing narrative, Franklin composes a portrait of the prototypical American success story, perhaps even the first. His emphasis on personal virtue and industry is a sermon not only to his son, but also to Americans throughout time, on the formula for success. His descriptions of life in the colonies and the nature of self-teaching seem to set the standard for history's view of pre-revolutionary America.

The ethics of clean living and a hearty work ethic that Franklin sought to impart upon his son are still alive as ideals of the "American dream." Although it can be argued how much of a dream this really is, the value given to hard work and personal responsibility are very much a part of the American rhetoric that is indoctrinated through political and nationalistic institutions. It seems undeniable that Franklin hoped to have a lasting effect on future generations, as he certainly did not succeed in living the virtue of humility.

While vanity certainly must play a part in the drive for any public figure to pen to paper and detail their life, part and parcel with that is the desire to be a good role model to a wide audience. Franklin seems to have prided himself on being a good role model throughout his life, from his time in England until returning to Philadelphia, assisting others in setting up businesses and becoming self-sufficient.

We can only speculate what Franklin's reasoning must have been. Indeed, it may be that assuming history will have well recorded the time period, a personal account was unnecessary. It may be that Franklin simply never finished his Autobiography and certainly intended to return to the subject. Whatever the reasons may be, this is certainly the most jarring and notable deficiency from an otherwise detailed record of the life of one of our most important statesmen.

Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos

Average customer rating:

Book Report - Ben and Me
Ben and Me
By Mr. Dude Man
Cornwall,NY sixth Grader
Ben and me

Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos
Robert Lawson
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316517305

Amazon.com

In A New and Astonishing Life Of Benjamin Franklin As Written by His Good Mouse AMOS, young readers will discover that while the good Mr. Franklin got considerable credit, many of his most important contributions really originated with Amos, a less-than-humble rodent. Oh sure, his manuscript was found by author-editor Robert Lawson and published first in 1939, but discerning readers ever since have figured that it's the mouse who's the fellow with the ... tale. (For ages 10 and up with a sense of humor)

Customer Reviews:

Book Report - Ben and Me.......2007-04-29

I read the book Ben and Me. This book is interesting. In the story, a lonely, rude, gray mouse named Amos finds Benjamin Franklin's house and sleeps in it. Amos becomes Benjamin's only pet and together they make their own, hot, big Franklin Stove. One cold, stormy, night Benjamin puts Amos on his big kite so Amos keeps getting shocked by lighting. Then, Amos and Benjaman go on a huge, wooden, brown ship to Paris and they become famous. A nice, pretty, girl rat named Sophia tells Amos that there are children stuck under the queen's throne. Amos calls all of the other mice in Paris to go save the children and together they do. I learned some interesting facts. I learned that Benjamin Franklin invented something called the Franklin Stove. I also learned that Benjamin Franklin had a gray mouse named Amos. Then, I learned that Benjamin loved inventing new machines. I would recommend this book for three reasons. First, I would recommend this book because it is well written with plenty of the adjectives. Second, I would recommend this book because it tells you a lot of information about Benjamin Franklin and his mouse Amos. Finally, I would recommend this book because it tells you what Benjamin Franklin liked to do when he was alive. Ben and Me is a great book to read.

Ben and Me.......2007-04-15

ISBN 0440420385 (which now belongs to another book) - Really well-done, tongue in cheek "biography" of Benjamin Franklin, a man who is "undeniably stupid at times", according to Amos, the mouse, whose brilliant ideas seem to be all that stand between Franklin and certain death with his crazy experiments.

Amos, oldest of 26 children, comes from a family of church mice. Knowing how hard it is to feed such a brood, Amos sets out to try to find some way to help his family and stumbles into the home of Ben Franklin. Ben is sneezing away in a room thick with smoke from the fireplace until Amos gives him almost every detail Ben needs to create the famous Franklin Stove. Thrilled to have such a great mind at hand, Franklin works out an agreement with Amos and the two go on living and working together. When the Revolutionary War takes a financial toll on Washington's army, the two go to France to borrow from the French and Amos is able, with a great deal of help, to save one beautiful female mouse named Sophia and her seven children. After this final adventure, Amos is ready to settle down to a quiet life in his old age and thinks Ben should, too.

The back cover says the book is for ages 8-12. I think it might be a little tough for 8 year olds, with a large number of big words, but it's amusing enough that an 8 year old might make the effort to learn the words and expand their vocabulary. For the parents who worry about every little word in every book their kid reads, there's a couple disparaging "stupids" and one sentence that has Ben Franklin "tossing off" a shot of brandy. For those who just want their kid to enjoy a book and learn new words, this one's WELL worth it.

By Mr. Dude Man.......2007-03-23

There are many boring, dull biographies on Benjamin Franklin. Then there is Ben and Me written by Robert Lawson, which is not the case. It is a Mr. Lawson calls it "A new and astonishing life on Benjamin Franklin as written by his good mouse AMOS."
It starts out in Philadelphia, where Amos, the oldest mouse of a huge family, leaves home in search of food and shelter. Bitterly cold, he stumbles upon Ben Franklin's house, goes inside and spots Ben Franklin's fur cap to warm up in. Ben notices him, but instead of shooting him, he enjoys Amos' company. After being together a little while Amos has already come up with a successful idea for an experiment for Ben, which was later named the "Franklin Stove".
Ben now thinks that this little mouse would be a great (talking) animal to have around the house for as an assistant. Next thing you know they are making an agreement where Ben will provide just what he was looking for ¬¬ food for him and food delivery for his family, plus the old warm fur hat to hang out in. And all the mouse has to do is hanging out and make comments, or as Ben calls it to "give advice."
It sounds like an ideal plan for Amos until two things happen. Ben takes up electrical experiments and Amos becomes the testing guinea pig. On one occasion Ben attempts to find out if lighting is electric. Amos was then strapped to a kite in the middle of a thunderstorm. He was up there for about a half hour to find out. His answer was `yes'.
It was a great book where Amos, the little mouse follows Ben through his life. I would recommend this book to anyone 6-10 years old.

Cornwall,NY sixth Grader.......2007-03-08

I am a sixth grader.The book I read was "Ben and Me".I find this book very interesting for the fact that such a well known inventor got ideas from a mouse.The mouses name was Amos.This is one of those books that if you read the first chapter,your going to want to read more.

This books is about Ben Fraklin and his best friend whom was a mouse named Amos.Amos lived in a broken down old christ church with twenty-six other kids in his family.This story takes place in the city of philadelphia.One day amos decided he had enough of his life.So he went out into the world and happend to go in Ben Franklins house.Amos and Ben become very good friends and bond alot because they only had each other.

This book tells a classic story.You should read it some time.

JP

Ben and me.......2007-02-21

The book Ben and Me, written by Robert Lawson, is about a mouse named Amos who meets Ben Franklin.And has a aswome adventure.One of the most interesting things in the book is when Ben tries to show the people that he can make electricity and shocks the govener.In my opinion about the book is great because I think it is interesting.

Average customer rating:

Best how-to manual to daily living
The best
Like Solomon
Dedicated to Mr. Jones
Autobiography Written by a Great American!

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

ASIN: 0743255062

Book Description

<BLOCKQUOTE>"The first book to belong permanently to literature. It created a man."

-- From the Introduction</BLOCKQUOTE>

Few men could compare to Benjamin Franklin. Virtually self-taught, he excelled as an athlete, a man of letters, a printer, a scientist, a wit, an inventor, an editor, and a writer, and he was probably the most successful diplomat in American history. David Hume hailed him as the first great philosopher and great man of letters in the New World.

Written initially to guide his son, Franklin's autobiography is a lively, spellbinding account of his unique and eventful life. Stylistically his best work, it has become a classic in world literature, one to inspire and delight readers everywhere.

Customer Reviews:

Best how-to manual to daily living.......2007-05-27

Ben Franklin is the most amazing figure of American revolution. The essence of American life, a hero, a political figure, a self-made man, a scientist, a diplomat - turns out to be just a guy next door, a neighbor.

I got this book on audio from a local library - and spent 6.5 wonderful hours listening to a friend, a teacher, a wise man. He is entertaining - but serious at the same time, he goes into great details of his dealings with people, business partners, politicians - but is never boring.

Anyone who wants to learn how to connect with people, to become a better person, to grow a business and wealth, to be a good friend - and more - should read this book.

I would recommend an audio format if you have choices - it really turns it into a conversation with Ben Franklin.

The best.......2005-11-29

This book was written by one of the greatest writers America has produced. How could anybody not give this book 5 stars.

Like Solomon.......2005-04-22

I thought this book was much more than a humorous or adventerous account. I am reminded of the book of Solomon and the wise adages endowed by God therein. Bejamin Franklin's memoirs cover an array of wise maxims that all men should learn. Franklin especially concentrates his philosophy in the way of frugality and financial responsibility. Too many young men waste their lives in ignorance. If more men sought out wisdom, the world would be a better place.

Dedicated to Mr. Jones.......2005-04-01

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was a comical adventure through a life that expresses the ways of an ideal American. Franklin was a husband, friend, printer, inventor, scientist, writer, educator, diplomat, and a politician. Franklin's style of writing was cheerfully humorous (how his friend sucked at writing poems was my personal favorite part) and was made even better by the fact that he was able to laugh at himself. I enjoyed his take on the public's opinion of his papers on his experiments with electricity. He did not get defensive because of his cool, confident personality. I loved the part about the other scientist, Abbé Nollet, who 'could not at first believe that such a work came from America, and said it must have been fabricated by his enemies at Paris, to decry his system.' Overall the book was entertaining and a classic story, but I do not think that I would call it a favorite.

Autobiography Written by a Great American!.......2005-01-06

Benjamin Franklin, no matter which way you look at him, was a great American. I love the stories and folktales about him, his life and his wonderful words and sayings. This autobiography of his life was written by Ben Franklin when he was sixty-five. It was written in letter format to his son, and it he reminiscences about his eventfull early life. Throughout we see Benjamin's powerful literary style and his great humour. This autobiography is well worth a visit if only to get a first-hand look at a very colourful historical American.

The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin

Average customer rating:

Not Only the First, but One of the Greatest
The broadest contextualization of Ben Franklin written so far
The Amazing Mr. Franklin
Terrific story and superb author
The best BF bio out there.

The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
H.W. Brands
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385493282
Release Date: 2000-09-19

Amazon.com

Benjamin Franklin may have been the most remarkable American ever to live: a printer, scientist, inventor, politician, diplomat, and--finally--an icon. His life was so sweeping that this comprehensive biography by H.W. Brands at times reads like a history of the United States during the 18th century. Franklin was at the center of America's transition from British colony to new nation, and was a kind of Founding Grandfather to the Founding Fathers; he was a full generation older than George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry, and they all viewed him with deep respect. "Of those patriots who made independence possible, none mattered more than Franklin, and only Washington mattered as much," writes Brands (author of a well-received Teddy Roosevelt biography, T.R.: The Last Romantic). Franklin was a complex character who sometimes came up a bit short in the personal virtue department, once commenting, "That hard-to-be-governed passion of youth had hurried me frequently into intrigues with low women that fell in my way." When he married, another woman was already pregnant with his child--a son he took into his home and had his wife raise.

Franklin is best remembered for other things, of course. His still-famous Poor Richard's Almanac helped him secure enough financial freedom as a printer to retire and devote himself to the study of electricity (which began, amusingly, with experiments on chickens). His mind never rested: He invented bifocals, the armonica (a musical instrument made primarily of glass), and, in old age, a mechanical arm that allowed him to reach books stored on high shelves. He served American interests as a diplomat in Europe; without him, France might not have intervened in the American Revolution. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He possessed a sense of humor, too. In 1776, when John Hancock urged the colonies to "hang together," Franklin is said to have commented, "We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." Franklin's accomplishments were so numerous and varied that they threaten to read like a laundry list. Yet Brands pours them into an engrossing narrative, and they leap to life on these pages as the grand story of an exceptional man. The First American is an altogether excellent biography. --John J. Miller

Book Description

In the first comprehensive biography of Benjamin Franklin in over sixty years, acclaimed historian H. W. Brands brings vividly to life one of the most delightful, bawdy, brilliant, original, and important figures in American history.

A groundbreaking scientist, leading businessman, philosopher, bestselling author, inventor, diplomat, politician, and wit, Benjamin Franklin was perhaps the most beloved and celebrated American of his age, or indeed of any age. Now, in a beautifully written and meticulously researched account of Franklin's life and times, his clever repartee, generous spirit, and earthy wisdom are brought compellingly to the page.

His circle of friends and acquaintances extended around the globe, from Cotton Mather to Voltaire, from Edmund Burke to King George III, from Sir Isaac Newton to Immanuel Kant. Franklin was gifted with a restless curiosity, and his scientific experiments with electric currents and the weather made him the leading pioneer in the new field of electricity on both sides of the Atlantic; among his many inventions were the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, and the harmonica, a musical instrument that became the rage of Europe.

From his humble beginnings in Boston as a printer's apprentice, he became, within two decades, the leading printer and one of the most important businessmen in the Colonies. A longtime Philadelphia civic leader, he created Philadelphia's first fire department, wrote the bestseller Poor Richard's Almanac, served as Postmaster General for the Colonies, and in the process, completely modernized the mail service. A bon vivant and ladies' man throughout his life, he matched wits with Parliament and the Crown during the decade leading up to the Stamp Act; and as the official agent to Parliament, representing several of the Colonies, he helped push the Colonies into open rebellion.

Tracing Franklin's gradual transformation from reluctant revolutionary to charismatic leader in the fight for independence, Brands convincingly argues that on the issue of revolution, as Franklin went, so went America. During the Revolutionary War, Franklin was charged by Congress with wooing the King of France to the American cause, and it was the diplomatic alliances he forged and funds he raised in France that allowed the Continental Army to continue to fight on the battlefield. In his final years, as president of the Constitutional Convention, it was Franklin who held together the antagonistic factions and persuaded its members to sign the Constitution.

Drawing on previously unpublished letters to and from Franklin, as well as the recollections and anecdotes of Franklin's contemporaries, H. W. Brands has created a rich and compelling portrait of the eighteenth-century genius who was in every respect America's first Renaissance man, and arguably the pivotal figure in colonial and revolutionary America. A fascinating and richly textured biography of the man who was perhaps the greatest of our Founding Fathers, The First American is history on a grand scale, as well as a major contribution to understanding Franklin and the world he helped to shape.

Customer Reviews:

Not Only the First, but One of the Greatest.......2007-04-18

Engagingly written. Filled with insightful details. Altogether a splendid read! Should be on every American's reading list.

The broadest contextualization of Ben Franklin written so far.......2006-12-21

I am interested in comparing the 5 best biographies of Benjamin Franklin that have been written (thus far) in the new millennia, emphasizing Brands's account.

THE BEST 5 BIOGRAPHIES ARE (in order of publication date)
Edmund S. Morgan's Benjamin Franklin (Yale Nota Bene S.)
H. W. Brands's The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
Walter Isaacson's Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
Gordon S. Wood's The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
Jerry Weinberger's Benjamin Franklin Unmasked: On the Unity of His Moral, Religious, and Political Thought (American Political Thought)

The first 4 of these biographies are presented as in the typical historically (and chronologically) biographical approach. Brands's biography was the second written, the longest, and the most contextually substantive.

There are 24 pictures in Morgan's book, no pictures in Brands's book, 32 pictures in Isaacson's book, 25 pictures in Wood's book, and no pictures in Weinberger's book.
I am not going to write about how great Franklin was or what he did (he was great and he did so much). I want to write primarily about how each of these authors portrays Franklin's character differently by highlighting different aspects of his life.

In London (1725) Franklin wrote "A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain," which seemed to show that Franklin was a young radical Deist. Later, when the pamphlet was reprinted in Boston, Franklin became a social outcast of sorts and he wrote that he was "inclined to leave Boston" because people were calling him "an infidel or atheist." When Franklin fled Boston he was 17 years old. He later wrote about that pamphlet that "I began to suspect that this doctrine, though it might be true, was not very useful."
Later, after becoming rich from his printing presses, writings, and scientific discoveries, Franklin became a statesman, diplomat, Founding Father, and icon.
At the end of his life he wrote his "Autobiography," where Franklin said that he "never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity, that he made the world, and governed it by his Providence; that the most acceptable service to God was the doing of good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished and virtue rewarded either here or hereafter; these I esteemed the essentials of every religion".

Morgan affirms what is in Franklin's "Autobiography" by writing, "Franklin seems never to have doubted...etc" (Morgan, pg. 16). All the other biographers affirm Morgan's interpretation except Weinberger. Weinberger thinks that Franklin is purposely contradicting himself to play with his readers...to reveal a Franklin that would have possibly be called again an "infidel or atheist" if he had not cloaked his message.
Brands would agree with Weinberger that Franklin was a skeptic but not a "radical skeptic." In fact, Brands calls Franklin a "skeptic" by temperament (Brands, pg. 94). However, for Brands, Franklin has a pragmatic strand too, but not as overwhelming a pragmatic strand as Isaacson would later argue in his biography of Franklin. Brands summarizes Franklin's intellectual development by saying this: "Having previously wandered from the pietistic moralism of his Boston upbringing to the agnostic - almost atheistic - amoralism of his London days, now found his way to a pramatic moralism that made man the measure of virtue rather than virtue the measure of man...A more practical philosophy" (Morgan, pg. 95). Isaacson focuses on the Franklin who, it's argued, helped found American pragmatism, Wood focuses on the political Franklin who had to be "Americanized" because Franklin too often wanted to be part of the old gentry class and this was evident in some of his politicking, Weinberger calls Franklin a "radical skeptic" and says he was a political "Baconian."

Morgan's work on Franklin is most like Brands's biography. Brands's work is much longer and often recounts extraneous things in accomplishing the most contextually based Franklin written so far.

The Amazing Mr. Franklin.......2006-11-14

Excellent book on the life of Benjamin Franklin. He certainly was a genius and full of surprizes.

Terrific story and superb author.......2006-09-04

Brand's has a great style with a smart wit and feel for the times as well as anecdotal material that gives great depth to his writing.

The best BF bio out there........2006-08-29

There are quite a few bios on Ben Franklin out there, as you probably have noticed, but I think that this is the one to read. If you just want a quick book, with the basic info, then you might turn to Edmund Morgan's or elsewhere. But if you want the whole story, then this is the way to go. The book is quite long, yet still very readable and always interesting. Franklin's life was amazing, and Brands does a great job telling his story. Highly recommended!

Benjamin Franklin's the Art of Virtue: His Formula for Successful Living

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Love Ben Franklin
Timeless work
Great Buy
The "Right Way"
Looking for a mental challenge? Look no further.

Benjamin Franklin's the Art of Virtue: His Formula for Successful Living
Benjamin Franklin
Manufacturer: Acorn Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0938399101

Book Description

Benjamin Franklin's The Art of Virtue consists of a collection of Franklin's writings organized around his timeless philosophy on such topics as: goal setting and personal achievement, obtaining wealth and preserving health, human relations and family living, religion and morality, aging and dying, and much, much more.

Full of profound insights, delightful humor, quotable quotes, and plenty of common sense; The Art of Virtue provides wonderful reading for both young and old alike.

Customer Reviews:

Love Ben Franklin.......2007-01-24

Great book on Benjamin Franklin's life. This book will make you a better person. Read it and digest it.

Timeless work.......2006-03-29

When you look at the cover and the preface, the book may appear to be written by Benjamin Franklin, but that is somewhat misleading. Sure, the essence of the book comes from the writings of B.F., but the editor of the book has also done a great job of putting a collection of writings by Franklin into an excellent structure.

Twelve virtues are identified answering key questions about the source of happiness, how to attain it, and many other important aspects of life. Each virtue is supported by B.F.'s writings. I especially liked the summaries at the end of each chapter that would emphasize the essential points of the corresponding virtue.

This is a very accessible book, and a great companion for anyone who thinks life should be more than pursuing selfish goals and satisfying petty pleasures.

Perhaps, this work is more useful in understanding B.F.'s wisdom than his autobiography, which is another great classic.

I was slightly confused as to why the book was presented to be merely a book by B.F., given that the editor has contributed quite a bit in terms of organization and explanations. Perhaps to improve the sales?

In any event, this is a great work that, I bet, will improve the perspective of anyone who reads it actively.

Great Buy.......2002-12-05

An inspiring book written by an amazing author. Ok, so he is my dad, but he didn't pay me to say any of this stuff:)

The "Right Way".......2000-10-17

A book like this should be mandatory reading for everyone. Particularly people who represent other people's interests for a living, such as World Leaders, Presidents, Kings, etc., would find it absolutely useful; a kind of constant tool, a compass that keeps them on the right track once and again. This is a book that shows not only Franklin's wit and wisdom, but also his vulnerability, that wonderful human quality, thus making it enchanting and insightful. Buy this book, learn and practice these principles, and enjoy the new breath of fresh air you'll experience in your life.

Looking for a mental challenge? Look no further........2000-04-03

I saw this book one day when I was browsing Franklin Covey planners in the mall. It had been awhile since I read something not business related so I thought I'd give this a shot. I'll be honest when I tell you I enjoy a good read but this book took me about one year to read from beginning to end. The first few chapters weren't too bad but then it got into a section about a debate between two philosophers on the definition of virtue and why one should practice a virtuous life. I've never read anything that mentally straining in my life (my degree is in Mechanical Engineering BTW). I enjoy the arts but that one section took me about a month before I could fully digest what the philosophers were saying in the span of less than 2 pages. This one section proved so enlightening that my head hurt for about 2 days after I had a chance to chew on the content. If you had any doubts that the founding forefathers of this great nation were anything but geniuses, this should dispell any and all myths. I must say that I even had to break out the dictionary for some of the diction used in this book in that it was definitely not your everyday conversational english. If you enjoy mental challenges of a higher level and your mastery of the English language is proficient enough to understand the fine nuances of sentence structure and double, sometimes triple meanings, I would recommend this book. If you're looking for something a little more entertaining and easier on the mind, then definitely look somewhere else. But I will admit, when I did finally complete this book one year later, I actually felt a major sense of accomplishment. I guess that makes me just a little more virtuous?

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