false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172187918m/147602.jpg 147602 5 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, <I>T.R.: The Last Romantic</I>). 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. <p> Franklin is best remembered for other things, of course. His still-famous <I>Poor Richard's Almanac</I> 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. <I>The First American</I> is an altogether excellent biography. <I>--John J. Miller</I> 1488838 2000 The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin total:431|5:142|4:204|3:77|2:8|1:0| 431 1773 704 70 4 0 false false Sat May 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 06:04:32 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 09:41:06 -0700 2009 1
Like most people, I've known of Franklin all my life (well, less about 6 years). A...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 09 21:23:56 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 21:40:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 19:36:10 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 03 04:22:10 -0800 2008 But I get annoyed when biographers try to psychoanalyze their subjects, and this book had too much of that. For example, as much as I was interested in reading about Deborah Franklin, I didn't like or trust the w...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Oct 07 19:45:32 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 25 11:45:25 -0700 2007
The biographer also makes a very compelling argument that Ben Franklin was the most indispensable figure in the American Revolutionary adventure. Or at le...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 26 12:34:52 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 12:36:32 -0800 2008 1
It did take me a month to finish, but I'd read anything by Brands.]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 13 20:15:34 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 20:18:09 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri May 08 14:18:39 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 14:35:24 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Aug 01 15:25:47 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 01 15:33:49 -0700 2008
There is still the artistic, musical, politica...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 08 16:43:50 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 08 16:45:08 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jul 06 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Wed Jan 28 06:47:49 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 06:49:34 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jan 19 23:22:12 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 23:22:36 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Sep 12 19:50:50 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 19:52:15 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Jan 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 12:18:52 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 12:19:44 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 16:06:32 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 16:07:20 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Wed Mar 11 12:40:36 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 11 12:40:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 14:13:44 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 14:13:44 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Thu Mar 13 15:53:40 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 13:47:45 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Mon May 12 08:01:59 -0700 2008 Mon May 12 08:09:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 08 08:29:31 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 08 08:31:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Apr 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 28 18:33:38 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 02 13:28:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=147602