The Most Dangerous Man in America: Scenes from the Life of Benjamin Franklin

by Catherine Drinker Bowen

Franklin's character, genius, and interests are highlighted in a study of his myriad activities and pursuits

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Catherine Drinker Bowen was born as Catherine Drinker on the Haverford College campus on January 1, 1897, to a prominent Quaker family. She was an accomplished violinist who studied for a musical career at the Peabody Institute and the Juilliard School of Music, but ultimately decided to become a writer. She had no formal writing education and no academic career, but became a bestselling American biographer and writer despite criticism from academics. Her earliest biographies were about musicians. Bowen did all her own research, without hiring research assistants, and sometimes took the controversial step of interviewing subjects without taking notes.

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benjamin Franklin was the first historical subject that got me hooked on early American biographies 10-15 years ago. As an electrical engineer I wanted to understand more about Franklin, so I read Isaacson's bio on him and loved it from my original, electrical intent perspective but also from the statesman and general human perspective. It really changed my life and my reading habits to the extent where I feel indebted to Franklin and Isaacson... This year I realized I haven't circled back to a dedicated Franklin work, and I learned that Bowen had written this. Since I loved her style and prose in her constitutional convention book, it was a perfect fit.

This book, as told by the title, is not a complete biography, but it is divided into sections that tell about portions of Franklin's life (scenes). As such, I think it would be most enjoyed by someone already familiar with the arc of Franklin's life (and perhaps disliked if you do not have that background). I really enjoyed the section on the young Franklin working with his brother, the newspaper publisher, the experiments with electricity (I think Bowen really captures and explains his significant contributions that perhaps are overlooked by popular tellings of his experiments), and his trip to England culminating in his appearance before the House of Commons (Bowen does an awesome job making this courtroom scene entertaining and extraordinary, which it was).

I find that Franklin is often treated unfairly today, so it was also refreshing to get insights from someone who really appreciated the man and his talents. I have said it before that I prefer historians that have an appreciation for their subject, a benevolent slant, and Bowen definitely has that. She makes it clear during her intros and epilogue with statements like he was "most consistently entertaining subject" and "the best integrated man I ever studied". I appreciate this take and highly recommend the book if you do too and know a little bit about Franklin already. If you are offended by that take or don't know generally about Franklin, then perhaps the book is probably a pass for now.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catherine Drinker Bowen is one of the best storytellers I know. I've read a few books about Ben, and what I appreciated in this book was the detail given to the moments she chose.

For example, when he wrote his Silence DoGood letters, when he served on the Albany Congress, and his life in London as agent for America, all those moments get more depth here than in Walter Isaacson's wonderful biography.

Honestly, anything Bowen writes is going to be enjoyable. It's no surprise to me that she went to Juilliard, because I find her language to have a definite cadence.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished David McCullough's John Adams. John Adams started out admiring Franklin, but in Paris he found Franklin to be idle, a profligate spender, and a poor speaker of French. Catherine Drinker Bowen provides a contrasting portrait of Franklin the printer, scientist, and government emissary. I think both books provide pictures of men who contributed greatly to the American Revolution, each in differing ways.

[Timmy Bloom]

He wasn't the best person at all but he sure had personality. Franklin had such a commitment to bettering himself and it makes me sad to see how much his dad did not support him and how it made his life so difficult. He was obsessed with science, writing, and sex. All of which led him to some interesting situations lol. He took an interest in electricity which was my favorite story time. He came up with his own experiments to understand it yet a lot of them seemed more like a "hold my beer" type moments. He stopped his heart multiple times as a result of such reckless experiments. My absolutely delectable favorite was when he (without testing it beforehand) thought he could cook a turkey for dinner guests using only electricity. His vision was he would connect terminals to his BARE hands and also the turkey and clap, zap, sizzle it into perfection. He gathered all to see this jackass get thrown to the ground as dead as the turkey only to start twitching back to life. If I could go back in time I would love to see this.
The last item I remember being interesting was his time at the printing press. His brother owned and operated one in which was very influential. They covered stories regarding small pox I think was really interesting. The vaccine was actually performed and supported by the church as their God given right...however the general population was not supportive and thought they were wrong. It's almost exactly opposite in today's culture around vaccines for COVID in some ways. Vaccines were heavily debated even back then! Sadly, Franklin lost a son to it and he regretted not vaccinating him...
That's all I remember! Cool guy for sure

[Lisa-Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am continuing my Benjamin Franklin obsession by reading this and also Franklin’s autobiography. This is a favorable view of Franklin, but so what? I really like the way she organized it around Franklin’s ideas. She did not want to write a biography, but a series of scenes from his life. This was her “wholly selfish, quite arbitrary desire to write only what interested me about this most consistently entertaining biographical subject.” I loved the chapter on Science in the 18th Century and I loved the chapter on Franklin in London. The writing is very sophisticated and she doesn’t hedge on her opinions. It is the perfect next book after reading a biography of him. “A person of genius early knows his worth, knows at least that he is quicker than other men, more persistent, perhaps more reckless in pushing on…” The fact that Franklin had no formal education, couldn’t even use calculus to test his theories, and yet made such profound discoveries is something I like to think about at length. What makes a person run headlong after ideas for the sake of ideas?

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great follow-up or addition to Franklin's autobiography. The author adds significant depth to Franklin's life story and to his part in the build up to the revolution. Plus, somehow I got a strong feeling about life in the colonies early in the 18th Century. Bowen was a great writer and it was easy to tell that Ben Franklin was a favorite of hers. This book is a keeper and a good read to recommend to others with an interest in American history.

[Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected to Iike this as the subject matter should present lots of interesting opportunities. But it was very slow, sometimes tedious. The topic of Franklin experimenting with electricity for example should have been fun to write about but was instead an overly long 'history of science' treatment in large parts of which Franklin barely appeared.
Maybe this would be better in traditional format than audio book which is how I tried it.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not particularly interesting. Very disappointed.

[Kellyn Roth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for school. Very detailed, very boring, but worth it, I think, if you want a great biography of Benjamin Franklin.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bowen's subtitle is "Scenes from the Life of Benjamin Franklin," but it's considerably more. She uses some specifics in that long and amazing life to discuss the background of America before the Revolution. I found it engaging if occasionally dry.

Bowen was dying as she finished the last chapter. The Afterword is a transcription of a tape recoding she made - having become too weak to write - about what she would like to add about Franklin's character. It's rather poignant yet pleasantly informative about how she viewed this fascinating man.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book frustratingly meh. The prose was fine; in fact, I found the language to be quite lovely. However, the author (who wrote this on her death bed making me look like a completely heartless wench) was disturbingly fascinated by Franklin's "good" character and tended to whitewash his antics and his personal life in such a way as I nearly pictured him in a white cowboy hat. She did not capture the reality of the man, and sadly underplayed his vast importance to the American Revolution. He was a far more powerful man than even the title implies.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Most Dangerous Man In America: Scences From The Life Of Benjamin Fraklin
Catherine Drinker Bowen
History
251 pages
copyright: 1974
isbn: 0-316-10379-9

This book is very interesting read. I was not sure I was going to like this at first, but it has really drawn my attention.

[Jeff]

I didn't actually finish this, as I got bored with it in spite of it being about one of the more interesting American historical figures. I love Franklin, but this just felt kind of stale. It being a 30 year old book might be a cause for that, though.

[Dexter · Rating 3 out of 5]

An indepth (and often tedious) look at various scenes of Benjamin Franklin's life. Quite thorough, and I can say that I am now thoroughly tired of Benjamin Franklin.

[Patience · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little disjointed, but that was the point of the author. It is NOT meant to be a biography. I really enjoyed the author's unedited commentary at the end.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

very well researched. pity volume 2 did not come along.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed his early life an late life stories.