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Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed
Reproduction of the Benjamin Franklin by William Cabell Bruce
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
1076 pages
First published January 1, 1917
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 25, 2025
1000+ pages of Benjamin Franklin, the winner of the second ever Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1918. Two volume, and arranged by topic rather than strict chronology:
Volume 1:
1. Franklin's Moral Standing and System
2. Franklin's Religious Beliefs
3. Franklin, the Philanthropist and Citizen
4. Franklin's Family Relations
5. Franklin's American Friends
6. Franklin's British Friends
7. Franklin's French Friends
Volume 2:
1. Franklin's Personal Characteristics
2. Franklin as a Man of Business, Part 1
3. Franklin as a Statesman
4. Franklin as a Man of Science
5. Franklin as a Writer
I've been living with Ben Franklin for quite a while now, and he is quite a mix of things: funny, witty, flawed, brilliant, wise, practical, and in many ways I'd almost put him forward as the quintessential White American Man. I'm eager to dig further into Franklin and the American Indian, his land speculation, and how he treated the issue of Indian land rights.
Anyway, Franklin is a foundational figure in American history, worth reading and reading about.
Volume 1:
1. Franklin's Moral Standing and System
2. Franklin's Religious Beliefs
3. Franklin, the Philanthropist and Citizen
4. Franklin's Family Relations
5. Franklin's American Friends
6. Franklin's British Friends
7. Franklin's French Friends
Volume 2:
1. Franklin's Personal Characteristics
2. Franklin as a Man of Business, Part 1
3. Franklin as a Statesman
4. Franklin as a Man of Science
5. Franklin as a Writer
I've been living with Ben Franklin for quite a while now, and he is quite a mix of things: funny, witty, flawed, brilliant, wise, practical, and in many ways I'd almost put him forward as the quintessential White American Man. I'm eager to dig further into Franklin and the American Indian, his land speculation, and how he treated the issue of Indian land rights.
Anyway, Franklin is a foundational figure in American history, worth reading and reading about.
May 17, 2009
“Benjamin Franklin Self-Revealed” by William Cabell Bruce is a biography of one of the greatest Americans of any time period. The author concentrates on Franklin’s own writings, i.e. books, letters, etc., to tell the story of who Benjamin Franklin really was. This biography was the second winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biographies in 1918. Bruce uses a different strategy than most in telling the story of Franklin. Instead of going through Franklin’s life chronologically, he chooses different aspects of Franklin to discuss in each of the chapters of this two-volume biography.
In volume one, the author looks at Franklin’s morals, his religious beliefs, his philanthropy and citizenship, his family relations, his American friends, his British friends, and his French friends. In this way it is a look at the character at Franklin, when viewed from his own expressed beliefs as well as the relationships he developed with others. In volume two, it opens with a chapter on Franklin’s personal characteristics, which finishes the discussion of the person. The remainder of the volume looks at the various professions that Franklin participated in. This includes a general chapter on Franklin as a man of business, and that is followed by Franklin as a statesman, man of science, and writer. By dividing Franklin’s life this way, it provides an effective cross-reference of Franklin’s personal and professional lives.
While the larger organizational structure of this biography is effective, Bruce would have been far better served by breaking each chapter into subchapters. Most of the chapters are rather long and it is a daunting task for the reader to finish a chapter without any break at all, in spite of how interesting the topic is. As an example, the longest chapter in either volume is “Franklin as a Statesman” which is over 250 pages long, and one wants to take it in and reflect on it, without being committed to hours of reading. That doesn’t reflect on quality of the content, but it does impact the reader’s enjoyment of the text.
William Bruce does provide a summary at the end of the chapter on Franklin as a writer, but a proper summary would have been better. In that, Bruce could have brought together all the different pieces of Franklin for an overall picture, instead of just a few pages. In spite of these deficiencies, this is still a very good biography, and one well worth seeking out for those who are interested in one of the most unique and important individuals from American history.
In volume one, the author looks at Franklin’s morals, his religious beliefs, his philanthropy and citizenship, his family relations, his American friends, his British friends, and his French friends. In this way it is a look at the character at Franklin, when viewed from his own expressed beliefs as well as the relationships he developed with others. In volume two, it opens with a chapter on Franklin’s personal characteristics, which finishes the discussion of the person. The remainder of the volume looks at the various professions that Franklin participated in. This includes a general chapter on Franklin as a man of business, and that is followed by Franklin as a statesman, man of science, and writer. By dividing Franklin’s life this way, it provides an effective cross-reference of Franklin’s personal and professional lives.
While the larger organizational structure of this biography is effective, Bruce would have been far better served by breaking each chapter into subchapters. Most of the chapters are rather long and it is a daunting task for the reader to finish a chapter without any break at all, in spite of how interesting the topic is. As an example, the longest chapter in either volume is “Franklin as a Statesman” which is over 250 pages long, and one wants to take it in and reflect on it, without being committed to hours of reading. That doesn’t reflect on quality of the content, but it does impact the reader’s enjoyment of the text.
William Bruce does provide a summary at the end of the chapter on Franklin as a writer, but a proper summary would have been better. In that, Bruce could have brought together all the different pieces of Franklin for an overall picture, instead of just a few pages. In spite of these deficiencies, this is still a very good biography, and one well worth seeking out for those who are interested in one of the most unique and important individuals from American history.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews