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Benjamin Franklin
by: Walter Isaacson

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Binding: Kindle Edition
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.3092
Format: Kindle Book
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 608
Publication Date: January 07, 2004
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: January 07, 2004
Sales Rank: 961
Studio: Simon & Schuster

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Editorial Review:

Product 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 proved by flying a kite that lightning was electricity, and he invented a rod to tame it. He sought practical ways to make stoves less smoky and commonwealths less corrupt. He organized neighborhood constabularies and international alliances, local lending libraries and national legislatures. He combined two types of lenses to create bifocals and two concepts of representation to foster the nation's federal compromise. 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. Through it all, he trusted the hearts and minds of his fellow 'leather-aprons' more than he did those of any inbred elite. He saw middle-class values as a source of social strength, not as something to be derided. His guiding principle was a 'dislike of everything that tended to debase the spirit of the common people.' Few of his fellow founders felt this comfort with democracy so fully, and none so intuitively. 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.

Amazon.com Review:
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

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Highly readable, non-academic treatment
Walter Isaacson's resume reads much like that of his subject; businessman, publisher, head of a non-profit society and author. One wonders where he has found the time to produce this book and the biographies of Henry Kissinger and most recently that of Albert Einstein. He is definitely not an Academic and has produced a highly readable book that is aimed at the general reader, not the academic historian. As a general reader I appreciated this very much. Isaacson includes many of the little touches that an academic historian omits, believing that the reader is already familiar with them. For instance, Isaacson provides a very handy currency converter that allows one to convert from 18th century British pounds to American dollars and French livres, and compares the purchasing power of 1790 American dollars to 2002 American dollars. There is a "cast of characters" and chronology at the back of the book that allows ... Read More

Rating:

- An insight into one of the greatest lives
As a kid, growing up in India, Benjamin Franklin was known more for his contributions to the field of science. Little did I know that he was one of the founding fathers of the USA. And so when Walter Isaacson (a former editor at TIME magazine) wrote this book, I bought this book. Back then, the main reason underlying the buy was the fact that I felt (and I still feel) that TIME was very unbiased and expected the book to paint Benjamin Franklin as the man he was, and not a "whitewash" job of painting the greatness of the man.
Isaacson did not disappoint and has done a commendable job (I dare say brilliant) of depicting Benjamin Franklin, warts and all. It was a voyage of discovery for me, personally. The scientific acumen was one of the less important facets of his life. On the other hand, the book enlightened me on a statesman sans pareil who played a very important role in shaping a fledgling nation. What stands ... Read More

Rating:

- Insightful, yes...entertaining, no.
If you want to learn about Ben Franklin this is a fine read. If you want to be entertained try something else. Isaacson's style is ponderorus and lacks energy and flow. Who would have thought that Franklin's wonderful life could be recounted in such boring detail.

Rating:

- A Thorough Biography
Benjamin Franklin's long and productive life has a special appeal to many people. As Isaacson suggests, perhaps he is the founder who appeals to so many people because he seems more accessible. There are several things I learned in this book that I had not really considered before, mainly his relationship with his family and the opinions others had of him in succeeding generations. As the author remarks, we picture him (somewhat inaccurately) as a spectacled, elderly man engaging in his kite experiment or we see him dispensing maxims about industry and frugality. In reality, there was much more to the man than these images would suggest.

We sometimes stereotype famous individuals of the past as one-dimensional, but we are delighted and sometimes chagrined to learn that they are just as complex as we are. Franklin was no exception. We see in this book aspects of his relationships with people and his family that ... Read More

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