Benjamin Franklin

by Edmund S. Morgan

Book Overview

A New York Times Bestseller, a 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, and a Washington Post Book World, Publisher's Weekly, and Los Angeles Times Book Review Best Book of the Year "Superb.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300095325
• ISBN13: 9780300095326
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The Man of the Thirteen Virtues

For the past 50 years, scholars have been collecting every surviving scrap of things written by BF, enough to fill 46 printed volumes. Morgan wrote this book from the computer disc holding these writings - yes, this book is extracted completely from his writings. Being a historian, Morgan wrote a book heavy in history, saturated with the most factual (at least from Franklin's viewpoint) concise summary of BF to be found. A more recent book by Gordon Wood is also excellent, and is more of a character study, whereas this book is more detail oriented. I recommend both these fine books, as complementary works about a man who possessed unbelievable talents. While making a fortune for himself in the printing business, BF did for Philadelphia what the government didn't. He organized the development of a fire department, fire insurance, the first American library, a college (now University of Pennsylvania), a military defense against the French and Indians, and numerous other civic endeavors. This was "the ideal outlet for the usefulness he craved in initiating one association after the other, to meet people's need as they arose." Meanwhile, his insatiable curiosity and experimentation led him to become a world class scientist. He was possibly the first American self-improvement book author, publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac" every year for many, many years. He retired from active business at the age of 42 but he was in such demand as a public servant that he never really retired until death. He represented Pennsylvania and subsequently other colonies in England until the possibility of compromise was gone. During the war he was sent to France where he secured financial and military aid, a diplomatic feat of vital importance. For the war effort, he was second in significance only to Washington, and had a lot more fun doing it than George did, as Morgan will tell you. By far the oldest of the founding fathers, he was 69 when he participated in the writing of the Declaration of Independence, and 80 at the time of the Constitutional Convention. Whether this is a first introduction (other than knowing his name) or a renewal of friendship, do yourself a favor and get to know this remarkable man better. I highly recommend this very excellent book, and am now reading BF's autobiography, which, along with Poor Richard's Almanac, contributed immensely to BF's legacy.

A great introduction to Benjamin Franklin

I have to confess to being almost totally ignorant about Benjamin Franklin, the subject of this lovely book by Edmund Morgan. My knowledge of Franklin stopped with the basics--trained as a printer in colonial Boston, made his way to Philadelphia while still very young, published Poor Richard's Almanac, proved that lighting was electrical, represented the American colonies in England and newly independent America in France.In slightly more than 300 elegantly written pages, Yale historian Morgan transformed this skeleton into a living, breathing man. Although Morgan based this brief history on a wealth of source documents, he tells Franklin's story effortlessly. I felt as though I had taken a long walk with a very interesting companion, and come away with a whole new understanding of a great and complex figure.Morgan devotes most of the book to detailing Franklin's central role in the long series of calculations and miscalculations that pushed thirteen loyal and tractable British colonies into revolution and forged them into the United States of America. Franklin, we learn, was there at every step, usually behind the scenes, but always extremely influential, a potent catalyst to change.It's as fascinating to follow the evolution of Franklin's own thoughts and feelings about the British Empire and the future of America as it is to get to catch a replay of the fateful steps in Britain and the colonies that led to the American revolution. I wish that America were blessed with more statesmen like Franklin; we could certainly use someone like him right now.Just one caveat--Franklin's scientific accomplishments are mentioned, but really as a side issue. In this, Morgan seems to be following Franklin's own lead; we learn that he viewed the scientific accomplishments that won him universal acclaim as less important than his far-sighted, patient, sometimes personally costly contributions as a politician and statesman.It's hard to imagine a more readable, edifying or enjoyable introduction to Benjamin Franklin.Robert AdlerAuthor of Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation (Wiley, 2002).

The Essentials of an Essential American

There is probably no American that deserves a big biography more than Benjamin Franklin. To be sure, he has many, as befits a writer, printer, scientist, inventor, pamphleteer, statesman, and Founding Father. Now there is a remarkable small one, _Benjamin Franklin_ (Yale University Press) by Edmund S. Morgan. The author has won various prizes for history writing, but it is clear that he loves this subject. The book was begun as a preface to a digital edition of Franklin's works. Morgan writes that scholars have struggled to come up with every scrap that Franklin wrote, and it will all eventually fill around fifty printed volumes. It is all now "available on one small disk, a product of those inconceivable discoveries he dreamt of." Morgan has read all the disk "but not much else" in order to write a purposely short book (300 pages) as "a letter of introduction to a man worth knowing, worth spending time with." This is not a standard biography; we do not learn about his forebears and his birth, nor do we attend him at his death. There is no speculation about the mother of his son William, and little about his common-law wife Deborah. This is not because of restrictions of length, but more because Morgan has limited himself to what Franklin wrote and did publicly, and his book works perfectly as introduction, or re-introduction. Morgan says that Franklin is hard to know, in part, because "it is so hard to distinguish his natural impulses from his principles." For a focus on his main endeavors, however, especially his political ones, this biography does very well. Those who think all the founding fathers were firebrands insisting on independence at the first unfair tax will learn that Franklin was England's passionate friend. He wanted America and England to stay together and was reluctant to admit that Parliament was not going to change its ways. Although he had had many friends in Britain, the government did not value him at all. Philadelphians and Americans in general had a closer idea of his original genius. But it was in France that he encountered public adulation from all levels. John Adams preferred more traditional power games, and disliked the French lionization of Franklin as a hero and saint. (Adams really had his vanity bruised; he said that Franklin's life in France was "a Scene of continual Discipation.") Franklin did not like controversy; he thought polemics were wasted energy. He did not join a church (although he was a joiner) for like most of the best-remembered Founding Fathers, Franklin was not a Christian but a deist who, as befits his practical views, knew that gaining morality and virtue was the important thing, and the means by which they are gained (which some said could only be by Christianity) was no matter at all. This was heresy to the religious revival of the time that said faith was everything. Living with virtue was important, but living usefully was Franklin's great aim. (He also aimed to have fun; long after he had

One of the Most Interesting Men in American History

Edmund S. Morgan is without a doubt one of American's greatest living historians. He is very worthy of the title, as is made evident in the pages of Benjamin Franklin. Morgan manages to give a very insightful look at one of the most interesting Founding Fathers in a book half the size of most Franklin biographies. As Gordon S. Wood wrote on the back cover of the book, "This is the best short biography of Franklin ever written". You would be hard pressed to disagree with him.You take certain themes from this well written book. One is a total admiration of the man. This is a very subject positive story, as it should be. Franklin was extremely smart, not some storied tinkerer in lightning. Franklin's experiments were recognized world wide as serious steps in scientific achievement. He could speak several languages and was a veracious reader and writer. He also had a wonderful sense of civic duty. It seemed that wherever he went, Franklin strove to improve his surroundings, for himself and his neighbors. Libraries and fire departments all owe some of their origin to Franklin.The man was also extremely charming. On his many trips around the world, he cultivated an almost cult like following. He was such a friendly fellow that people from all around the globe did anything to get an audience or share a meal with him. Franklin's infidelities are hinted at, but they are not sorid or outrageous. Most of them are unproven anyway. Only trailing Washington, Franklin should be given the most credit for the independence of the 13 colonies and then the formation of the United States. Franklin managed to squeeze millions and millions of dollars from the already cash strapped French, with later on proved disastrous for Louis XVI. This money and aid was a necessity in winning the war. Also very interesting is how much Franklin loved England. Up until the very end, Franklin was desperate to keep the two countries together in some form of union. Only after the amazingly arrogant actions of the English government did he see that the only answer was independence.Great writing, wonderful research, and a fascinating subject. What else could you want?

Benjamin Franklin

Another superb book from Edmund Morgan. While there are other bios of Franklin on the market at twice the size, Professor Morgan's concise treatment of the man's life tells a story in the best sense of that word. You learn about Franklin & come to understand this complicated man as best we can. While there are dozens of major events going on during his lifetime, Morgan mentions them but doesn't waste the reader's time going into unncessary detail. Those are best left for other books.Morgan's always been known for the quality of his writing and making history come alive with passion and pathos. An even greater skill of the author is being able to write concisely; each word counts for something. Anyone interested in learning about the great man, Dr. Franklin, should read Morgan's book and become captivated by the man, the story, and the unique character of our remarkable country.