Ten years in the making, the new book from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Gordon S. Wood reveals Benjamin Franklin's life and meaning.
Why did Benjamin Franklin retire from business and become gentleman? Why id dhe admire the British Empire--and join the American Revolution? Why did he being writing his Autobiography when he did? And how did the "first American" become an American in the first place?
Renowned historian Gordon S. Wood spent ten years studying a legend. In this untraditional biography, he penetrates beneath 200 years' accumulation of images and representations to find the historical Franklin. He places his subject's amazing life in its 18th century context an shatters forever the comforting stereotypes: homespun patriot, cracker-barrel philosopher, folksy founder, genial self-improver. Groundbreaking and riveting, this book is a must for anyone interested in American history and the roots of American character.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the best-known Americans at the time of the Revolution, rose from humble beginnings with the help of wealthy friends impressed with his intelligence. The scientist, writer, and printer was a reluctant revolutionary--he stayed in London in hopes of reaching a compromise with England--but his support of the rebels was instrumental in gaining French assistance. This biography looks at Franklin's life through his own words, those of the many critics he faced as an emerging member of the new American middle class, and those who later on saw in Franklin a template for their own lives. Peter Johnson reads as a lecturer, conveying information with only occasional emotion. Still, the evolution of Franklin's image, through his own efforts and those of others, is a fascinating prism through which to view the founding of our nation. J.A.S. 2005 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
--Publishers Weekly...
". . . a fascinating portrait of Franklin, not only as a forefather but as a man."
About the Author
Gordon S. Wood is a professor at Brown University and a renowned scholar of the early American republic. Among his books are THE RADICALISM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, and THE CREATION OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, 1776-1787, which garnered a Bancroft Prize. Professor Wood's scholarship has also been honored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Historical Association, and the Huntington Library, where he was a recipient fo the Fletcher Jones Distinguished Fellowship,
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The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
by Gordon S. Wood
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