The Americanization Of Benjamin Franklin

“I cannot remember ever reading a work of history and biography that is quite so fluent, so perfectly composed and balanced . . .” —The New York Sun “Exceptionally rich perspective on one of the most accomplished, complex, and unpredictable Americans of his own time or any other.” —The Washington Post Book World From the most respected chronicler of the early days of the Republic—and winner of both the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes—comes a landmark work that rescues Benjamin Franklin from a mythology that has blinded generations of Americans to the man he really was and makes sense of aspects of his life and career that would have otherwise remained mysterious. In place of the genial polymath, self-improver, and quintessential American, Gordon S. Wood reveals a figure much more ambiguous and complex—and much more interesting. Charting the passage of Franklin’s life and reputation from relative popular indifference (his death, while the occasion for mass mourning in France, was widely ignored in America) to posthumous glory, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin sheds invaluable light on the emergence of our country’s idea of itself.

“I cannot remember ever reading a work of history and biography that is quite so fluent, so perfectly composed and balanced . . .” —The New York Sun “Exceptionally rich perspective on one of the most accomplished, complex, and unpredictable Americans of his own time or any other.” —The Washington Post Book World From the most respected chronicler of the early days of the Republic—and winner of both the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes—comes a landmark work that rescues Benjamin Franklin from a mythology that has blinded generations of Americans to the man he really was and makes sense of aspects of his life and career that would have otherwise remained mysterious. In place of the genial polymath, self-improver, and quintessential American, Gordon S. Wood reveals a figure much more ambiguous and complex—and much more interesting. Charting the passage of Franklin’s life and reputation from relative popular indifference (his death, while the occasion for mass mourning in France, was widely ignored in America) to posthumous glory, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin sheds invaluable light on the emergence of our country’s idea of itself.

Wood scrutinizes the less typically American traits possessed by Franklin--such as his longtime loyalty to the Crown--and why he still became one of the Revolution's necessary men.

Draws on Franklin's extensive writings to provide a portrait of the statesman, inventor, and Founding Father.

An examination of the formative years of Benjamin Franklin and of the atmosphere of Boston in the early 18th century which influenced Franklin's development.

This is a collection of recipes from the time of Benjamin Franklin, complemented by anecdotes about his extraordinary life in Boston and Philadelphia, London and Paris. Each chapter is set at a location where Franklin lived or was a visitor, and the menus reflect the food eaten at that time. The recipes are from several sources, including some by the great statesman himself. Among the period recipes and anecdotes, the reader will encounter some more modern recipes, and excursions into the origins of food and drink, all served with a liberal scattering of Franklin's quotations.

Famous, fascinating Benjamin Franklin -- he would be neither without his accomplishments in science. Joyce Chaplin's authoritative biography considers all of Franklin's work in the sciences, showing how, during the rise and fall of the first British empire, science became central to public culture and therefore to Franklin's success. Having demonstrated in his earliest experiments and observations that he could master nature, Franklin showed the world that he was uniquely suited to solve problems in every realm. In the famous adage, Franklin "snatched lightning from the sky and the scepter from the tyrants" -- in that order. The famous kite and other experiments with electricity were only part of Franklin's accomplishments. He charted the Gulf Stream, made important observations on meteorology, and used the burgeoning science of "political arithmetic" to make unprecedented statements about America's power. Even as he stepped onto the world stage as an illustrious statesman and diplomat in the years leading up to the American Revolution, his fascination with nature was unrelenting. Franklin was the first American whose "genius" for science qualified him as a genius in political affairs. It is only through understanding Franklin's full engagement with the sciences that we can understand this great Founding Father and the world he shaped.

The first full-scale biography of Franklin in over 60 years! This fully documented account of the most versatile man of his age paints a lively portrait of the writer who invented the lightning conductor; the politician who spent years as an emissary in London trying to prevent the Revolutionary War; and the statesman who served as the US representative in Paris during the war, intriguing for French aid and American victory. A masterly work. The first full-scale biography of Franklin in over 60 years! This fully documented account of the most versatile man of his age paints a lively portrait of the writer who invented the lightning conductor; the politician who spent years as an emissary in London trying to prevent the Revolutionary War; and the statesman who served as the US representative in Paris during the war, intriguing for French aid and American victory. A masterly work.