Ben Franklin: America's Original Entrepreneur, Franklin's Autobiography Adapted for Modern Times

When we think of Ben Franklin, we generally think of him holding a kite in a thunderstorm or his witty sayings under the name Poor Richard. What we forget that Ben Franklin arrived in Philadelphia with just over a dollar in his pocket and went on to become one of the most successful businessman of his time. More importantly for all of us, he became a very successful contributor to the lives of others. One of the real benefits of the book is Franklin's "Plan to Achieve Moral Prefection". He soon realized that prefection was not possible, but striving for prefection guaranteed success. Follow that plan and you guarantee your own success. As an added benefit to reading all about what and why Franklin did the things he did, you get a great refresher course on early American history. The book is well written and very enjoyable to read. It is also very enlightening. Professor McCormick has taken the original work and made it easy and interesting to read. There are thousands of self-help books on the market today. Why not learn from America's original entrepreneur and a great teacher. If you study and learn the principles of Franklin's success, you will have gone a long way to insure your own.

The subtitle, "Franklin's Autobiography for Modern Times," is a more accurate description of this breakthrough work. It is a modern translation of the most famous memoir ever written. As an historian and Franklinphile, I recently poured over hundreds of Franklin letters and essays in compiling and editing "The Compleated Autobiography" of Benjamin Franklin. And I can tell you that Franklin's original writing is not easy to understand today. Franklin's great story desperately needed a modern translation, and Prof. McCormick has finally done it. Bravo! Last month, I spent many days searching for the best edition of Franklin's Autobiography. My mother, who is a direct descendant of Ben Franklin, wished to give copies of the Autobiography to her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren as an eternal memory of her life and her side of the family. In looking at all the many editions of the Autobiography, my biggest fear was that young people wouldn't read it because of the outdated 18th century language. Franklin wrote his memoirs specifically "to benefit young readers," and during the 19th century it was highly successful. However, recently, the Autobiography has lost touch with the modern generation because of the language barrier. Prof. McCormick has solved this problem brilliant. The McCormick edition is completely accessible to people of all ages, and it is beautifully illustrated with commentaries, quotes from Poor Richard's Almanac, and portraits of Franklin and others. As far as I'm aware it's the only hardback edition of the Autobiography available today. I bought 60 copies of McCormick's version, and my mother has started sending them out to her family members. I've already received positive comments from some of the grandchildren who have started reading this exciting new version of Franklin's story. I'm sure Franklin would find it "most agreeable." Prof. McCormick's version of Franklin's Autobiography deserves to be read by budding entrepreneurs and business leaders, and everyone else. I suspect it will be in print for many years to come.

I just finished this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I read the original, but found it dense and difficult to follow. Dr. McCormick has done a masterful job of translating Franklin's language while still retaining the underlying meaning. The stories Franklin tells are fantastic, it is almost a primer on how to be successful in business. Many of the pitfalls he encounters are the same as what someone today would run into. The lessons are practical, and Dr. McCormick's commentary makes it easier to see what Franklin is really getting at, whereas it may have been difficult otherwise. I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it for anyone interested in Franklin, colonial history, and most of all, how to be successful.

Like a lot of successful businessmen, Ben Franklin looked back in his later years and wrote a book aimed at telling young people how to succeed as he had. We tend to forget that in thinking of Franklin as a statesman in France during the American Revolution that he was first and foremost a businessman. When we think of him in business, we think of him as a printer. We forget that he invented the Franklin stove (reducing the heating cost of everyone). He started a college, now called the University of Pennsylvania. He started other businesses, too many to mention in this short review. And he started public service organizations like the Union Fire Company. His book, now three hundred years old makes for fairly difficult reading. His language has aged more than has his sentiments. Dr. McCormick has taken his original book and re-written it in more modern english, re-organized it a bit for consistency. And put Poor Richard's bits of wisdom in little side panels. I've read a lot of business books, and this one ranks among the very best. It doesn't have a lot of technical details like how to form a corporation or deal with the IRS. It's about the fundamentals of finding a need and putting together a business to meet that need. One last point. This is a book. If you order it through the mail, it typically shippes Media Mail. It is an interesting point that Franking was a printer, producing books; Franklin was also the first Postmaster General of the U.S. Pure co-incidence I'm sure that books ship at a favorable postage rate.