Benjamin Franklin

This remarkable, scholarly, and readable book brings the reader face-to-face with what seems an impossible life. The usual picture we get in school is intriguing, but here we meet a man whose range is staggering. Franklin the young, self-educated adventurer, writer, apprentice. Franklin the printer, entrepreneur, community activist. Franklin the pioneering scientist, delegate, historical visionary. Franklin the publisher, the spy, the sometimes invisible hand steering the birth of the modern republic. The inventor of a musical instrument that Mozart and others composed for. The outrageous wit who shocked Abigail and John Adams. Franklin the friend, free-thinker, and moralist. Creator of the stove, the lightning rod, the watertight compartment for ships' hulls. The first to understand how weather systems move, and ocean currents, and continents. Designer of roadways to connect the colonies and then the nation. Richly incorporating excerpts of Franklin's own voluminous writing, Van Doren's account is clearly factual, yet appropriately awed and inspired by a man "unsurpassed . . . in the range of his gifts or the important uses to which he put them."

Van Doren's biography, long the definitive biography of Franklin, is rich in detail (sometimes exhaustingly so), yet accurately portrays the life of this fascinating multi-faceted man. From the statesman's humble beginnings in Boston, to his journeys to Philadelphia and ultimately abroad, Franklin is seen in very human terms, yet within the rich tapestry of the historical period.The author's style is typical of many historians of the 1930's, very linear, precise and detailed with a wealth of background information on every facet of Franklin's life. This may be a difficulty for many readers; the book is so comprehensive that many will be put off by its sheer volume. I found myself reading the book in starts and stops, only because of my personal time limitations. After the first 400+ pages, I found myself skipping over sections to get to portions of Franklin's life I found more fascinating. Fortunately, Van Doren's writing is such that one can do this without any significant loss of continuity.

"Benjamin Franklin" is a wonderfully written biography of perhaps the greatest American who ever lived. Author Carl Van Doren presents a rich and detailed portrait of Franklin - printer, writer, philosopher, scientist, inventor, politician, statesman, and one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. By tracing the major influences on Franklin, and the key events of his life, Van Doren presents this self-educated genius as the apotheosis of the 18th century "Enlightened" man. Imbued with an insatiable intellectual appetite, a keen scientific mind, a high sense of morality, and a fervent patriotism, he was shrewd, wise, witty, and always confident in his own limitless abilities. The author describes in detail the great events of Franklin's life - his youth and young adulthood as a printer and writer of Poor Richard's Almamack; the philosopher, scientist and inventor of note; Postmaster General for Pennsylvania, and later for all the colonies; representative of the American colonies to Great Britain at the time of the American Revolution; signer of the Declaration of Independence; U.S. Ambassador to France after the Revolution; and signer of the U.S. Constitution. As good a biography as this is, "Benjamin Franklin" is also outstanding history. Van Doren skillfully "paints" Franklin's portrait against the backdrop of the tremendous social ferment, scientific awakening, and tumultuous political events which occurred during the second half of the 18th century. I gained not only a fuller understanding of Franklin's life and great genius, but also a greater appreciation of the times in which he lived."Benjamin Franklin" is written with grace, clarity and obviously great scholarship. Winner of the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for biography, it is a brilliant masterpiece - one of the best biographies of any person I've ever read!

My summer project was to read biographies of our Founding Fathers. I was not looking forward to this rather daunting book and have never been so completely turned around on a subject. Van Doren masterfully handles an immense amount of factual information in such a way that makes this biography read like a novel. I love Ben Franklin! Thank you Carl Van Doren.

Van Doren's biography of Franklin is nothing short of remarkable. While the author may be faulted for the near veneration of his subject, Franklin's continuing reputation supports the author's obvious admiration of Franklin. Franklin's life is reviewed from start to finish almost as a metaphor for the 18th Century enlightenment, the early colonlial life in America, the beginnings of the industrial revolution, the decadence and decline of British Imperialism, as well as the making and maturation of a true genius and renaissance man. Parallel with the swiftly changing account of the myriad activities of Franklin is the story of a truly fine human being; a man whose essentially humble and self deprecating nature belied his strength of character and integrity. Anyone who reads this book will come away awed by this unique individual and the question: Where are the Franklins of our time?