Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: Bar none one for the best written historical books out there. The writer writes with authority and facts. It shows that the entire book was well thought out and planned meticuously. It's pleasure to read. I just wish the subject matter was more desireable. Every american does owe a great amount to Benjamin Franklin. He was a man that accomplished great things. And I'm sure that he was the first person to pat himself on the back every time he accomplished something. Taken from his writings and demeaner is could be said that he was a self-centered, pompous jerk. He was his own greatest fan and looked down on anyone he deemed intellectually inferior. But with that aside I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Ben: 1st American
Review: Everyone knows something of Ben Franklin. What I was pleasantly surprised about was the author's mostly unbiased account of Franklin's attitude and "practice" of attending to family. There was no mention of Franklin's supposed affairs when in France but mere allusion to them. The book was not what I expected it to be, a dry fact-filled book. This actually lets the reader come to some understanding of the life and times surrounding Ben Franklin and is not just a "list" of his accomplishments. It reads like a story throughout and not a history book.
Rating:
Summary: Strong story of a heroic man
Review: Who was the first American? There are, I suppose, many ways to answer that. H.W. Brands provides a name, Benjamin Franklin. But more than that, he provides the reader with a life story second to none.The First American is finest biography I've ever read, though I confess I haven't read that many. It is thorough and complete, without skipping over years at a time the way some do. And I mean Brands no disrespect when I say that the bulk of the work that went into this book was performed by Franklin himself. His life is the prototypical rags to riches story about what makes America great. And Franklin was better at it than most. To return to the first point, I find it refreshing to find that Brands considers all of Franklin's life to be worth telling. Recent books I've reviewed about Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton are abbreviated, skipping over years at a time, jumping back and forth in time, and trying to bring attention to the author and not the subject. Here there is none of that. We trace Franklin's life in the same order he lived it, and if it was good enough for him, it should be good enough for us. On a similar theme, though Franklin was a highly political figure later in life, there's little attempt to try to try to pull him into one political camp today. Although Brands contrasts certain myths about Franklin - that he was the first capitalist in America for example - with his other activities and beliefs, he basically keeps us in the eighteenth century the whole time. But the real strength of the book, as I've said, is the subject. Ben Franklin really was a great American, and a fascinating one at that. Just for the pleasure of living vicariously through him I would recommend this work.
Rating:
Summary: Scientist, politician extraordinaire
Review: James Logan of Philadelphia knew Franklin as a neighbor and as a political ally. In 1748 Franklin retired from the printing business. He became a silent partner with David Hall in a very profitable enterprise. The science of electricity was in its infancy. Franklin's efforts to educate himself made him an enthusiast of formal education. His triumphs in electricity were another milestone in his career of self-education. In 1749 he wrote a pamphlet proposing an academy to educate youth. Gradually Franklin came to see himself as the most capable man he knew. His interests included optical science, ballooning, weather forecasting, establishing daylight savings time. He could look around Philadelphia and see his efforts in the Library Company, the fire companies, the Philosophical Society, and the academy. Getting into politics was a logical step. Franklin sought to dilute the influence of the Germans in the colony. He feared that operation of the poor laws induced dependency. He pondered the question of nurture versus nature in the context of education for Native Americans. In 1754 Franklin argued that the American colonists should be considered full members of the English nation. In the 1750's Franklin's view on slavery was changing. He said that slaves could diminish a nation. Franklin has a sense of being virtue's agent, particularly in 1756 when he was elected colonel, head of the Pennsylvania militia. He never lost the conviction that virtue conferred right. On 1757 the Pennsylvania Assembly appointed Franklin their representative to the government in England. He moved to London. He lived most of the rest of his life abroad. This move was as significant as his move from Boston to Philadelphia. Ultimately he helped to write the Articles of Confederation, he signed the Declaration of Independence, he played a large role at the Constitutional Convention, and he represented American interests in seeking assistance from France to wage war against Britain and in negotiating the terms of the peace. In the life and times format there is adequate emphasis on the life, and more emphasis on the times. Placing Franklin in context is useful.
Rating: 
Summary: Truely a man before his time.
Review: Ben Franklin truly was born a hundred years to early. Although I am glad for our nation he had the influence he did. As a man I think he would have loved the 19th and 20th centuries and good have applied his genius to unlimited prospects. This book gave all the facts of his life and times. A little drab at times and slow with all the detail but over all a great read. I would consider him truly the first American and the greatest of our founding fathers.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Historical Biography
Review: With a series of well researched and well written books, Texas A&M History Professor H.W. Brands has placed himself in such heady company as David McCullough as one of the preeminent history authors working today. Brand's biography of Benjamin Franklin is a lively, witty and very informative look at the senior statesman among America's Founding Fathers. Helped by Franklin's engaging personailty and prolifc writings, Brands brings him to life for modern readers. "The First American" provides a sweeping overview of Franklin's life, from his Boston upbringing to his early audulthood as a Philadelphia printer to his later years when his stature as a philosopher, scientist, politician and diplomat made him world famous. Electricity, the Gulf Stream, the modern fire department, the lightening rod and bifocals are among the many deicoveries or inventions he either initiated or was key in developing. And oh by the way, Franklin was also the prime negotiator of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and played host to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. On the whole, not a bad set of lifetime accomplishments. Brands' account of Franklin's life is must reading for anyone with an interest in American History. The author has that rare gift that combines storytelling ability with scholarship. If more history professors could write (and lecture) this well, the subject would be all the more popular for it.
Rating:
Summary: Shows Why Franklin Was The "First American"
Review: This thorough book explores the many facets of Benjamin Franklin. It is a wonderful mixture of prose and fact, using Franklins's own words to help illustrate a wonderfully readable story. Franklin's many interests and his indefatigable nature are so rich that a seven or eight volume biography organized along his separate endeavors would be possible. He was a businessman, a publisher, a highly readable and widely read author; a scientist and experimenter; a civic leader and organizer, a politician, diplomat, Founder and revolutionary. Remarkably, he found success and satisfaction from all, failing only as a family man and father. Brands does not explicitly explore whether or not Franklin's many interests simply crowded out his ability to be a devoted husband and father, or whether the single-mindedness and vanity that helped propel him to greatness left him immune to the needs of those immediately around him. The struggles of his wife and son make an interesting counterpoint to the many successes enjoyed by this remarkable man. Brands weaves all these Franklins in this chronological exploration of his life. Franklin's interests are so varied and his energy so great that he reminds one of Teddy Roosevelt in the breadth and impact of his accomplishments. Indeed, Brands has written of both and I suspect he sees great similarities between them and great symmetry in the life of a man who made America possible and the life of a man who one hundred years later remade America. Franklin is remembered and rightly so. His service to independence was critical in both helping gain the Declaration and in helping win French recognition (though one needs to recognize that ultimately France waded in on our side because it was in her interests to prick her longtime antagonist England and support for America represented a relatively safe and inexpensive way to do so). His aphorisms to this day help capture truisms of right living. Most know Franklin. Brand's great service with this book is that many can now enjoy knowing him in detail and gaining inspiration from a life well lived and lived for good causes.
Rating: 
Summary: Unique Look at B.F.
Review: The life and times of Ben Franklin is a really good book better than I thought it would be. H.W. Brands gave a good look at Ben Franklin's life. I enjoyed seeing the other side of him, the rebellious side Brands showed in this book. Overall I would recommend this book to someone else to read cause it wasn't boring at all.
Rating:
Summary: Great read, but...
Review: I truly liked this book and there are many great things about it. Such as, for one, the insight into Franklin's character as he develops from a simple inventor to a man who at one time had everyone talking. However, the book at times drags on and gets at times, too specific and strays away from Franklin himself. For example, towards the end of the book while Franklin is drawing up th epeace guidelines for Britain, the author goes way too in depth into the practices and problems with Britain. He mentions hundreds of men who played a part in the negotiation process, but at times the reader is led astray. The book jumps a little too much from speaking about Franklin's acts towards liberation for 45 pages and the next paragraph is Franklin's new invention. It is easy to read, but a little annoying to keep up with. The scientific advancements made by Franklin were my favorite parts of the book because it showed his uniqueness.
All the negative aside, you definetly walk away from this book feeling Franklin was the first American and makes you glad to be one as well.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great.
Review: The First American is an extensive look into the life of Benjamin Franklin, and should satisfy most readers interest in this extrordinary man. The work is scholarly, and the subject alone will pull you in because of such a grand life. I felt that the research was thorough, but may have been put together ad hoc in some places. Brands relies on letters extensively in some areas, and only the history of the era in general rather than focusing on Franklin's role or affect, in others. The end of the book seemed rushed, which left me a little disappointed with the lite coverage concerning Franklin's input into both The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I would think that this area of his life, and his processes concerning both his judgement and behavior would be fascinating. The fact is that Brands covers these areas rather quickly in comparison to the amount of detail given to Franklin's early years. I also wanted to learn more about Franklin's Freemason activity as well, and again, the topic was not given too much consideration. I truly wanted to give four stars as the rating because there is an awful lot of information, and I do feel that I now know a heck of a lot more about Benjamin Franklin. I give it three stars because if I truly want to find out more about the areas that I felt should have been covered better in the first place, I still have to look elsewhere.
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