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Summary: The Story of the American Prometheus
Review: I've always been a big fan of Franklin and was very glad to learn that Brands had written a new biography of this seminal American.The book is engaging and moves along at a good tempo. There is a fated-ness about Franklin's life - as if Providence supplied the American colonies with the right man at the right time and place. Scientifically, he was a "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" -- a seemingly 20th century man caught in the 18th century. His experiments with electricity and his scientific theories were cutting-edge for his time, but today are on par with a third-grade science course. He saw where science was leading, and thought that he should have been born two or three centuries after his time. Franklin's real genius may have been for people and civic organizations. Whether on a large scale - organizing a new nation and government -- or the local --organizing fire departments, libraries and an efficient postal service, civic organizations are one of his most enduring legacies. Brands work is no hagiography. While strong on civic bonds, Franklin's family life is portrayed as something of a tragedy. I was moved and troubled by his long absences from his wife Deborah, who died while he had been in Europe for 20 years, and his estrangement from his son William. As Brands writes of the final communiqué between father and son, "It was not his [Franklin's] finest hour, and he knew it." Franklin had a reputation as a ladies man, though Brands downplays this quite a bit. At one point we are told that F's libido, as a youth would prove to be a challenge later on. This thread is never picked up again. Instead, Brands reports that most of F's overtures to the finer ladies of Parisian society were rebuffed. The reader gets the sense that there is more going on beneath the covers than meets the eye. And inquiring minds want to know. Another more important facet of the life is his religion. Franklin was a deist, borderline atheist for most of his life. Yet at the end of his life, Brands stresses Franklin's call for prayer over the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention. How he moved from a non-practicing Christian to one calling for prayer is an important part of the story. That it is not developed gave the impression that Brands was throwing a bone to the more conservative members of his current audience. Franklin knew that all human institutions eventually erode away. In his estimation, if the people of the United States were not virtuous enough -- in a civic, not religious way -- to maintain the nation, it would eventually degenerate into a tyranny. The challenge that Franklin and the book leave us with is this: When a woman asked him what the congress had created in Philadelphia, Franklin replied, "A republic, madam, if you can keep it." Sometimes I wonder. All in all, this is a terrific biography of one of the more important Founding Fathers.
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Summary: A clear, engaging portrait of a complex man
Review: Calling "The First American" the best book I've ever bought in an airport does not begin to do it justice. Everyone is familiar with Benjamin Franklin, or thinks they are- stories of Franklin and his kite are staples of grade-school science classes, and most Americans can summon up a mental image of Ben Franklin- grandfatherly, grey-haired and paunchy. What "The First American" does for Franklin, in the face of these stereotypes, is twofold and therefore doubly effective. Firstly, it is an excellent personal biography, providing the evolution of the legend: the rise of Franklin the printer, the political theorist and the family man from his beginnings in Boston through his flourishing in Philadelphia to his public disgrace in London- a disgrace that indirectly contributed to the success of the American Revolution and the culmination of Franklin's personal glory. In the process, it illuminates the vital young and middle-aged man who became the institution that Franklin was in later life. Secondly, "The First American" fills in the gap between the received wisdom that Benjamin Franklin was a great man and the reasons, which most students have never been taught, why. A scientist respected by the great minds of his age; a political theorist and practitioner adept enough to juggle the needs of an emerging America with the support of a negligent England and later a decadent France; a journalist whose personal opinions on the rights of the press helped shape the freedoms now enshrined in the Bill of Rights. Even if these were all of Franklin's accomplishments, they would be more than enough to warrant the esteem he gathered. Franklin's contribution to the life of his times can best be summed up thus: When received by the French foreign minister as the second American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson was greeted with the question "You replace Doctor Franklin?" Jefferson replied "I succeed him, sir. Nobody could replace him."
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Summary: The First American Book on Franklin worth reading
Review: I shall keep this short and sweet. This is a wonderful book, over 700 pages that bring Benjamin Franklin to life, and lead us to better understand the events and mood of the colonies and Britain in the 18th century. I am a voracious reader (two or three books per week) but paradoxically I have savored this book for several months several pages at a time hoping somehow that the book would never end. I am hooked on H.W. Brands' writing and style. I will be looking forward to getting his new book on the gold rush and any future books that I hope he writes on American history. This is a great book to buy for your friends.
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Summary: Masterpiece.
Review: H.W. Brands has done a splendid job researching Franklin for this engrossing biography about the most influential American of his time. (I suppose it would be wise to add that 'his time' was just slightly before Washington's, a fact that no doubt prevented him from becoming the first President. Insofar as 'most influential' goes, he was, at least in terms of European matters, the only American of great influence during the Revolutionary period. But I digress....). What makes the book so readable, aside from the subject himself, is the wry wit of the author, deftly inserted so as not to intrude upon the readers' relationship with Mr. Franklin. Lastly, I must tell you that the book is not filled with only worship and praise; it is quite evenhanded and certainly points out some of the (dare I say) weaknesses in Franklin's character. All in all, this is one of those books you'll be glad you bought in hardcover.
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Summary: Benjamin Franklin: A Wonderful Life
Review: It's curious how many biographies about prime ministers, generals, past presidents, and personalities from the Revolutionary War era have been published in recent years. Perhaps the phenomenon is not so strange in light of H.W. Brands' volume about Benjamin Franklin, a man who, even in life, appeared to be part mortal and part god. At a time when our culture seems to yearn for stories about persons of character and achievement, of people who were not merely good but who were also good for something, this book comes none too soon. Inventor, printer, writer, philosopher, diplomat, representative, treaty-maker, land speculator, abolitionist, patron of education, arts and sciences, to name a handful of things, it's fair to say Franklin seems to have "done it all," and what a life! His contributions to science, the infant United States and in other areas cannot be emphasized too heavily. To use a Franklinism, he was indeed a jack-of-all-trades, and master of many. In some respects the man almost seemed too big for his life, but the ever-evolving Franklin changed things when he couldn't change himself, and largely shaped his own world --and his legacy. It's a big legacy, a mighty story, and Brands does an honest and capable job sifting through the lore and legend surrounding Benjamin Franklin the man, although even after finishing the book, Franklin's myth still looms large. Perhaps it is only the titanic shadow he casts across recent history? Whatever it is, Brands presents the reader with a fully human Franklin who was capable of some seemingly superhuman undertakings, a mortal man with flaws and failings, subject to flukes of fate, as well as flights of the highest intellectual and moral insight and courage when it was most needed. Frankly it is astonishing that one man could have lived such a life in times that were as fascinating and exciting as they were dangerous and uncertain. Brands breathes life into the many worlds his subject inhabited, from Philadelphia to France, colonial Boston to Great Britain, and the broad strokes and fine points are all alive and vibrant. This biography is luxurious by turns and, in only a few spots, prosaic. Brands may not quite possess the gift of flowing prose that other biographers like McCullough or Ellis have, but his rendering is decidedly readable and thoroughly enjoyable. In fact the only places where I was "rubbed" were instances when Brands presented Franklin in a situation or against a backdrop without saying more about the setting. E.g., one may well remember the particulars of Queen Anne's War and the French and Indian War from school days gone by. But for one who does not, a little more background would be helpful, though I concede it would be difficult to insert even more detail into such an already copiously detailed, opulent book. It is also evident that Brands admires Franklin. That's not so hard to understand, especially when reading his treatment of Franklin, and perhaps his enthusiasm is better momentum than a dispassionate, cold eye. He achieves an energetic, well-balanced portrait of Franklin without sacrificing academic integrity. Granted, there are places where Brands seems to gloss over or merely mention in passing some of Franklin's human weaknesses, vanities, and so forth --but that certainly does not damage the book, whether one chooses to view Franklin as a dissipated bon vivant or a philosopher-hero. Brands also succeeds in putting the flesh back on Franklin through the use of the good Doctor's own words, gleaned from surviving letters and other sources. The reader is treated to the sometimes wry, sometimes subtle, and occasionally passionate, grand language that Franklin used. Franklin's words, carefully chosen and wielded with astonishing dexterity, are as pertinent now as ever they were and, quite often, eerily prescient. As any person who reads this highly accessible biography will soon come to understand, though, Benjamin Franklin was more than a mere wordsmith. Often by his own designs and comportment, Franklin was many things to many people and few were ambiguous in their feelings toward him. To most, he was dearly beloved, sagacious --and in some cases, he was positively loathed. What can one expect from a man who could be so changeable yet steadfast, resolute? Charming, with a rapier wit, no one who was touched by anything he did was unmoved, and that applies to the modern reader of this book. Brands has wrestled with a giant, and not even his meticulousness and inquisitiveness can do Franklin's fertile mind and piercing intellect full justice, but that he has done so and succeeded so well is an accomplishment. One can only hope new generations will be introduced to a Benjamin Franklin wholly new, or at least presented in a different light, a man more than just a kite-flying revolutionary whose face happens to grace the $100 bill. Undoubtedly this handsomely done book will be the authoritative work on Franklin for at least the next twenty to fifty years. Enjoy it. It's well worth the read.
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Summary: Outstanding
Review: This biography was an outstanding read. It captures the essence of life in the 18th Century, and also explains the long-term political and social causes of the conditions that led to the American Revolution in a dramatic and entertaining way. Franklin is a very human character, with qualities and faults. It is, in whole, a sympathetic biography, but what a life he lived. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the Caro/McCullough style of writing.
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Summary: Excellent - easy to read
Review: This is a fabulous book regardless of your familiarity with Ben Franklin. The sub-title of this book is truly an understatement. The life of BF was truly extraordinary: printer, philosopher, parent, statesman, "ethical" businessman, scientist, ... The times - again extraordinary: wars, revolution, creation of a nation,... One couldn't think up a better character/plot.
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Summary: Sterling biography of one of the essential Americans
Review: During the Revolutionary Era, George Washington was refered to as "The Essential Man." While this is true, it is also correct that Benjamin Franklin was the other essential man, and Brands's does a superb job in this biography of showing precisely why this was the case. Benjamin Franklin was the first individual from the American colonies to achieve international acclaim, and to this day he remains one of the most remarkable--if not the most remarkable--individuals in American history. The range and variety of his achievements is nothing short of astonishing, and Brands does a magnificent job of illustrating this. He also helps to break down some of the stereotypes foisted on Franklin. We frequently think of Franklin a plump, elderly, bespectacled, bald grandfather type, and have no conceptions of how he might have looked or appeared at a younger age. Brands writes about Franklin's extreme prowess as a swimmer, and talks of his tremendous physical strength as a young man, when he was able to carry a tray of lead type in each hand when others would carry only one tray with both arms. And while many portray Franklin as the archetype of the American capitalist and businessman, Brands's shows that Franklin in fact abhorred making money merely for the sake of making money, and himself retired at the age of 42 in order to follow his scientific and philosophical interests. Moreover, if he was, as some suppose, an ambitious businessman, one wonders at such behavior as refusing a proffered patent for his Pennsylvania Stove (a.k.a. the Franklin Stove), which he wanted to keep as inexpensive possible so that as many people as possible could obtain one in order to stay warm. As Brands shows, this incident was not unique in Franklin's life. The first hundred pages of the biography are so heavily reliant on Franklin's AUTOBIOGRAPHY that they almost amount to a mere recapitulation. But in the remainder of the biography, Brands's fills in all the gaps that a reader of Franklin wishes he had been able to write about. Brands's writes at length about his time in England and France (which was, in fact, most of his life after his retirement). He also does a marvelous job of giving the reader a sense of the social setting of Franklin's life. Franklin enjoyed an immensely rich social life, and his many friendships are brought vividly to light in this book. I should, however, register a tiny bit of unease about the accuracy of Brands's historical research. No one can expect an author to be master of every detail, but his account of the battle between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis was incorrect at several points. For instance, he writes that the two ships fought bow-to-bow and stern-to-stern. But John Paul Jones reported that they fought bow-to-stern, lashed together, but pointed in opposite directions. All the major paintings of the battle reflect Jones's account. While this doesn't mean that the rest of the book contains similar errors, it does slightly lessen one's confidence in the author's facts.
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Summary: Best Book Ever!
Review: Zoiks! This is the best book ever written. You should read it now!
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Summary: Entertaining history at its best
Review: Lately it seesm everywhere I go, someone is reading "The First American" and with good reason. It's an absolutely first-rate example of a readable, engaging and accurate historical portrait. Most American readers have grown up with the story of Franklin the inventor and statesman, but the image we generally have of him is that aging gentleman on the fifty dollar bill coupled with a few notions about lightning and fireplaces and printing presses. But Franklin was so much more than that. He was a social philosopher who counted amoung his friends learned men such as David Hume and Bernard Mandeville. He was a natural philosopher whose observations on electricity led to his becoming the first American elected a fellow of the Royal Society. He was a lover of all things British, proud to be a Briton, and yet compelled in the end to take a stand with his Colonial brethern. And above all, he was a thoroughly modern man, who challanged many of the orthdoxies of the day and was nonetheless able to do so in a manner that made few enemies. Brands' biography is both marvelous entertainment and a wonderful and detailed biography of a man who, perhaps more than any other single man, defined what it meant to be an American.
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