Rating: 
Summary: Difficult to Read
Review: I was curious about the founding fathers of today's trend setting nation and having read the reviews, I decided to choose H.W. Brands' biography of Benjamin Franklin... But I was dissappointed... Yes, more details and you have a more accurate account of your hero's life... But what about the reader?... It took me great amount of effort to keep reading the book because the life pictured in it deserved it all... But I can not say the same for the book itself... Too detailed, too long, too confusing...
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Franklin Bio I've Read
Review: After a number of assigned papers on Franklin, I've enjoyed doing quite a bit of reading about him. This book covers his printing career and explains why this was important in Franklin's success. Most biographies I have read focus on either his inventions or his political career and do not say enough about the printer. There is enough information on Franklin to write many books; however, this is the best I've come accross. The writing is lively and makes the subject come alive. His relationships with his peers and family are covered, as well. A very well -rounded study of the original American.
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Summary: Popular Wisdom Takes A Beating
Review: Not only is this one of the finest historical biographies to appear in the past several years, but it is also a work that if taken seriously will reshape the popular notions of both the man Ben Franklin and the psychology of the American Revolution. H.W. Brands has made it forever impossible to conceive of Franklin as just an eccentric scientist and colonial sage, or of the American Revolution as a dispute over the price of tea. Prepare yourself for a barrage of paradigmatic shifts, all of them credible.The first shock to the system is the very length of Franklin's life. He who would joust with Vergennes, Adams, and George III was born in 1705. His first foray into public controversy involved, of all people, Cotton Mather, who found the Boston newspaper of the Franklin Brothers a bit too racy for the stern capital of Puritan mores. Although he would later be credited as the inventor of lightning rods, efficient stoves, and bifocals, the 16 year-old Benjamin also invented the first "Ann Landers Column," assuming the persona of an older woman dispersing worldly advice to the lovelorn. Boston, not surprisingly, would prove too provincial for the young free-spirited Franklin, who also strained against the familial control of father and older brother. Two choices stood before him: the sea or Philadelphia. As an aspiring printer, Franklin judged Philadelphia the more congenial option. Mather breathed a sigh of relief, no doubt. Brands traces Franklin's remarkable business success in the City of Brotherly Love. Franklin made a lot of money. Literally. In an age without public mints, the printing of currency was put out to lucrative bidding. Franklin, who sojourned in England briefly as an apprentice printer, had observed the English custom of printing from copper engravings, a method that foiled the efforts of counterfeiters. Franklin soon became a dealer in colonial currency, and his subsequent political connections led to government contracts for mail delivery as well. By the age of forty Franklin's incomes from printing and mail delivery were virtually a sinecure allowing him to retire to a life of scientific inquiry, invention, and public service. Although Franklin's experiments with lightning and other forms of electricity would make him world famous, it was his civic contributions that proved most useful to Pennsylvanians. As French inspired Indian raids brought gruesome slaughter closer and closer to urban Philadelphia, Franklin organized a militia and arranged for the purchase of armaments from other colonies. As a loyalist for the British Crown, Franklin took pride in his own military achievements in the French and Indian War. He understood, as perhaps few others did, that the united force of American/British arms would in effect create an almost impregnable English basin of the Atlantic, and his vision of future glory for the British Empire knew no bounds. After the defeat of the French he was only too glad to volunteer for what would become a nearly three decade sojourn of overseas service. The Pennsylvania assembly, long frustrated by the paternal and heavy- handed dealings of the Penn family, dispatched Franklin to London to seek redress against the Penns from Parliament. Arriving in England Franklin was indeed welcomed by the intelligentsia, but he could not have imagined the attitude of Parliament and the Crown against American colonists. Very few things surprised Franklin as a rule, but he could hardly have expected that his strenuous efforts on behalf of the Crown during the French and Indian War would be interpreted in England as insolent, disobedient, and even treacherous. Franklin was rudely treated in the halls of Parliament, but perhaps equally disconcerting to him was the so-called John Wilkes uprising, when a band of hooligans literally took control of the streets of London while the royal government cowered in terror. The Wilkes affair took the luster off of monarchical government and brought home to Franklin the effectiveness of what he and others had achieved in maintaining public order in Pennsylvania. Brands is careful to portray Franklin as level headed to a fault. The changes in Franklin's thinking about America--from its status as most loyal of colonies to an independent nation in its own right-is steadied, an evolution in small incremental steps. As late as 1770 Franklin still entertained hope of union. Eventually realism and pride, along with a concern for his personal safety, led him to return to America in time for the early volleys of the Revolution. But Franklin's understanding of the European scene made him a logical choice to return overseas, first as ambassador to the French and later as a peace commissioner with John Adams and John Jay. The interplay of these three diverse statesmen is intriguing, but the story has been told in a number of other biographies and histories of the war. Franklin would return to America, and when the time arrived to choose America's first chief executive, the Sage of Passy was nearly 85 years old. Did anyone take a Franklin Presidency seriously? Brands lets the idea dangle, perhaps in sport, but he does make note of the fact that Franklin was widely recognized as smarter than Washington, less threatening to those who worried about a military aristocracy, an accomplished civil administrator, and familiar with all of the major European powers. But then Brands dashes this whimsy with water-specifically, the bath water from the shoe-shaped tub where Franklin spent nearly all of his waking hours nursing an agonizing stone. One gets the sense that even the devoted biographer found the visual picture of old Franklin governing naked from the tub a bit too much theater for a new nation struggling for respect. The Franklin brought to life by Professor Brands would have enjoyed the laugh himself.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing Man
Review: Franklin was truly a remarkable man. I had no idea as to the degree of his intellect, the contribution he made to the end of war peace effort, the respect he demanded throughtout the Western world or the number of scientific interests he had. Not since I read D'Este's biography of Patton, have I had the pleasure to read complex subject matter and breeze through it as if it were a novel for the beach. Dr. Franklin was not a perfect man (he was a horrible husband and family man for example) but was an extrodinary pressence in a country just born and a world that did know really know what to think of the little colonies growing to the west. Dr. Brands, thank you for the education. Dr. Franklin, Bussiness man, Philosopher, Diplomat, Founding Father, Politician, Inventor, my hats off to you. Like American history? Get this book.
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Summary: Brands supports his thesis!
Review: A lengthy, detailed, earthy biography. The way he is presented, I think he really was the first American. He was very much the staunch British subject up until the early 1770's, even planning on retiring in England. Then Britain's treatment of the American colonies became too much for him, and he became a staunch American patriot. Not only a Renaissance man, but also quite the party animal and ladies man throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary Renaissance Man
Review: In the last 16 months there have been some heavy-hitters in the world of American political biography. Besides this book, the books by David McCullough and Edmund Morris, on John Adams and Theodore Roosevelt, respectively, come to mind. (I apologize if I am leaving out any other "biggies".) I have read all three of the above mentioned works and I have to say that I think the Brands book is the best of the bunch. That statement is not meant to demean the quality of the other two books. They are both wonderful books. But Brands has surpassed McCullough and Morris with this particular book. Why do I say this? There are several reasons. One reason is that Brands is equally good with narrative and analysis. His way with words is equal to the other two authors. High praise indeed, because if you look at the Morris book there is great writing on nearly every page. Brands has managed to accomplish this also. Regarding Benjamin Vaughan, who espoused the virtues of hemlock to Franklin as a treatment for Franklin's kidney stone, Brands writes that he had "suggested a sub-Socratic dose." Regarding Franklin's voyage from Boston to New York, as a teenager, where his foray into vegetarianism ran headlong into the smell of fresh cod being cooked on board: "Before his vegetarian days he, like most Bostonians, had loved fish: fried, steamed, boiled, stewed. The present smell conjured recollections of memorable meals past, and he decided to revisit the argument for interspecies pacifism. To his delight he discovered a loophole. 'I recollected that when the fish were opened, I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs; then I thought, if you eat one another, I don't see why we mayn't eat you.'" But besides writing well, when dealing with Franklin's political life the author is able to explain and analyze and make things clear for the lay reader. (As Brands is a professor of history he has the advantage of his teaching background in this regard.)
Although the narrative was wonderful in the Morris book I found him a bit weak on political analysis. Likewise with McCullough. This could have something to do with their non-academic backgrounds. I also felt that McCullough went a bit overboard in his "Jefferson bashing", as though he felt he needed to build Adams up by tearing Jefferson down. Brands does very little "bashing" of anyone. He has a few comments towards the end of the book regarding Adams' jealousy of Franklin, but it doesn't turn into a diatribe. Brands has the good sense just to tell you about the remarkable life of Franklin. We all know about the kite and lightning rods but what about Franklin's invention of a musical instrument (the Armonica); his creation of a more efficient stove for heating (the Franklin stove); inventing what he called "double spectacles" or bifocals, as we know them; etc. When Franklin got to Philadelphia he started a public library and fire brigades; later on in life he speculated on scientific matters- the Gulf Stream and a geological theory that was admittedly very rudimentary and not developed- but that had elements of plate tectonics in it. Remarkable. Oh, and something else..... After observing some black children in an "experimental" school setting he came to the conclusion that there were no intrinsic differences in the races. So, not only was he "anti-slavery" but he truly believed that with education all races would be equal. This was very radical thinking for the times.... It is a major accomplishment that Mr. Brands managed to fit everything into this one volume, without skimping on any aspects of Franklin's life. A truly wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the time
Review: I am a working mom and have little time to read for pleasure. I devoured this biography! Any fan of American history should read this work since it gives new perspective on the lives of not only Benjamin Franklin, but other important historical figures from the late 18th century. The humor and humanity of Franklin is clearly presented yet his fallacies are not hidden. The author is not afraid to present Franklin's shortcomings along with his many gifts and lets the reader decide what to judge. This important biography is well worth adding to your bookshelf!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book - Not so easy to read
Review: I bought this book because of my interest in Franklin and reviews by readers. Franklin's intelligence, insight and humor all come through in the quotations and excerpts used. Franklin wrote in a very readable format - probably to the education level of most of his readers. The words holding Franklin's together are, undoubtably, a higher education level. Brands' use of three and four syllable words in place of much easier, readable words is unfortunate. Sometimes I find myself re-reading to figure out what Author Brands meant or skipping paragraphs because they ramble on. I am glad I bought the book, still recommend it, but don't find it the easy afternoon reading that I expected.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book ... but beware of incomplete copies!
Review: I received this book as a present. It is fascinating. I have been reading it slowly, savoring each page as time permits; among its numerous qualities,it puts into clear perspective many historical events that I had heard about but that were somewhat jumbled in my mind (the Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere's ride, the Intolerable Acts, the Braddock Campaign, the battle in the Plains of Abraham, John Paul Jones' exploits, to name just a few). The book is excellently written. The characters and times come vividly alive. So I was looking forward to the next opportunity to continue reading, when I got to Page 600. Imagine my disappointment and frustration when I noticed that what I then read just stopped making any sense! Upon checking, this was quite simly because the page after Page 600 was ... Page 633!! Caveat emptor!!
Rating:
Summary: Did not fullfill my expectations
Review: Having read Franklin's autobigraphy and many of his other writings, I expected a more lively read. However, given that Franklin was in England prior to and during most of the Revolutionary period, the book does offer a perspective not found in most books on our founding fathers and for this reason the book is worth reading.
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