Not Your Usual Founding Father: Selected Readings from Benjamin Franklin - Hardcover

Morgan, Edmund S

4.13

15 ratings by Goodreads

9780300113945: Not Your Usual Founding Father: Selected Readings from Benjamin Franklin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300113943 ISBN 13: 9780300113945

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2006

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This engaging book reveals Benjamin Franklin's human side, his tastes and habits, his enthusiasms, and his devotion to democracy and the people of the United States. Three hundred years after his birth, we may remember Franklin's famous autobiography, or his status as framer of the Declaration of Independence, or perhaps his sage advice on diligence and thrift. But historian Edmund Morgan invites us to meet the man himself, an ordinary, sociable, good-natured human being with boundless curiosity about the natural world and a vision of what America could be. Drawing on life-long research in the vast Franklin archives, Morgan assembles lesser-known writings that offer insights into this founding father's thinking. The book is organized around three major themes, each with an introduction. The first section includes journal excerpts and letters revealing Franklin's personal tastes and habits. The second is devoted to Franklin's inexhaustible intellectual energy and his scientific discoveries. The third chronicles his devotion to serving the people who became the United States, and to his democratic vision of their independent future. Franklin's humanity and genius have never seemed more real than in the pages of this appealing anthology.

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"A fine collection, greatly enhanced by Morgan''s sprightly and readable introductions."Gordon S. Wood, Brown University -- Gordon S. Wood "Edmund Morgan, the most distinguished of Benjamin Franklin's scholars and fans, has put together a glorious compendium of his writings that reminds us how delightful and witty he was. You will be mesmerized and find out what that word really means!" Walter Isaacson, author of "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life"--Walter Isaacson" Of all the truly great American historians, Edmund S. Morgan comes closest to capturing the spirit of Benjamin Franklin's prose in his own work: enlightening, plain, witty, democratic, cosmopolitan, and crafty in the best sense of the word. Here he arranges an expert's tour through Franklin's writings, offering readers a continual Christmas. Sean Wilentz, author of "The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln" "" --Sean Wilentz" What James Boswell did for Samuel Johnson, Edmund Morgan has now done for Benjamin Franklin, here allowing us into a conversation that brings the great man to life in all his Protean splendor. Joseph J. Ellis, author of "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" "" --Joseph J. Ellis" "A fine collection, greatly enhanced by Morgan's sprightly and readable introductions." Gordon S. Wood, Brown University --Gordon S. Wood" "Of all the truly great American historians, Edmund S. Morgan comes closest to capturing the spirit of Benjamin Franklin's prose in his own work: enlightening, plain, witty, democratic, cosmopolitan, and crafty in the best sense of the word. Here he arranges an expert's tour through Franklin's writings, offering readers a continual Christmas."--Sean Wilentz, author of "The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln" "" --Sean Wilentz "What James Boswell did for Samuel Johnson, Edmund Morgan has now done for Benjamin Franklin, here allowing us into a conversation that brings the great man to life in all his Protean splendor."--Joseph J. Ellis, author of "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" " " --Joseph J. Ellis " Of all the truly great American historians, Edmund S. Morgan comes closest to capturing the spirit of Benjamin Franklin''s prose in his own work: enlightening, plain, witty, democratic, cosmopolitan, and crafty in the best sense of the word. Here he arranges an expert''s tour through Franklin''s writings, offering readers a continual Christmas." -- Sean Wilentz, author of "The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln" "" " What James Boswell did for Samuel Johnson, Edmund Morgan has now done for Benjamin Franklin, here allowing us into a conversation that brings the great man to life in all his Protean splendor." -- Joseph J. Ellis, author of "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" " "

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