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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklinby Benjamin Franklin
The Floating Press 1793; US$ 4.95The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin , which Franklin himself called his Memoirs, is the unfinished record of his life written between 1771 and 1790. It has become one of the most well-known and influential autobiographies in history, and has been praised both as a historical document and a piece of literature in its own right. William Dean Howells declared that "Franklin's is one of the greatest autobiographies in literature, and towers over other autobiographies as... more...
Founding Brothersby Joseph J. Ellis
Knopf Publishing Group 2003; US$ 11.99In this landmark work of history, the National Book Award—winning author of American Sphinx explores how a group of greatly gifted but deeply flawed individuals–Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison–confronted the overwhelming challenges before them to set the course for our nation. The United States was more a fragile hope than a reality in 1790. During the decade that followed, the Founding Fathers–re-examined here as Founding Brothers–combined the ideals of the Declaration of Independence with the content of the Constitution to create the practical workings of our government. Through an analysis of six fascinating episodes–Hamilton and Burr’s deadly duel, Washington’s... more...
Stealing God's Thunderby Philip Dray
Random House 2005; US$ 11.99“We forget, living in this era of heavily patented research and closely guarded results, how wonderfully exciting the scientific world used to be. In Stealing God’s Thunder, the story of Benjamin Franklin’s invention of the lightening rod and the resulting consequences, that sense of wonder and excitement and even fear comes beautifully to life. Philip Dray does a remarkable job of illuminating the ever-fascinating Franklin and, more than that, the way that he, and his invention, helped create the new scientific world.” – Deborah Blum , author of Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection Stealing God’s Thunder is a concise, richly detailed biography of Benjamin Franklin viewed through... more...
A Benjamin Franklin Readerby Walter Isaacson
Simon & Schuster 2005; US$ 13.99Selected and annotated by the author of the acclaimed Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, this collection of Franklin's writings shows why he was the bestselling author of his day and remains America's favorite Founder and wit. As a twelve-year-old apprentice in his brother's print shop, Benjamin Franklin taught himself to be a writer by taking notes on the works of great essayists such as Addison and Steele, jumbling them up, and then trying to recreate them in his own words. By that method, he recalled in his Autobiography , he was encouraged to think he might become a "tolerable" writer. In fact, he became the best, most popular, and most influential writer in colonial America. His direct and practical prose shaped America's democratic... more...
Burr, Hamilton, and Jeffersonby Roger G. Kennedy
Oxford University Press 2000; US$ 24.95This book restores Aaron Burr to his place as a central figure in the founding of the American Republic. Abolitionist, proto-feminist, friend to such Indian leaders as Joseph Brant, Burr was personally acquainted with a wider range of Americans, and of the American continent, than any other Founder except George Washington. He contested for power with Hamilton and then with Jefferson on a continental scale. The book does not sentimentalize any of its three protagonists, neither does it derogate their extraordinary qualities. They were all great men, all flawed, and all three failed to achieve their full aspirations. But their struggles make for an epic tale. Written from the perspective of a historian and administrator who, over nearly fifty... more...
The Autobiography and Other Writingsby Benjamin Franklin; Kenneth Silverman
Penguin Group Inc. 2003; US$ 9.99Edited with an Introduction by Kenneth A. Silverman more...
Benjamin Franklinby Edwin S. Gaustad
Oxford University Press 2006; US$ 8.95Born into the family of a Boston candlemaker, Benjamin Franklin turned the lessons of his humble beginning into seasoned wisdom that helped found a new nation. This biography takes his point of departure on the question of whether young people should adopt the model of this American character or whether the heroic image needs to be tempered. more...
Franklin and Bacheby Jeffery A. Smith
Oxford University Press 1990; US$ 110.00The intense ideological conflict of the 1790s is illustrated in this study of the education and career of Benjamin Franklin Bache. Trained as a journalist by his grandfather, Benjamin Franklin, Bache became the leading polemical Jeffersonian journalist of the period. more...
Franklin: The Autobiography and other Writings on Politics, Economics, and Virtueby Benjamin Franklin; Alan Houston
Cambridge University Press 2004; US$ 27.00Alan Houston seeks to bring clarity to our understanding of Benjamin Franklin's political thought by making available, for the first time, a full and representative selection of his most important political writings. The entire text of the Autobiography is included alongside letters, essays, pamphlets, and manuscript notes. more...
American Creationby Joseph J. Ellis
Knopf Publishing Group 2007; US$ 11.99From the first shots fired at Lexington to the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, Joseph J. Ellis guides us through the decisive issues of the nation’s founding, and illuminates the emerging philosophies, shifting alliances, and personal and political foibles of our now iconic leaders–Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, and Adams. He casts an incisive eye on the founders’ achievements, arguing that the American Revolution was, paradoxically, an evolution–and that part of what made it so extraordinary was the gradual pace at which it occurred. He explains how the idea of a strong federal government was eventually embraced by the American people, and details... more...