Benjamin Franklin : An American Life

Rating:
Summary: Read this Book!!
Review: Benjamin Franklin : An American Life by Walter Isaacson is an incredible biography about an incredible American. The book is very readable and flows easily. Just for these qualities, the book is highly recommended and a must read for anyone interested in the founding of our nation.

Isaacson does a marvelous job intertwining the life of Franklin with the founding of our country. This is not a difficult assignment since the two are so intertwined and it is questionable as to whether the nation would have ever existed if not for the efforts of Franklin. Isaacson takes us through the early life of Franklin, his beginnings as a printer and his development as a thinker, business man, scientist and inventor. What becomes clear is that Franklin was the epitome of what we now call a Renaissance Man. But Isaacson is not uncritical of Franklin, where criticism is due. Most of that criticism is saved for Franklin's private life and his inexcusable treatment of his wife and son.

On the political level, Franklin was present at every major event that led to the founding of our nation. He signed and help write the Declaration of Independence, was critical in gaining the treaty with France that was instrumental in obtaining independence, was essential to the negotiations with Britain that ended the War, and played an essential role in the writing of the Constitution. Isaacson discusses all of these events and the role that Franklin played.

If you are interested in the founding of our country read this book.

Rating:
Summary: The Soul of America
Review: Benjamin Franklin typified the soul or virtues that most of us Americans hold dear. He rose from being a poor boy to becoming wealthy and distinguished in many fields. He extolled the virtues of the middle class, merchants, and business people over the nobility and titled gentry of Europe. He courageously called for the independence of America when many people still wanted to retain a loyalty to Great Britain. Putting on another hat, he successfully negotiated with first France and than Britain during the Revolutionary War to gain America's independence. Franklin was a successful writer and printer, an inventor, a civic-minded citizen, and a statesman.

Walter Isaacson's book is successful in portraying the wide diversity of Franklin's efforts and achievements. He also delves into Franklin's personal life which included beliefs in Deism as opposed to traditional Christianity. Franklin fathered a child out of wedlock and Isaacson explains how despite this Franklin took responsibility for his actions and did his best to raise this son.

Nevertheless, Isaacson's book is not free from criticism. It is not as interesting or well written as other books about this same period of history. For example, "John Adams" by David McCullough is far more captivating. "American Sphinx" by Joe Ellis is another book that does a good job of keeping the attention of a novice reading about the founding fathers. Finally, "Thomas Jefferson: an Intimate History" by Fawn Brodie is another fascinating account of the men who made America. One gets the idea Isaacson is so determined to cram our heads with details that the book loses some of its allure.

Books like these remind us that the founding fathers were human beings with faults and not deities. Depending on how harsh a critic one is, one could argue Franklin had few friends because he was not loyal to them. One could contend he mistreated his wife leaving her for years by herself in America while he carried on in Great Britain arguing over various colonial issues. One could say he treated his son William, unduly harshly, because he chose to side with the British instead of those in America seeking independence. One could also argue Franklin was a poor team player as a diplomat and couldn't get along with either John Adams or Mr. Lee who were also appointed to negotiate with the French.

However, on the balance it is clear Franklin's virtues far outweighed his faults. This is an authoritative book about one of the most significant Americans who has ever lived.

Rating:
Summary: Great inspirational read
Review: Benjamin Franklin, was, middle class America. He believed that the middle class was the strength of our nation. He skillfully designed his life, to rise above the limitations of his own middle class upbringing and became the politically perceptinve public figure we know today.

In the same respect that Mr. Franklin designed his life, Mr. Isaacson has designed this biography. "Benjamin Franklin An American Life" is uniquely written, intriguing, and in depth. The author tenaciously delivers an extensively researched historical account of Benjamin Franklin and this nation. He smoothly transitions Mr. Franklin's life from an indentured youth apprenticing as a poet in his brother's print shop, writing under a woman's name when his brother would not let him write for the paper, joining the Masons to mingle with the elite, and finally bringing him into the respected founding father of this nation.

The author, Walter Isaacson has broken each chapter into segmnents of Mr. Franklin's life, referenced all things thouroughly, leaving no doubt of where his ideas came from. This book shows us, that like Mr. Franklin, there is the ability to rise above mediocrity. Mr. Isaacson's biography is a channel for that great wise man, Benjamin Franklin, to inspire us almost three hundred years later.

Rating:
Summary: Great Portrayal of the Most Versatile American
Review: Let me first start off by saying that I have read few biographies. But Isaacson made a biography that is both readable and balanced between Franklin's personal and professional life. Franklin was the true founding father that believed in the common man. Franklin was not perfect but he believed in fair treatment for all. America would have advanced much slower if it was not for Ben. Probably his greatest contribution to our society was the feeling of helping one another. He helped form the first fire station, post office, police force (much less his inventions) - his work had community written all over it. All of his work was done with the premise of helping mankind. Maybe other founders fought the wars and wrote the documents. But we survived all these years because we formed a community; the idea that as Americans we have to all work together. That is Franklin's legacy to our nation. I will read biographies on the other founders (Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams and Washington) to gain a more complete perspective on how this country started. This book lays an excellent foundation and is a must read for those interested in the origins of America through the eyes of one of its greatest citizens.

Rating:
Summary: An American Renaissance Man
Review: Publisher, philosopher, scientist, inventor, and statesman - Walter Isaacson's "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life" is a fascinating portrait of our Founding Father's most senior citizen. But it is also an outstanding history of American life in the 18th century, first as a colony, then in the struggle for independence. The role of France in the American Revolution - and Franklin's role in securing that key alliance - unfolds with a clarity I'd not previously encountered. And Franklin's often-combative relationship with John Adams is a riveting character study, especially when balanced by McCullough's biography of Adams. In vivid detail and painstaking research, Isaacson's Franklin is brilliant, but still an enigma. Despite unquestionably high morality, we see a ruthless businessman. While possessing an obvious love for socializing - especially with members of the opposite sex - his immediate family is effectively abandoned, as Franklin lives virtually parallel lives between Europe and America. We see Franklin typically charitable and charming, yet alternately cold and calculating. Yet despite his foibles and flaws, Franklin emerges deservedly as "the most accomplished American of his age." And given the breadth of these accomplishments, an argument could be made "for any age". In summary, Isaacson achieves the rare combination of an important and scholarly biography that at the same time is a lively and entertaining story of America and one of our greatest Americans.

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Summary: 3 1/2* Informative, but Narrative Lacks Appeal
Review: This is a factual, but sometimes unimaginative biography of the famously multi-talented Benjamin Franklin: Statesman, philosopher (indeed, perhaps the founder of American "pragmatism), politician, writer, scientist, diplomat, community organizer, publisher, and self-help pioneer. (Isaakson writes that Franklin was motivated by the belief that "to put forth benefits for the common good is divine"). Franklin played an important role in treaties with England and France, and was an initially reluctant but thereafter adamant proponent of independence from England. His Albany Plan (1754) and Articles of Confederation (1775) were early and eventually influential efforts to balance federal sovereignty and union with states' interests.

The fault of the book, then, is its subject, but how Isaakson writes about him. Its chief fault is the lack of narrative flair: With the notable exception of the first and last chapters, we have a chronological account broken into small sections. Here's one particularly mundane succession: "Constitutional Ideas" (a mere 2 pages)," "Meeting Lord Howe Again (5 pages)," "To France, with Temple and Benny (4 pages)." A more satisfying approach would have traced Franklin's domestic political thought in one larger chapter, but this would violate Isaakson's chronological imperative. At times the book's equally weighted, well-ordered facts yield a pace that is both plodding and boring. The book is best when it manages to integrate larger themes with the strictly biographical details.

Comparing this biography with David McCullough's popular "John Adams," shows that McCullough's book is more fully realized and more "modern," as he interprets themes and implications within broader contexts. Isaacson, at his worst, reads more like a chronicler as he emphasizes neatly compartmentalized facts that tend to obscure larger themes. McCullough simply writes with greater narrative flair: His book contains both precision and drama, and, contrary to this book, it's never a struggle to get through. Although Franklin's pragmatism perhaps limits how analytic Isaakson can be, there is, generally speaking, not enough about the larger context of American intellectual and cultural history (with the exceptions noted above). For example, there is only superficial discussion of whether Franklin's dream of a great middle class has been realized. Moreover, while some critics claim that McCullough is too admiring of Adams, Isaakson somewhat glosses over Franklin's negative personal qualities. Franklin was a great political compromiser, but he appears somewhat rigid in other matters.

Only in the last chapter does Isaakson fully delve into larger themes. He accomplishes this in 17 excellent pages showing American intellectual reaction to him from the time of his contemporaries through the present. He describes the variations in criticism, such as the great esteem for Franklin among rationalists (during the Age of Enlightenment) and American pragmatists, but also describes the Romantics' disdain of bourgeois practicality, and the critiques written by early 20th century intellectuals (e.g., Max Weber wrote "All Franklin's moral attitudes are colored with utilitarianism."). In October 2000, however, critic David Adams wrote that out "founding Yuppie" would be comfortable in today's middle class, sharing their "optimistic, genial, and kind" values and their secular and religious-based activism. At the conclusion of the book, Isaakson briefly weighs the evidence, and, not surprisingly, praises Franklin's values and his deeply felt "faith in the wisdom of the common citizen." Had the rest of the biography been written with more of the insight and depth shown in this chapter, the book would have been much better.

Rating:
Summary: An outstanding biography of a remarkable man
Review: Walter Isaacson, former chairman of CNN and managing editor of Time Magazine, has written an immensely readable and informative biography of Benjamin Franklin that never gets too stuffy or bogged down in meaningless minutae. Instead, we are treated to a fascinating glimpse at a man who was early America's greatest publisher, scientist, politician, inventor and diplomat.

We all have our pre-conceived notions of Franklin, including him out flying his kite to try and link electricity with lightning, or him dozing off during the lengthy and tedious deliberations at the Constitutional Convention. Isaacson peels back the layers of the story a bit, reminding us how often our vision of Franklin derives from Franklin's own pen, such as the vision of the young teen arriving in Philadelphia with loaves of bread, looking ridiculous as he passed by the window of his future wife (a scene written by Franklin at age 65 when he penned his autobiography).

The book does a very good job not only of recounting the many accomplishments of Franklin, but also of exploring his middle class ideals and values. For example, Isaacson's book reminds us that while Franklin was never terribly pious or religious throughout his life, he favored organized religion because churches encouraged citizens to behave well, and to do good things. There was always a sense of pragmatism and public service in everything Franklin did and believed in. As a publisher, if he thought a public policy or official was wrong and needed to be criticized publicly, he would invent characters (to avoid libel suits) to write humorous and sometimes scathing attacks that were basically anonymous.

The book also dwells repeatedly on the Franklin's love and admiration of the middle class as the real core of American society. While Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia as a college for southern gentlemen, Franklin founded the University of Pennsylvania to serve a much larger, and more low-brow, populace. As a statesman, it is remarkable that Franklin (despite many years abroad as an effective French ambassador) was a participant and signer of virtually every key treaty/document in colonial history, including the Albany Plan of the Union, the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Peace Treaty with England, and the Constitution. His spirit of compromise and his sage demeanor no doubt helped bridge the gap which sharply divided members of the Constitutional Convention. He occasionally flip-flopped on an issue, including his views on the Stamp Act and his belief in the possibility of conciliation with Britain, but without his sense of compromise the Constitution would never have made it in its present, remarkable form.

Isaacson also explores the personal side of Franklin, including his strained relationship (and ultimate lack of a relationship) with his loyalist son, who became governor of New Jersey, as well as his relatively harmless flirting with the ladies of French society while he was abroad. The contrasts in his character, and that of John Adams (who was sent out to France to work with him on the French alliance), was remarkable. Both great men to be sure, but they could not be more unalike, and their pairing was an unfortunate one.

The book ends with a wonderful chapter titled "Conclusions" in which Franklin's place in history, and the changing attitudes towards his character over the years, are explored. The Trascendentalists like Emerson and Thoreau had little use for Ben, as he was too practical and mundane for their "rarefied tastes", but as the country became more industrial and Horatio Alger novels became the rage, Franklin's work ethic and maxims were embraced all over again. Ultimately Isaacson points out that as a writer he was "more Mark Twain and less William Shakespeare", and as a scientist he was more like Edison than Newton. Always witty and charming, if not profound, he probably did more than anyone in history to try and advance the common good, through civic associations, libraries, volunteer fire departments, post offices, etc. I put the book down terribly impressed with Franklin the man, and Isaacson the biographer.