The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin

I love studying American Revolutionary history. The stories of the founding fathers, the course of the war for Independence, and the setting up of our nation are all topics that fascinate me tremendously. I have a continuously growing library of books dedicated to this topic, but for the longest time I was missing anything related to the life of Benjamin Franklin. So I was very excited to discover this book and eager to begin reading it as soon as it arrived in the mail.What a treat this book is! Clearly the author enjoyed researching the life of Benjamin Franklin for he is so incredibly thorough about nearly every possible aspect of this biography. As a reader I got a remarkably clear picture of the evolution of Benjamin Franklin's character throughout his life. Drawing from Franklin autobiography, innumerable letters he wrote to friends and colleges, and the insights of Franklin's contemporaries, I could not help but be impressed by the depth of primary source documentation that was presented here. It must've taken years for the author to find all this information and then even longer to organize it all into this wonderful and throughly readable book.Benjamin Franklin led an amazingly fascinating life. His mind never stops turning, his pen never stopped writing, and the world never stopped becoming better for it all. He was loved the world over, admired for his many scientific and diplomatic achievements, and successful in nearly everything he did. But I had no idea that he did so much! Presented here are stories ranging all the way back to the youth of this great man and all the way up to just before his death. And it seems like the man never spent any time just being lazy. He was always moving. He was always exploring, discovering, and accomplishing. In this book you see detailed Franklin's hard work ethic and the many accomplishments that that work ethic brought him along with great respect from nearly everyone around him. You see the enemies that Franklin's accomplishments generated, some being enemies out of mere jealousy and others out of political differences. And you see how Franklin dealt with those enemies with wisdom and wit. You see Franklin's love of the ladies how he would playfully pursue them. You see Franklin's reluctant entrance into politics and how greatly he would influence the politics of our young country once he finally entered the game. But even more interestingly than all this you see how each and every one of these attitudes of Franklin's changed throughout the course of his life. Every page is full of quotations and evidence from primary sources! It is like a treasure chest of historical voices right at your fingertips. And all the fun little stories that the author throws into his writing concerning different episodes in Franklin's life are precious. By the time you're done with this book you know Franklin. You know him very well.All in all this is a great book, very readable, lots of fun, with not a single boring section anywhere. Order it and get ready for real treat.

I did not know a lot about Benjamin Franklin when I bought this book. I was prepared for it to be a bit boring but was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it from beginning to end. It definitely reads more like a novel than a biography and I loved all the little details the author included to make him human and approachable.Having read other books about that time in history, I was not surprised by his flirtations - they are mentioned frequently in other books. I did not know that his son was on the other side of the aisle politically and I'm interested in reading more about that relationship.I often wondered if he was a born again Christian and the book did not resolve that question for me. I want to think that he was but his comments about Jesus: "I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as it probably has, of making his doctrines more respected and better observed, especially as I do not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of the world with any peculiar marks of his displeasure." His next sentence, "I shall only add, respecting myself, that, having experienced the goodness of that Being in conducting me prosperously through a long life, I have no doubt of its continuance in the next, though without the smallest conceit of meriting such goodness," is redeeming in that he is not counting on God based on his own merit. At this point his questions are answered and I sincerely hope I will see him in heaven.I am grateful for Benjamin Franklin and all the other founding fathers who gave their lives to this country. I'm afraid they would turn over in their graves and howl in protest to see what is currently happening. In regard to that, the last line of the book is telling. When a matron asked what he and the other delegates had produced, he said, "A republic, if you can keep it."Definitely recommend this book and I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

I'm glad I read this biography. It does seem to ramble at times, and his affection for Franklin may be too evident, but it is an well-done book on an interesting topic, and takes its time with Poor Richard and the Colonial History, not just electricity, the Cockpit, and the young Republic.

I take pride in knowing my history. I believe their is a saying that goes "one must first know the past in order to predict the future" something along those lines. I love historical literature, reading books about historical figures just makes me go bananas and this book did not let me down. It was very interesting, mind you it dragged on at times but its a biography so it comes with the territory but it was very worth while and I quite enjoyed it, would definitely read it again and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys informative history books.

In: joaopaleta.comReading Benjamin Franklin’s Biography, “The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Brands, H.W.” (and by the way what a great reading, what a great story and what a great man) I came to realize that you cannot trust everything is told to you, everything you read or everything you see. You have to question it (the Why) and use your own judgement. To filter.Mr. Franklin was the Post Master for the colony (America) he had a printer shop (this is 18th Century), actually he had equity in several printer shops, he had royalties fees from all printings sold in all printer shops he was shareholder in, he sold raw materials to them and he was the main content producer. His goal? To sell (One example is his “Poor Richard’s Almanack” that was sold by the thousands between 1732 and 1758) and make money so he could build passive income enough which in turn would allow him to dedicate his time to his passions, including Science. He retired at the age of 42 and for another 40 years he managed to influence the course of American History. He was a (is) an inspiration, a producer of Good Content and developed an ingenious Business Model to make money out of it.Today you have billions of currency being made out of what is now called the self-help industry, books, audio-book, workshops, theories, techniques, etc. being sold worldwide. A lot of it is Bad Content. Do the authors really want to help you? Are they inspirational? or they just want to help themselves and make money? Big difference.I like Business. So for self-help with “Good Content”, with “Good Business Model” and that were highly influenced by Benjamin Franklin whom I admire, I recommend you:- “Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People” (1936)- “Stephen Covey: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” (1989)And as for self-help advise follow only if given 1. by people that love you 2. by people that are smart and 3. by people that don’t have a personal interest.João Paleta

This is not the first book I have read by H. W. Brands. He invariably writes with wit and insight and this trait was especially helpful when describing a man as witty and intellectually curious as Benjamin Franklin. Brands has an uncanny knack of putting himself in the mindset of the person he writes about and seeing the world through that person's eyes.

You certainly get value for money with this book as the author covers Franklin's life in excellent detail. Despite Franklin being a perfect biographical subject he was involved in a political world that could be inaccessible to the general (UK) reader. In my opinion, the author pitches these sections of the book perfectly as to make them interesting and very readable - Please don't worry that this is merely a political biography as Franklin's interests were too diverse to let that happen.As someone pretty ignorant of the subject, I particularly enjoyed learning about Franklin's involvement in US Independence and as a result am prompted to read further on this period of US history.This was one of the best biographies I have read and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the life and times of one of history's greatest characters. I will also be reading more from the author, H.W Brands.

Very comprehensive and well structured. First part can come across as hard going to those who want to skip to Franklin the revolutionary but necessary to see the change in attitude that made him so.