Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

I agree with a previous reviewer that Franklin is my "spirit founding father"! A well written and well researched biography which I found easy and enjoyable to read. ( )

5752. Benjamin Franklin An American Life, by Walter Isaacson (read 23 Jul 2021) I read on 8 Dec 1991 The Wise Men, of which Isaacson was the co-author, and on 8 May 2007 Isaacson's life of Einstein and found both books excellent. This biography of Franklin is also very carefully researched and well-written. Franklin was born 17 Jan 1706 in Boston, in 1723 ran away to Philadelphia, was a printer, an inventor, and a statesman, signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, signed the peace treaty ending the Revolution, was at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and died 17 Apr 1790. There are things in his life not too admirable but on balance he served his country well and deserves to be revered as an important Founding Father. ( )

Well written, interesting details, provides the information and some interpretation but there is enough original source information the reader can decide whether they believe the interpretation or have a different one. ( )

I enjoyed this biography a great deal...as I always do when reading books by Water Isaacson. I especially liked the way Mr. Isaacson reconciled different views of Benjamin Franklin at the end of the book. The book was well researched and presented a balanced view.

Benjamin Franklin was a fascinating person, with a broad range of interests and always blending curiosity with a strong sense of practicality. I think he would be saddened by the lack of compromise that is dividing U.S. political parties today.

Mr. Franklin accomplished so much, and had so many friends and admirers. He was a great man, unless you happened to be his wife or child. Why is it that so many great people seem to let their families down? ( )

This is a biography which takes us through the events of a long and glorious life and emphasizes the interpersonal and tries to fathom the whys. Is that the measure of a man? Especially an exceptional man. After a while it was just more of the same, even if there were turns in the course. The really good part is the last twenty pages, after Franklin's death where Isaacson tries to reconcile the different ways that historians and others have viewed the same man we just spent almost 500 pages learning about. That's the fascinating part of this book. I almost wish this part was at the very start of the book rather than the end. Then we could have been unraveling a mystery rather than continually jumping to the next phase of a varied career. I was amazed to learn in last fifty pages that Franklin had one of, if not the, largest private libraries in the country, close to 5000 books. Yes it was not an event that created it, but it was a man like no other. By the end I wished there was more attention to the scientific achievements. Yes they were cited but if Franklin was like most inventors there must have been many blind alleys before the ah ha moment. I would have liked to know more about them. ( )