The Revolutionary Life of Benjamin Franklin: A Look at the Founding Father's Contributions to America

S. Schrock: 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...

United States on Oct 31, 2023

Norma: The life of Benjamin Franklin is vividly portrayed reflecting the complexity of his character..A scholarly and informative description of a man whose understated negotiating style was pivotal in the birth of a nation,

United States on Nov 22, 2022

Andrea: On time and as ordered

Canada on Dec 14, 2021

P Leyshon: 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.

United Kingdom on Apr 18, 2015

Joao Paleta: In: joaopaleta.com

Reading 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...

United Kingdom on Apr 07, 2014

Andrew Dockrill: 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.

Canada on Mar 26, 2014

derrick: 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...

United States on Aug 24, 2013

Daniel Kolasinski: 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.

United Kingdom on Aug 06, 2013