The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin - Softcover

"H.W Brands has given us the authoritative Franklin biography for out time." --Joseph J. Ellis author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Founding Brothers

"Like its subject, this biography is both solid and enchanting." --The New Yorker

"[A] biography with a rich cast of secondary characters and a large and handsome stock of historical scenery. . . . Brands writes clearly and confidently about the full spectrum of the polymath's interests. . . . This is a Franklin to savor." --The Wall Street Journal

"Benjamin Franklin's life is one every American should know well, and it has not been told better than by Mr. Brands." --The Dallas Morning News

"A vivid portrait of the 18th-century milieu and of the 18th-century man. . . . [Brands is] a master storyteller." --The Christian Science Monitor

"A thorough biography of Benjamin Franklin, America's first Renaissance man. . . . In graceful, even witty prose. . . . Brands relates the entire, dense-packed life." --The Washington Post

"A lively re-introduction to Franklin. . . . Rich in the descriptions of settings, personalities, and action. . . . [Brands] offers . . . a succession of amusing anecdotes and vivid tales." --The New Republic

"Comprehensive, lively. . . . [Brands] is a skilled narrator who believes in making good history accessible to the non-specializing book lover, and the general reader can read this book with sustained enjoyment." --The Boston Globe

Drawing on previously unpublished letters, this meticulously researched biography captures the life and times of America's first Renaissance man, discussing his diverse roles as a scientist, businessman, philosopher, writer, inventor, diplomat, politician, wit, and Founding Father. Reprint. 60,000 first printing.