Benjamin Franklin, writes journalist and biographer Walter Isaacson, was that rare Founding Father who would sooner wink at a passer-by than sit still for a formal portrait. What's more, Isaacson relates in this fluent and entertaining biography, the revolutionary leader represents a political tradition that has been all but forgotten today, one that prizes pragmatism over moralism, religious tolerance over fundamentalist rigidity, and social mobility over class privilege. That broadly democratic sensibility allowed Franklin his contradictions, as Isaacson shows. Though a man of lofty principles, Franklin wasn't shy of using sex to sell the newspapers he edited and published; though far from frivolous, he liked his toys and his mortal pleasures; and though he sometimes gave off a simpleton image, he was a shrewd and even crafty politician. Isaacson doesn't shy from enumerating Franklin’s occasional peccadilloes and shortcomings, in keeping with the iconoclastic nature of our time--none of which, however, stops him from considering Benjamin Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age," and one of the most admirable of any era. And here’s one bit of proof: as a young man, Ben Franklin regularly went without food in order to buy books. His example, as always, is a good one--and this is just the book to buy with the proceeds from the grocery budget. --Gregory McNamee

Benjamin Franklin is the Founding Father who winks at us. An ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings, he seems made of flesh rather than of marble. In bestselling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin seems to turn to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. By bringing Franklin to life, Isaacson shows how he helped to define both his own time and ours.

He was, during his 84-year life, America's best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and business strategist, and he was also one of its most practical -- though not most profound -- political thinkers. He proved by flying a kite that lightning was electricity, and he invented a rod to tame it. He sought practical ways to make stoves less smoky and commonwealths less corrupt. He organized neighborhood constabularies and international alliances, local lending libraries and national legislatures. He combined two types of lenses to create bifocals and two concepts of representation to foster the nation's federal compromise. He was the only man who shaped all the founding documents of America: the Albany Plan of Union, the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France, the peace treaty with England, and the Constitution. And he helped invent America's unique style of homespun humor, democratic values, and philosophical pragmatism.

But the most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself. America's first great publicist, he was, in his life and in his writings, consciously trying to create a new American archetype. In the process, he carefully crafted his own persona, portrayed it in public, and polished it for posterity.

Through it all, he trusted the hearts and minds of his fellow "leather-aprons" more than he did those of any inbred elite. He saw middle-class values as a source of social strength, not as something to be derided. His guiding principle was a "dislike of everything that tended to debase the spirit of the common people." Few of his fellow founders felt this comfort with democracy so fully, and none so intuitively.

In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin's amazing life, from his days as a runaway printer to his triumphs as a statesman, scientist, and Founding Father. He chronicles Franklin's tumultuous relationship with his illegitimate son and grandson, his practical marriage, and his flirtations with the ladies of Paris. He also shows how Franklin helped to create the American character and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.

It was a pleasure to read a true perspective of this founding father. This book made him more human than history has made him in the past. The author did a fantastic job in trying to explain why he was the way he was and painted a vivid description of the life and times. On the other hand, I have always found it interesting how he stayed gone most of the time during the revolution as well as many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. I would love to read about those that stayed and fought knowing they could be hanged for treason.

Walter Isaacson's resume reads much like that of his subject; businessman, publisher, head of a non-profit society and author. One wonders where he has found the time to produce this book and the biographies of Henry Kissinger and most recently that of Albert Einstein. He is definitely not an Academic and has produced a highly readable book that is aimed at the general reader, not the academic historian. As a general reader I appreciated this very much. Isaacson includes many of the little touches that an academic historian omits, believing that the reader is already familiar with them. For instance, Isaacson provides a very handy currency converter that allows one to convert from 18th century British pounds to American dollars and French livres, and compares the purchasing power of 1790 American dollars to 2002 American dollars. There is a "cast of characters" and chronology at the back of the book that allows the reader to clarify who is who and when things happened without having to hunt through the text. The text is replete with facts that I found to clarify many things. For instance, I knew that the shift from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar involved the addition of 11 days, meaning the George Washington's birthday was shifted from February 11th to the 22nd. What I did not know was that in the Julian calendar the New Year started on March 25. Thus, in the Julian calendar Washington was born on February 11, 1731, but his birthday is February 22, 1732 according to the modern Gregorian calendar. The one-year difference has always confused me, but now I understand the origin of the problem.

As stated, this is not an academic history. While there are 70 pages of notes, the book focuses on readability not on academic analysis. This is great for most readers, but will disappoint others who want more analysis and academic speculation. Franklin's life is told in a straightforward chronological manner. All of the aspects of his life are covered: the self made businessman, the publisher, civic leaders and creator of such civic institutions (such as lending libraries and fire brigades), the scientist and perhaps most importantly the wily American ambassador to France. He comes across as one of the most "modern" of the founding fathers and one of the most indispensable. I got a much better appreciation of Franklin the scientist, one that transcended that of a man whose chief contribution seemed to be flying a kite in a thunderstorm. The kite flying may, in fact, have never actually occurred, at least in the way it is generally pictured. (Franklin did not think that much of it, reporting it many years after the fact and well after the French had proven his ideas about lightening to have been correct.) I did not realize the extent to which he developed much the modern terminology of electricity and the many of the ideas that were to from the basis of the electricity age of the 19th century. He was also interested in thermodynamics and many subjects such as ocean thermal currents.

I read this book after reading McCullough's John Adams and I received a somewhat different view of Adams. Isaacson's references McCullough's book but does not view Adams in quite the same light. Adams comes off as being very suspicious of everyone's motives, bordering on paranoia. This is the most generally accepted view, leading me to question the extent to which McCullough whitewashed Adams' severe personality flaws. This reinforces the idea that one must read several books to get a balanced picture of a person or event.

As a kid, growing up in India, Benjamin Franklin was known more for his contributions to the field of science. Little did I know that he was one of the founding fathers of the USA. And so when Walter Isaacson (a former editor at TIME magazine) wrote this book, I bought this book. Back then, the main reason underlying the buy was the fact that I felt (and I still feel) that TIME was very unbiased and expected the book to paint Benjamin Franklin as the man he was, and not a "whitewash" job of painting the greatness of the man.
Isaacson did not disappoint and has done a commendable job (I dare say brilliant) of depicting Benjamin Franklin, warts and all. It was a voyage of discovery for me, personally. The scientific acumen was one of the less important facets of his life. On the other hand, the book enlightened me on a statesman sans pareil who played a very important role in shaping a fledgling nation. What stands out in the book is the fact that Franklin was a very pragmatic/practical man, and I dare say he would have been a perfect person to lead a nation during a crisis.
Once I was done reading the book, I found my admiration for a great man almost become pure hero-worship.

If you want to learn about Ben Franklin this is a fine read. If you want to be entertained try something else. Isaacson's style is ponderorus and lacks energy and flow. Who would have thought that Franklin's wonderful life could be recounted in such boring detail.

Benjamin Franklin's long and productive life has a special appeal to many people. As Isaacson suggests, perhaps he is the founder who appeals to so many people because he seems more accessible. There are several things I learned in this book that I had not really considered before, mainly his relationship with his family and the opinions others had of him in succeeding generations. As the author remarks, we picture him (somewhat inaccurately) as a spectacled, elderly man engaging in his kite experiment or we see him dispensing maxims about industry and frugality. In reality, there was much more to the man than these images would suggest.

We sometimes stereotype famous individuals of the past as one-dimensional, but we are delighted and sometimes chagrined to learn that they are just as complex as we are. Franklin was no exception. We see in this book aspects of his relationships with people and his family that we would not normally come across in a brief glance of the man. He would, literally, be distant from his common law wife Deborah as his overseas trips would end up as years away from home. He would part ways with his son (illegitimate son) William over the independence debate. He would champion the cause of the artisan class and the middling sort, but just as easily associate with the powerful and the rich.

His varied interests and life experiences certainly endear him to many people. Not many founders can claim to have done as many varied things as Franklin. He wasn't a skilled orator or debater, or as deep a political philosopher as other founders were, as the author touches on, but these are probably other examples of why he seems more accessible to people. He was both conservative and liberal on varied issues, but was generally more democratic than other founders. He was also a very tolerant man when it came to religious sects. He was a scientist who believed in practical inventions and solutions; he wasn't as caught up in the language or theories as other scientists were.

I've left out much on his well known role during and after the American Revolution. This isn't to minimize his accomplishments in his profession or in the critical events of his day, in which he was often a key player. The author ably covers all of these important facets of Franklin's life. The numerous acquaintances with various people in this country and those in England and France, the flirtatious correspondences with some of his women admirers, and so forth are also ably covered here.

Clearly, the author likes this middle class / populist appeal of Franklin's and tries to present him in such a light. This is a wonderfully written biography that sheds much light on the man.