Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies [Hardcover]

Robert Middlekauff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 1996

In this engaging study of the much-loved statesman and polymath, Robert Middlekauff uncovers a little-known aspect of Benjamin Franklin's personality--his passionate anger. He reveals a fully human Franklin who led a remarkable life but nonetheless had his share of hostile relationships--political adversaries like the Penns, John Adams, and Arthur Lee--and great disappointments--the most significant being his son, William, who sided with the British. Utilizing an abundance of archival sources, Middlekauff weaves episodes in Franklin's emotional life into key moments in colonial and Revolutionary history. The result is a highly readable narrative that illuminates how historical passions can torment even the most rational and benevolent of men.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Who could have imagined that Benjamin Franklin, the genial inventor and policy-maker who gained international popularity during the Revolutionary War was found by some to be "foul-mouthed" and "a very uneasy Spirit"? Robert Middlekauff, a historian at the University of California, Berkeley, examines Franklin's long battle not only with Thomas Penn, son of the founder of Pennsylvania, but John Adams, a bright lawyer who grew to hate Franklin, primarily out of jealousy over Franklin's celebrity. Though Franklin's attempts to have Penn stripped of his charter powers backfired, fortunately for Americans, he and Adams were able to rise above animosity for the good of the country.

From Library Journal

Middlekauff (Glorious Cause, LJ 3/15/82) here gives a very readable history of America's first diplomat. Franklin acquired political enemies, Middlekauff suggests, because he was brilliant, annoying those less brilliant; because he spoke of and tried (less successfully) to lead a moral life, irritating the amoral; and because he fell short of his own moral yardstick, offending those as pious as he. Another basis for the enmity directed at him is that Franklin, a tradesman, moved for much of his life in genteel society, earning the contempt of Pennsylvania's proprietor, Thomas Penn, and other English lords. Franklin's moral failures are glossed over, presumably because those of his enemies were worse. Although books have already been written about Franklin's Tory son William, the present work might have been that much better if the author had devoted more than the last two pages to the family. Recommended for all those interested in this Founding Father.
Robert C. Moore, DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. Information Svcs., N. Billerica, Mass.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (March 4, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520202686
• ISBN-13: 978-0520202689
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,046,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Middlekauff is Preston Hotchkis Professor of American History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. The winner of a Bancroft Prize for The Mathers, he was Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University and also served as Director of the Huntington Library, Art Gallery, and Botanical Gardens.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary!, October 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies (Paperback)

This is an extraordinary literary work of history and biography. Middlekauff stikes the right balance here between erudition and urbanity. Seeing Benjamin Franklin through the eyes of his enemies reveals not just the complicated character of the man but also the complicated moment in history that he occupied. I highly recommend this book!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read Van Dorn's First, February 14, 2006

By 

Jimeejet "JiM" (Wash DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies (Paperback)

Well worth reading, especially if you previously read

Van Dorn's biography. Otherwise you may miss much

of what is missing in Middlekauff's book. Great for any

Ben Franklin fan!/