Customer Reviews

Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 2

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"Benjamin Franklin" is a wonderfully written biography of perhaps the greatest American who ever lived. Author Carl Van Doren presents a rich and detailed portrait of Franklin - printer, writer, philosopher, scientist, inventor, politician, statesman, and one of the founding fathers of the United States of America.

By tracing the major influences on Franklin, and the key events of his life, Van Doren presents this self-educated genius as the apotheosis of the 18th century "Enlightened" man. Imbued with an insatiable intellectual appetite, a keen scientific mind, a high sense of morality, and a fervent patriotism, he was shrewd, wise, witty, and always confident in his own limitless abilities. The author describes in detail the great events of Franklin's life - his youth and young adulthood as a printer and writer of Poor Richard's Almamack; the philosopher, scientist and inventor of note; Postmaster General for Pennsylvania, and later for all the colonies; representative of the American colonies to Great Britain at the time of the American Revolution; signer of the Declaration of Independence; U.S. Ambassador to France after the Revolution; and signer of the U.S. Constitution.

As good a biography as this is, "Benjamin Franklin" is also outstanding history. Van Doren skillfully "paints" Franklin's portrait against the backdrop of the tremendous social ferment, scientific awakening, and tumultuous political events which occurred during the second half of the 18th century. I gained not only a fuller understanding of Franklin's life and great genius, but also a greater appreciation of the times in which he lived.

"Benjamin Franklin" is written with grace, clarity and obviously great scholarship. Winner of the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for biography, it is a brilliant masterpiece - one of the best biographies of any person I've ever read!

Van Doren's biography of Franklin is nothing short of remarkable. While the author may be faulted for the near veneration of his subject, Franklin's continuing reputation supports the author's obvious admiration of Franklin. Franklin's life is reviewed from start to finish almost as a metaphor for the 18th Century enlightenment, the early colonlial life in America, the beginnings of the industrial revolution, the decadence and decline of British Imperialism, as well as the making and maturation of a true genius and renaissance man. Parallel with the swiftly changing account of the myriad activities of Franklin is the story of a truly fine human being; a man whose essentially humble and self deprecating nature belied his strength of character and integrity. Anyone who reads this book will come away awed by this unique individual and the question: Where are the Franklins of our time?

My summer project was to read biographies of our Founding Fathers. I was not looking forward to this rather daunting book and have never been so completely turned around on a subject. Van Doren masterfully handles an immense amount of factual information in such a way that makes this biography read like a novel. I love Ben Franklin! Thank you Carl Van Doren.

1991 Penguin Books reissue of 1st edition (1938), 862 pages (of which 782 pages form the main body of the book).

I read this book because of Charlie Munger (Warren Buffett's partner). Benjamin Franklin is the man Charlie Munger admires and has attempted to emulate most. Franklin's autobiography was one of the twenty books Munger recommended at the back of the second edition of Poor Charlie's Almanack (the most useful book I have read). After reading Franklin's autobiography I was very interested to learn more about him - which I'm sure was Munger's intention. Thus I was led to this biography (one of two on Franklin that Munger has recommended), which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939. I chose to read Van Doren's before Walter Issacson's newer `Benjamin Franklin: An American Life,' as I liked the idea of being able to see what new material might have been discovered since 1938.

With each of the large biographies I have read over the last year, I have found it has taken quite a lot of reading before I really got into the book. This one was no different. It was only when I was about half way through, reading about Franklin's activities dealing with the appalling British government/monarchy in the run up to the American War of Independence, that I found myself gripped. That may have something to do with me having already read Franklin's autobiography, which was the main source for the early part of Van Doren's book (as the author said: `Plenty of other men could find materials for the story of his latest years. Only he had known about his obscure youth...').

I suspect another significant reason was that up until roughly that point there was very little information on what Franklin was actually like and how he spent his days (as opposed to things he had done or places he had been). Without this information I find it difficult to mentally associate or connect with the subject. This is one of the two key areas of weakness I identified in Van Doren's otherwise admirable book and is also the reason why I preferred Ron Chernow's biography of Rockefeller, Titan to Joseph Frazier Wall's biography of Andrew Carnegie. From about halfway through Van Doren's book we do get very interesting snippets, from Franklin himself and also from other people, about what Franklin was actually like (on pages 405, 419, 521, 600 & 649/650, in particular). I wish there was more, but perhaps the material was simply unavailable.

The second weakness was in the account of Franklin's finances. Franklin became quite wealthy through his printing activities before he left business and went to Britain. At sixty years of age, after many years of easy living and generosity, he found himself with money worries. His most important business partnership ended in 1766, depriving Franklin of a significant proportion of his income. He was also concerned that he might lose his position at the post office around the same time. Though this did not happen and he was actually appointed as agent to three further states, I was rather surprised that Franklin left a significant financial legacy when he was close to being hard up a little over twenty years before his death.

He did not appear to live frugally for the latter part of his life and so I am not sure where the funds came from. I would much have preferred it if this apparent paradox had been resolved. It seems of particular importance here, as Franklin was a man who preached the gospel of frugality, but also said: `frugality was "a virtue I never could acquire in myself."'

I suspect that Van Doren was correct when he said of Franklin: `That he talked about them [industry and frugality] so much made it clear that they came less from his nature than from his discipline.' So, after frugality had served its purpose he perhaps left it behind (though long held habits almost always leave a residue).

With those caveats, Van Doren's biography of Franklin is an impressive piece of work. I am not surprised that `The final writing of the book called for almost daily use of the New York Public Library over a period of two years.' And that `This book, full as it is, is a biography cut with hard labour to the bone.' The difficulty (as well as the interest) in writing a biography of a truly extraordinary man like Franklin was that he was extraordinary in many different areas. He was a successful businessman, an absolutely pre-eminent scientist and philosopher, as well as a remarkable and successful statesman (and that in a place and era when rank by birth was of paramount importance).

I am not paid for them and so write these book reviews primarily for myself. I thus like to include the most important things I have learned and that I wish to retain and include into my life and conduct. In this case - because of the subject - there are far too many to include here. And that is surely the reason why Franklin is Munger's biggest hero: he was not only successful but he was also wise, generous and benevolent with it. Unlike Rockefeller, for example, he seemed to really enjoy his life. And unlike Carnegie, who appeared to fail Solon's warning (I might rather call it Taleb's warning, as that is where I learned it) to Croesus to call no man happy until he is dead.

I do not wish to be happy because I have a distorted view of reality, but because I have seen the world as it is and can accept it. Franklin's life is thus a message of hope: he saw the world with exceptional clarity and was able to love it anyway.

Van Doren's biography, long the definitive biography of Franklin, is rich in detail (sometimes exhaustingly so), yet accurately portrays the life of this fascinating multi-faceted man. From the statesman's humble beginnings in Boston, to his journeys to Philadelphia and ultimately abroad, Franklin is seen in very human terms, yet within the rich tapestry of the historical period.

The author's style is typical of many historians of the 1930's, very linear, precise and detailed with a wealth of background information on every facet of Franklin's life. This may be a difficulty for many readers; the book is so comprehensive that many will be put off by its sheer volume. I found myself reading the book in starts and stops, only because of my personal time limitations. After the first 400+ pages, I found myself skipping over sections to get to portions of Franklin's life I found more fascinating. Fortunately, Van Doren's writing is such that one can do this without any significant loss of continuity.

This remarkable, scholarly, and readable book brings the reader face-to-face with what seems an impossible life. The usual picture we get in school is intriguing, but here we meet a man whose range is staggering. Franklin the young, self-educated adventurer, writer, apprentice. Franklin the printer, entrepreneur, community activist. Franklin the pioneering scientist, delegate, historical visionary. Franklin the publisher, the spy, the sometimes invisible hand steering the birth of the modern republic. The inventor of a musical instrument that Mozart and others composed for. The outrageous wit who shocked Abigail and John Adams. Franklin the friend, free-thinker, and moralist. Creator of the stove, the lightning rod, the watertight compartment for ships' hulls. The first to understand how weather systems move, and ocean currents, and continents. Designer of roadways to connect the colonies and then the nation. Richly incorporating excerpts of Franklin's own voluminous writing, Van Doren's account is clearly factual, yet appropriately awed and inspired by a man "unsurpassed . . . in the range of his gifts or the important uses to which he put them."

Sure, this book was written before my parents were born, but it seems to stand the test of time very well. If I hadn't checked the copyright date when I bought it, I might have thought this worek had been published only recently. The detailed information the author provides is fascinating and is presented in such a way that it avoids clouding the writing or boring the reader. One gets a feel not only for what Franklin did, but for what sort of man he was. The author is sympathetic to the object of his study, but not to the point where it becomes distracting. All in all, a wonderful read which contains an immense amount of fascinating information.

I'm a big Van Doren Bio fan, and a bigger Ben Franklin fan. Carl captures the essence of the scoundrel Franklin. This is a bigger than life, juicy life. I almost don't recognize the Ben I learned about in school. The dried up old husk of a man who was part of that long ago effort to free our nation. Read this and laugh at the ways Franklin manipulated and succeeded against many odds.

With this hefty tome, Carl Van Doren succeeds in authoring a compelling biography equal to the intellectual scope and achievement of his subject, Benjamin Franklin. The title 'renaissance man' was perhaps never more aptly bestowed than on Franklin, whose pursuits ranged from printing to (most famously) electricity to temperature patterns and ocean currents to politics.

Following the sweep of Franklin's advancing renown, first in the United States and then in Europe, the narrative never descends to a mere recounting of the man's many achievements (though this would undoubtedly make for fascinating reading in its own right). Rather, Van Doren devotes substantial attention to the greater social context in which Franklin works; in particular, the thread of family life in Philadelphia and later in France helps to anchor the broadening pace of his scientific and political thought, culminating in the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the establishment of republican government in America.

Fittingly, the treatment of Franklin's death sounds only the faintest of elegiac tones. Van Doren recognizes the triumph of Franklin's life in the contributions to science, philosophy, and politics that would long outlive the man himself.

A must-read.

After reading "Benjamin Franklin", he would be the one person -- dead or living -- who would make the most fascinating dinner guest for an evening. His list of accomplishments is practically endless: printer, writer, philosopher, postmaster general, inventor, scientist, diplomat, statesman, traveler, and conversationalist. The majority of people who are ultimately successful have a key talent in one area, focus on that talent, and rise to the top. It is so inexplicably rare to find someone of such vast talent who also excels in all his (her) talents. Benjamin Franklin was such a gifted individual and, thankfully for our nation, focused much of his energy and time into serving the public. Carl Van Doren has written an incredibly well-researched biography of one of our key founding fathers. Van Doren's style can sometimes be dry and too academic, but keep in mind that this book was initially published in 1938. Today's reader may expect a more conversational tone and faster moving story. However, Carl Van Doren's biography is heroic in its effort and the author's admiration clearly shines through for Mr. Franklin.