The Count of Concord [Paperback]

Nicholas Delbanco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2008

Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, was—as Nicholas Delbanco writes—"world famous in his lifetime," yet now he has been "almost wholly forgotten." Like Delbanco himself, Sally Ormsby Thompson Robinson—the narrator of this novel and the Count s fictional, last-surviving relative—is "haunted" by one of history's most fascinating and remarkable figures. On par with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, Count Rumford was, among many other things, a politician, a spy, a philanthropist, and above all, a scientist. Based on countless historical documents, including letters and essays by Thompson himself, The Count of Concord brings to life the remarkable career of Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From humble beginnings in colonial New Hampshire through to the courts of imperial Europe, Delbanco (Spring and Fall) imaginatively maps the deeds, misdeeds and accomplishments of the real-life polymath Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), an American contemporary of Franklin and Jefferson, and their equal in scientific inquiry and sociological (if not philosophical) thought. Thompson has been neglected by American history because he was a Tory—i.e., he sided with the British during the Revolution—who was eventually made a count of the Holy Roman Empire under Francis II. Delbanco covers that material nicely, but is equally interested in Thompson's cunning study of household thermodynamics and horticulture, and his invention of such appliances as roasters and coffee pots. Along the way, Delbanco celebrates Thompson's social reforms and innovation (Thompson patented none of his gadgets, believing that they should belong to the poor) and his military genius, while casually detailing the married Thompson's libertine lifestyle and varied sexual peccadilloes. Unfortunately, the story is told from the point of view of Sally Ormsby Thompson Robinson, Thompson's fictional present-day descendant: her rat-a-tat voice is often intrusive, and the whole ends up more a collection of variously colorful set pieces than a character-driven novel. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Thomas Jefferson. Ben Franklin. Ben Thompson? Franklin Roosevelt claimed these three men were the greatest of all American minds. Although biographies and histories of the first two fill libraries, the latter remains largely unknown. Enter Delbanco’s latest novel. Thompson, a British loyalist and—later—a friend of Napoléon, finds himself squat firmly in the trenches of history’s losers. Exiled from post-Revolution America, Thompson, and his unquenchable inquisitiveness, heads to Europe for notoriety, roguishness, and eventual failure. Equal parts cantankerous and amorous, Thompson never strays too far from the social elite of London, Paris, or wherever he happens to land. The story unfolds in a traditionally linear model, sustained with pleasant interjections from Thompson’s modern-day ancestor. She drives much of the novel as she pieces together Thompson’s forgotten and brilliant life through the letters he and his daughter exchanged throughout his long exile. This connection with the present illuminates the past and begs the question: How many great American minds of yesterday go unknown today? --Blair Parsons --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press; 1st edition (May 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564784959
• ISBN-13: 978-1564784957
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,822,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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