The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 3: Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748-1757 [Hardcover]

J. A. Leo Lemay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 2008 | Series: Life of Benjamin Franklin (Book 3)

Described as "a harmonious human multitude," Ben Franklin's life and careers were so varied and successful that he remains, even today, the epitome of the self-made man. Born into a humble tradesman's family, this adaptable genius rose to become an architect of the world's first democracy, a leading light in Enlightenment science, and a major creator of what has come to be known as the American character. Journalist, musician, politician, scientist, humorist, inventor, civic leader, printer, writer, publisher, businessman, founding father, philosopher—a genius in all fields and a bit of a magician in some.

Volume 3 begins in the year 1748, when Franklin was known in Pennsylvania as clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly and in the Middle Colonies as the printer and editor of Poor Richard's Almanac and the Pennsylvania Gazette, the best-known colonial publications. By the middle of 1757, where this volume leaves off, he had become famous in Pennsylvania as a public-spirited citizen and soldier in the conflicts of the Seven Years' War; well known throughout America as a writer, politician, and the most important theorist and patriot of the American empire; and renowned in the western world as a natural philosopher. This volume tells the story of that transformation.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

J. A. Leo Lemay is H. F. du Pont Winterthur Professor of English at the University of Delaware. He has written extensively on early American literature and is the author of the bestselling volumes 2 of The Life of Benjamin Franklin, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 768 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (November 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812241215
• ISBN-13: 978-0812241211
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 2.3 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,371,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars There is no better Franklin biography. This is a masterpiece. May 15, 2013

By Greg Lennes

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Although Dr. LeMay passed away before he could finish his definitive biography of Benjamin Franklin, there is no better understanding of and better researched account of Franklin's life. The present three volumes follow Franklin through 1757. This is an unfinished masterpiece. Don't read any other biography of Franklin for the first 51 years of his life. After reading LeMay, you feel you know Franklin.