From Library Journal
Like the author's previous book, Lincoln on Lincoln (Univ. Pr. of Kentucky, 2001), this recent volume contains various writings that delineate the former president's life and ideas. The first 23 chapters comprise the first draft of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, which he revised over an 18-year period, but here Zall (research scholar, Huntington Library) strips away Franklin's later misgivings, cautious revisions, and other changes to reveal the document as it was originally composed. Zall covers the remaining 43 years of his subject's life in the last six chapters by reprinting letters and other documents. The many contradictions of Franklin's character are on prominent display throughout the volume. All the materials contained here are already available in heavily annotated scholarly editions, including some by Zall himself (e.g., Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography: Authoritative Texts, Backgrounds, Criticism, 1986, coedited with J.A. Leo Lemay). The present volume is aimed at general readers and does an excellent job of allowing Franklin's own words to reveal the major events and emotions in his life. Recommended for public libraries. T.J. Schaeper, St. Bonaventure Univ., NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The effort of historians to assess Benjamin Franklin's life from youth to middle age has always been a difficult task. Most of the information for that period comes from Franklin's autobiography, and he was a notorious self-promoter. However, Zall, a research scholar at the Huntington Library, has utilized a newly recovered early draft of Franklin's autobiography. The result is a strikingly revealing, unvarnished portrait of one of our most beloved and seemingly benign Founding Fathers. Here we see Franklin as a man of driving ambition who is capable of great warmth, generosity, and insight. Yet, he could be amazingly petty, hypersensitive to perceived slights, and capable of nursing a grudge until it festered. Franklin's account ended in 1758; Zall rounds out the final three decades of Franklin's life with excerpts from his correspondence and diaries. As always, Franklin is a fascinating subject, and this work will be a valuable addition to our store of knowledge about him. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
