Undaunted Mind: The Intellectual Life of Benjamin Franklin

by Kevin J. Hayes, Brandon Pollock (Contribution by)

Overview

An exploration of the mind of one of America's most beloved Founding Fathers and most brilliant minds, through the books he read and his social circles in the United States and Europe.

Arguably the most intellectual, creative, cosmopolitan, and curious of the Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin is the only top-tier Founder not to have served as president. Despite not becoming the Chief Executive, Franklin played an active role in American politics and served the aspiring and young United States in the key European capitals. His prodigious reading and appetite for learning are epic. As he did in works about Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, Kevin J. Hayes interprets the life and mind of Franklin through what he read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798228594432
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	08/15/2025
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Kevin J. Hayes, Emeritus Professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, now lives and writes in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several books, including The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson and A Journey through American Literature. He is the recipient of the Virginia Library History Award presented by the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Center for the Book. He is also the recipient of research fellowships from the Boston Athenaeum, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Lilly Library, the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, and the Virginia Historical Society.

Brandon Pollock is an audiobook narrator and voice actor with more than twelve years of experience. Using his smooth, confident, and engaging voice, Brandon has narrated titles in genres ranging from fiction, Christian romance, and psychological thriller to self-help, business, finance, and Christian nonfiction.

In 2008, Brandon began his career behind the microphone as an on-air talent for a heritage Top-40 station in Charlotte, North Carolina. He transitioned to voice acting in 2010 and has since voiced campaigns for companies such as Clorox, Nintendo, Citgo, NASCAR, and Little Tykes, among others.

Brandon currently lives in Mooresville, North Carolina, with his wife, two daughters, their Goldendoodle, Riggs, and their three-legged cat, Derek.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Small Chapmen's Books
2. Joyful Schooldays
3. Reading by Candlelight
4. The Clan of Honest Wags
5. The Courant Library
6. Reader on the Road
7. The Lair of the Green Dragon
8. What Franklin Read in London
9. Sailing Home with Memories of London
10. The Junto
11. Richard Lewis and the News
12. The Library Company of Philadelphia
13. How to Make an Almanac
14. Science
15. The Philadelphia Academy
16. The Northwest Passage
17. The Art of War
18. An American Intellectual in London
19. The Call for Racial Tolerance
20. Travels in a Time of Strife
21. The Emblems that Made America
22. Solon and Sophocles
23. The Mystery of the Book Lists
24. Franklin Court
Acknowledgments
Sources
Index