Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America's Founding Father
An “enthralling” chronicle of the nearly two decades the statesman, scientist, inventor, and Founding Father spent in the British imperial capital (BBC Radio 4, Book of the Week).

For more than a fifth of his life, Benjamin Franklin lived in London. He dined with prime ministers, members of parliament, even kings, as well as with Britain’s most esteemed intellectuals—including David Hume, Joseph Priestley, and Erasmus Darwin—and with more notorious individuals, such as Francis Dashwood and James Boswell. Having spent eighteen formative months in England as a young man, Franklin returned in 1757 as a colonial representative during the Seven Years’ War, and left abruptly just prior to the outbreak of America’s War of Independence, barely escaping his impending arrest.

In this fascinating history, George Goodwin gives a colorful account of Franklin’s British years. The author offers a rich and revealing portrait of one of the most remarkable figures in U.S. history, effectively disputing the commonly held perception of Franklin as an outsider in British politics. It is an absorbing study of an American patriot who was a fiercely loyal British citizen for most of his life—until forces he had sought and failed to control finally made him a reluctant revolutionary at the age of sixty-nine.

“[An] interesting, lively account of Franklin’s British life.” —The Wall Street Journal
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Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America's Founding Father
An “enthralling” chronicle of the nearly two decades the statesman, scientist, inventor, and Founding Father spent in the British imperial capital (BBC Radio 4, Book of the Week).

For more than a fifth of his life, Benjamin Franklin lived in London. He dined with prime ministers, members of parliament, even kings, as well as with Britain’s most esteemed intellectuals—including David Hume, Joseph Priestley, and Erasmus Darwin—and with more notorious individuals, such as Francis Dashwood and James Boswell. Having spent eighteen formative months in England as a young man, Franklin returned in 1757 as a colonial representative during the Seven Years’ War, and left abruptly just prior to the outbreak of America’s War of Independence, barely escaping his impending arrest.

In this fascinating history, George Goodwin gives a colorful account of Franklin’s British years. The author offers a rich and revealing portrait of one of the most remarkable figures in U.S. history, effectively disputing the commonly held perception of Franklin as an outsider in British politics. It is an absorbing study of an American patriot who was a fiercely loyal British citizen for most of his life—until forces he had sought and failed to control finally made him a reluctant revolutionary at the age of sixty-nine.

“[An] interesting, lively account of Franklin’s British life.” —The Wall Street Journal
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Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America's Founding Father

Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America's Founding Father

by George Goodwin
Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America's Founding Father

Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America's Founding Father

by George Goodwin

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Overview

An “enthralling” chronicle of the nearly two decades the statesman, scientist, inventor, and Founding Father spent in the British imperial capital (BBC Radio 4, Book of the Week).

For more than a fifth of his life, Benjamin Franklin lived in London. He dined with prime ministers, members of parliament, even kings, as well as with Britain’s most esteemed intellectuals—including David Hume, Joseph Priestley, and Erasmus Darwin—and with more notorious individuals, such as Francis Dashwood and James Boswell. Having spent eighteen formative months in England as a young man, Franklin returned in 1757 as a colonial representative during the Seven Years’ War, and left abruptly just prior to the outbreak of America’s War of Independence, barely escaping his impending arrest.

In this fascinating history, George Goodwin gives a colorful account of Franklin’s British years. The author offers a rich and revealing portrait of one of the most remarkable figures in U.S. history, effectively disputing the commonly held perception of Franklin as an outsider in British politics. It is an absorbing study of an American patriot who was a fiercely loyal British citizen for most of his life—until forces he had sought and failed to control finally made him a reluctant revolutionary at the age of sixty-nine.

“[An] interesting, lively account of Franklin’s British life.” —The Wall Street Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780300222944
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication date: 06/24/2022
Series: The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 380
File size: 10 MB

About the Author

George Goodwin is the author of numerous articles and two previous histories, Fatal Colours: Towton 1461 and Fatal Rivalry: Henry VIII, James IV, and the Battle for Renaissance Britain. He is currently Author in Residence at the Benjamin Franklin House in London and was a 2014 International Fellow at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, Monticello. He lives close to London’s Kew Gardens.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations x

Note on Spelling and Punctuation xiv

Prologue 1

1 1706-1724: Life Before London 11

2 1724-1726: A Young Man in London 20

3 1726-c.1748: Foundations 38

4 c.1748-1757: Conductor 54

5 17571 Return to London 69

6 1757-1758: A London Life 86

7 1758 Onwards: Benjamin Franklin's British Family 108

8 1758-1762: Moves and Countermoves 122

9 1762-1764: Intermission 145

10 1764-1766: The Stamp Act 152

11 1766-1770: Pivotal Years 171

12 Home Comforts and Discomforts 194

13 1770-C1771: Seeking Balance 205

14 1771-1772: Movements 211

15 1772-1774: Drawn to the Cockpit 238

16 1774-1775: The Last Year in London 252

Aftermath: 'A Little Revenge' 268

Selected Places to Visit and Related Organizations 282

Bibliography 285

Notes 298

Acknowledgements 342

Index 345

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