Benjamin Franklin
An action-packed retelling of the life and work of the polymath and so-called First American, Benjamin Franklin.
 
All Benjamin Franklin biographers face a major challenge: they must compete with their subject. In one of the greatest autobiographies in world literature, Franklin has already told his own story, and subsequent biographers have often taken Franklin at his word. In this exciting new account, Kevin J. Hayes takes a different approach.
 
Hayes begins when Franklin is eighteen and stranded in London, describing how the collection of curiosities he viewed there fundamentally shaped Franklin’s intellectual and personal outlook. Subsequent chapters take in Franklin’s career as a printer, his scientific activities, his role as a colonial agent, his participation in the American Revolution, his service as a diplomat, and his participation in the Constitutional Convention. Containing much new information about Franklin’s life and achievements, Hayes’s critical biography situates Franklin within his literary and cultural milieu.
1140214632
Benjamin Franklin
An action-packed retelling of the life and work of the polymath and so-called First American, Benjamin Franklin.
 
All Benjamin Franklin biographers face a major challenge: they must compete with their subject. In one of the greatest autobiographies in world literature, Franklin has already told his own story, and subsequent biographers have often taken Franklin at his word. In this exciting new account, Kevin J. Hayes takes a different approach.
 
Hayes begins when Franklin is eighteen and stranded in London, describing how the collection of curiosities he viewed there fundamentally shaped Franklin’s intellectual and personal outlook. Subsequent chapters take in Franklin’s career as a printer, his scientific activities, his role as a colonial agent, his participation in the American Revolution, his service as a diplomat, and his participation in the Constitutional Convention. Containing much new information about Franklin’s life and achievements, Hayes’s critical biography situates Franklin within his literary and cultural milieu.
22.0 In Stock
Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

by Kevin J. Hayes
Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

by Kevin J. Hayes

Paperback

$22.00 
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Overview

An action-packed retelling of the life and work of the polymath and so-called First American, Benjamin Franklin.
 
All Benjamin Franklin biographers face a major challenge: they must compete with their subject. In one of the greatest autobiographies in world literature, Franklin has already told his own story, and subsequent biographers have often taken Franklin at his word. In this exciting new account, Kevin J. Hayes takes a different approach.
 
Hayes begins when Franklin is eighteen and stranded in London, describing how the collection of curiosities he viewed there fundamentally shaped Franklin’s intellectual and personal outlook. Subsequent chapters take in Franklin’s career as a printer, his scientific activities, his role as a colonial agent, his participation in the American Revolution, his service as a diplomat, and his participation in the Constitutional Convention. Containing much new information about Franklin’s life and achievements, Hayes’s critical biography situates Franklin within his literary and cultural milieu.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781789145175
Publisher: Reaktion Books, Limited
Publication date: 03/11/2022
Series: Critical Lives
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

A recipient of the George Washington Book Prize, Kevin J. Hayes lives and writes in Toledo, Ohio. He has published widely on American literature, history, and culture, including The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington: A Life in Books.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

1 The Cabinet of Curiosities 19

2 The Power of the Printed Word 39

3 The Improvement and Well-Peopling of the Colonies 62

4 An American Agent in London 89

5 The Declaration of Independence 115

6 An American Diplomat in Paris 140

7 The Nestor of America 162

References 183

Select Bibliography 202

Acknowledgements 205

Photo Acknowledgements 207

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