Eric Weiner’s new book (Ben & Me) comes out this month, and Politics and Prose is hosting some opening ceremonies on June 12th. I enjoy Eric’s work, and find this book to be a wonderful introduction to Franklin and a thoughtful exploration of his life, locations and lessons by a very companionable writer. Reflections on …
At long last, I have read Benjamin Franklin’s Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America by Ralph Frasca (University of Missouri Press, 2006). The author covers his topic well: the various people Franklin worked with in the course of repeated attempts to start subordinate businesses around North America. The importance of bookkeeping, especially keeping track …
This book would be fine as a first book on Franklin, because the author starts from not knowing much about him, and touches meaningfully on every fundamental facet of Franklin that I can think of. He goes on to cover his topic very well. Most Franklin fans are not particularly interested in what happened to …
From my Goodreads review of Nick Bunker’s wonderful book: Without question, my Book of the Year, so far. One of the best books on Franklin, this takes many episodes one reads right past in his Autobiography (and standard biographies) and goes deeper.The definition of “young” is generous: Franklin is forty years old before this author …
I’m cross-posting my review in GoodReads here of Phillip Goodrich‘s 2019 book, Somersett – Or Why and How Benjamin Franklin Orchestrated The American Revolution. It’s a darn good story, with a lot of lively historical matters presented, but unreliable while asking us to believe all of it. The author spins an engaging tale of a …
The Library Company of Philadelphia is in a two-year project to develop the Library’s Graphic Arts Department. The project is called Imperfect History: Curating the Graphic Arts Collection at Benjamin Franklin’s Public Library. I found this American version of the Ages of Man interesting: Benjamin Franklin Bache’s one-penny specie (one ninetieth of a dollar) from …
Note: I see Franklin’s comment that the United States was “A Republic – if you can keep it” almost daily, in one place or another. Everything about Masha Gessen’s book is in line with Dr. Franklin’s admonition, so I’m posting my GoodReads review here. – MCM Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen The title comes from …
The Family Archives of the Hopkinson family came to auction in June 2020. One item is a book given by Dr. Franklin to Francis Hopkinson, with this commentary from the auction catalog: Thomas Hopkinson (1709 – 1751), father of Francis Hopkinson (1737 – 1791) , worked with Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790) on several of …
I’m looking forward to Edward J. Larson’s book, Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership, which was released on February 11, 2020. I found my copy on the shelf in a wonderful bookstore (Four Seasons Books in Shepherdstown, West Virginia) a few days ago. George Washington knew how to say goodbye, as seen in the profound …
I listened to an audio version of Ed Asner and Ed. Weinberger’s 2017 book, The Grouchy Historian: An Old-Time Lefty Defends Our Constitution Against Right-Wing Hypocrites and Nutjobs. The audio version was read by Mr. Asner himself. It is related to multiple books written to clarify that the Framers of the Constitution were elite, self-serving …
