Reason read: Benjamin Franklin was born in January. Read in his honor.

Any book you pick up by H.W. Brands is going to be entertaining. Never dry or boring, in First American, Brands not only brings his subject of Benjamin Franklin to living and breathing life, but also the era in which Franklin lived. Society, religion, politics, and the arts are vividly presented to the reader as the backdrop to Franklin's life. For example, details like explaining how apprentices were not allowed to visit taverns, inns, or alehouses served to give insight into Franklin's future beliefs. As a young man, he could not play cards, dice, or even enter into marriage. Franklin was essentially slaves with pay.
Brands also brings to light what an interesting man Benjamin Franklin became in his older years. His range of interests, his need for self-improvement, his contradictory beliefs, and his ambitions were nothing short of astounding. His goals and resolutions surrounding virtue and the way he went about trying to master his them were admirable for all mankind. Everyone knows the story of the silk kite and key, but who remembers Franklin deciding that Philadelphia needed more academia to teach the subjects that were useful to the youth? His quest for vegetarianism? His ability to change his mind about slavery?
With Franklin's use of aliases (Silence Dogood, Martha Careful, Caelia Shortface, and Polly Baker to name a few), I wonder what Franklin would have thought about our ability to hide behind user names and criticize our fellow man for everything from the color of her skin to the way our neighbor mows the lawn. ( )

This was an incredibly well written biography. It does a great job of placing Ben Franklin in context of the world that he inhabited. ( )

I thought the book was excellent. The only reason I gave it four rather than five stars was length, but then again, he had a long and highly varied life. The book took us from Boston to Philadelphia to London, back to America, to Paris and then back home.

The book covered his philandering and less than ideal characteristics as a husband. To its credit it doesn't overdo these faults. While certainly not a hagiography it paints a picture of a vital, pivotal person. Further, it well describes the era, and puts Franklin's work in the context of other events.

Overall, when I think of the Founders these people were "off the charts" in terms of drive and intelligence. I am not sure we can pick whether John or Abigail Adams, Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson or Aaron Burr were "the most" important. They were a pantheon; all were needed. Thus, I could perhaps have used fewer cheap shots at John Adams. But that's a quibble.

Excellent read. ( )

A rebel, an architect of society, an enlightened spokesperson... thank God for Benjamin Franklin. ( )

Brands is an excellent and lucid writer. He explains the life and the times in an engaging and easy-to-understand manner. His life of Franklin, well-trod ground, is among the best one volume biographies of Franklin from the past few decades. A few things keep this from being THE best. The endnote system that popular presses seem to favor today. Demerit. The sparse nature of the notes. Demerit. The utter lack of illustrations and maps, which are numerous and easily had. I found myself consulting Isaacson's biography of Franklin for pictures. Demerit.

Franklin's hands were all over the growth of the colonies and the American Revolution. His fingerprints are on American culture, American business, American science, American letters, American banking, American independence, and American government. His exertions helped secure Independence, French aid in the Revolution, and the Constitution. His presence is still felt. He is, as some wag put it, the Founding GRANDFATHER.

All-in-all, a good, interesting, factual biography of Franklin. Get it if you can.

4.5 of 5 stars. ( )