A quick search in Amazon books under the name "Benjamin Franklin" comes up with 2403 matches. Based upon that criteria, many people would say that everything that could be said or that needs to be said about Ben Franklin has been said. Those people would be emphatically wrong, as has been proven by author and historian H.W. Brands in his work on Franklin, THE FIRST AMERICAN: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Brands expertly brings this pivotal figure in American history, back to life, once more, in this book which was a Pulitzer finalist in 2002.

This book is not only about Franklin, but its pages are dotted with an unbelievable cast of secondary characters. Brands brings the friends and acquaintances of Franklin to life, ranging from Cotton Mather to Sir Isaac Newton. The book also spans the life of Franklin from his humble beginnings in Boston to world acclaim as one of the pivotal architects of American society and government. I believe this is the finest biography written on Franklin since Van Doren's Pulitzer Prize winner of some seventy years ago.

Of course, a book about Franklin would be incomplete without also being about the creation and formation of America, as the two are intricately attached. But Brands' work here is all inclusive, giving us not only the politics of Franklin, but his creative genius, business sense and so much more we've grown to appreciate about this Senior statesman in American history.

I have no idea how many biographies I have read about Benjamin Franklin, but this is definitely one of the best ever. H.W. Brands has a wonderful writing style with flowing narrative, meticulous detail and is one of the few Franklin biographers who successfully point the reader to Franklin's human side rather than keeping the attention on his mythical status.

Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.com

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