Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) by Walter Isaacson. Another fine biography about one of the founding fathers by Isaacson, who specializes in humanizing and bringing down to earth those titans of American history. This is a sympathetic portrait of Franklin, but his faults are also shown, and the book comes off as a balanced look at one of the great men of the eighteenth century. Franklin was, during his 84-year life, America's best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer and business strategist. He was, always, a practical man, interested in developing useful things, not in thinking profound philosophical thoughts. Most famously, he showed that lightning is electricity by flying a kite in a storm and drawing the lightning down to earth. He then invented the lightning rod. Franklin trusted in the "common man" far more than in those who had been born to position. This great book exemplifies his democratic ideals, and how he influenced the founding of the United States of America. Grade: A