Benjamin Franklin remains unsurpassed in the wide range of his natural gifts and the important uses to which he put them. Van Dorens Pulitzer Prize-winning biography gives the most comprehensive portrait of this Great American.
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Benjamin Franklin remains unsurpassed in the wide range of his natural gifts and the important uses to which he put them. Van Dorens Pulitzer Prize-winning biography gives the most comprehensive portrait of this Great American.
Read Less
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. No dust jacket. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 1100grams, ISBN:
A prominent Franklin scholar from San Diego recommended this book as the best biography to read, and he was absolutely right. I have read four now, three of them written in the last ten years. Van Doren's book was written 70 years ago and beats them all hands down.
Most books tell you that Franklin entertained himself doing mathematical puzzles while waiting around the Pennsylvania Assembly. Van Doren actually shows you some of them - an 8X8 matrix and an even more complicated 16 X 16 one. He explains the various patterns where the numbers add up to the same number.
Every book rehashes Franklin's Autobiography. Van Doren tells the same events using the journals Franklin kept at the time the events happened, and that gives a more current perspective than that of an old man looking backwards. The differences were very interesting.
Van Doren writes beautifully and brings Franklin to life. You can really understand why people loved being in his company, and why only Franklin could have won France over.
This is one book I will keep.
