The First American

“H.W Brands has given us the authoritative Franklin biography for out time.” —Joseph J. Ellis author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Founding Brothers

“Like its subject, this biography is both solid and enchanting.” —The New Yorker

“[A] biography with a rich cast of secondary characters and a large and handsome stock of historical scenery. . . . Brands writes clearly and confidently about the full spectrum of the polymath’s interests. . . . This is a Franklin to savor.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Benjamin Franklin’s life is one every American should know well, and it has not been told better than by Mr. Brands.” —The Dallas Morning News

“A vivid portrait of the 18th-century milieu and of the 18th-century man. . . . [Brands is] a master storyteller.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“A thorough biography of Benjamin Franklin, America’s first Renaissance man. . . . In graceful, even witty prose. . . . Brands relates the entire, dense-packed life.” —The Washington Post

“A lively re-introduction to Franklin. . . . Rich in the descriptions of settings, personalities, and action. . . . [Brands] offers . . . a succession of amusing anecdotes and vivid tales.” —The New Republic

“Comprehensive, lively. . . . [Brands] is a skilled narrator who believes in making good history accessible to the non-specializing book lover, and the general reader can read this book with sustained enjoyment.” —The Boston Globe