All Things Franklin
|
The scholarship on
Books
Brands, H. W., The First American:
The Life and Times of
Benjamin Franklin.
One of the very good
biographies published in the last ten years.
Brands lives in
Chaplain, Joyce E., The First
Scientific American: Benjamin
Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius.
The writer shows
that
Cohen, I. Bernard., Benjamin
Franklin’s Science.
Though this book
focuses on
Cousins, Margaret, Ben
Franklin of Old
This children’s book
has been in print for over fifty years.
Dray, Phillip, Stealing God’s
Thunder” Benjamin Franklin’s
Lightening Rod and the Invention of America.
Dray explores
Fruchtman, Jack, Atlantic
Cousins: Benjamin Franklin and His Visionary Friends.
Fruchtman tells of
how the Enlightenment and its many interesting visionaries influenced
Isaacson, Walter, Benjamin Franklin:
An American Life.
A former head of Time Magazine
and CNN, the writer uses a breezy style in this
general biography.
Japiske, Carl, Fart Proudly.
This slim volume
collects some of
Each of these
volumes is over five hundred pages and they cover only the first forty
years of
Lemay, J. A. Leo,
ed.,
This book collects
many Franklin writings including letters, essays, newspaper articles,
the
compete autobiography and excerpts from
Poor
Richard’s Almanac, all providing a deep look into his many
interests and
his strong literary style.
This collection of
twenty-five essays explores most facets of
Lopez, Claude-Anne, Mon Cher
Papa: Franklin and the Ladies of
With a lyrical
style, Lopez explains how and why the ladies of
Lopez, Claude-Anne, My
Life with Benjamin Franklin.
Hired by
Middlekauff, Robert,
Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies.
Berkeley, Ca.:
The author shows how
Morgan, Edmund, Benjamin Franklin.
Morgan is a
well-known and esteemed historian. The
masterful first chapter is worth the price of the book.
Sappenfield, James
A. A Sweet Instruction:
To this day
Schiff, Stacy. A Great
Improvisation: Franklin, France, and
theBbirth of America.
Schiff won a
Pulitzer Prize for an earlier book. In
this one, with a fine literary style, she details
Seavey, Ormond. Becoming Benjamin
Franklin: The Autobiography
and the Life.
Seavey tells how
Talbott, Page, ed., Benjamin
Franklin: In Search of a Better World.
This special
collection of essays honors
Tise, Larry, ed., Benjamin
Franklin and Women.
These essays explore
Van Doren, Carl, Benjamin Franklin.
This book won the
Pulitzer Prize as much for its encyclopedic range as for its great
literary
style.
Waldstreicher,
David, Runaway
This book explores
the economy of the colonies and how slavery fit into it.
Walters, Kerry S., Benjamin
Franklin and his Gods.
This book explores
the spiritual life of a man who belonged to no religion, but yet
equated doing
civic duties with spirituality.
Wood, Gordon, S., The
Americanization of Benjamin Franklin.
An author on many
books about colonial
Benjamin Franklin: Citizen of the World. A&E HomeDVD, 1994.
Availabe at www.historychannel.com
An
episode in A&E network’s Biography series, this brief 50 minute
video is
very informative.
Benjamin Franklin. History Channel DVD, 2003. Availabe at www.historychannel.com
This
originally aired on the History Channel in 2003 and is much more
comprehensive
than the A&E video, as it is more than twice as long.
Benjamin Franklin. PBS DVD. Available
at www.PBS.com
This
three part series is a documentary that features Richard Easton, stage
actor.
Franklin Tech. History Channel DVD, 2006. Availabe at www.historychannel.com
This
fifty minute program, part of the History Channel’s Modern
Marvels science series focuses on Franklin’s scientific
work.
Websites
http://www.benfranklin300.org/ This is the website of the Benjamin
Franklin
Tercentenary which is celebrating in 2006 the three hundredth
anniversary of
his birth.
http://www.fi.edu/franklin/ Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, the city’s
main science museum hosts this website about Franklin.
http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/ This is scholar Leo J. A. Lemay’s
website. It focuses on all facets of
Franklin’s life.
http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/ This website is the companion to PBS’s DVD, Benjamin Franklin.
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/benfranklin/index.html A U. S. Government website which has an
animated Franklin explain government to children.
http://www.earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/ This website, Archiving Early
America, allows the viewer to read Franklin’s Autobiography
on line.
http://library.thinkquest.org/22254/home.htm Though it isn’t clear who hosts the website,
it is very through with a detailed list of references.
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Benjamin_Franklin/ The
Quotations Page offers snappy, humorous, and deep words by Franklin.