Not Your Usual Founding Father Selected Readings from Benjamin Franklin Edmund S. Morgan

This engaging book reveals Benjamin Franklin's human side, his tastes and habits, his enthusiasms, and his devotion to democracy and the people of the United States. Three hundred years after his birth, we may remember Franklin's famous Autobiography, or his status as framer of the Declaration of Independence, or perhaps his sage advice on diligence and thrift. But historian Edmund Morgan invites us to meet the man himself, an ordinary, sociable, good-natured human being with boundless curiosity about the natural world and a vision of what America could be. Drawing on life-long research in the vast Franklin archives, Morgan assembles lesser-known writings that offer insights into this founding father's thinking. The book is organized around three major themes, each with an introduction. The first section includes journal excerpts and letters revealing Franklin's personal tastes and habits. The second is devoted to Franklin's inexhaustible intellectual energy and his scientific discoveries. The third chronicles his devotion to serving the people who became the United States, and to his democratic vision of their independent future. Franklin's humanity and genius have never seemed more real than in the pages of this appealing anthology.

Edmund S. Morgan is Sterling Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University, and the recipient of many awards for his previous books, including the Bancroft Prize, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Albert J. Beveridge Award, and the Colonial Dames of America Annual Book Award. He has long been a member of the administrative board of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin. Edmund S. Morgan, has been honored with a 2006 special citation from the Pulitzer board for what Pulitzer officials described as 'his creative and deeply influential body of work as an American historian that spans the last half century'.

"'Mr. Morgan takes us on a journey as Franklin's youthful mind - full of questions, speculations and juvenile skepticism - evolves, matures and expands like some galactic supernova.' James Srodes, Washington Times"