The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
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Narrated by:
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Peter Johnson
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By:
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Gordon S. Wood
About this listen
The problem with this beloved notion of Franklin's quintessential Americanness, Gordon Wood shows us in this marvelous, revelatory book, is that it's simply not true. And it blinds us to the no less admirable or important but far more interesting man Franklin really was and leaves us powerless to make sense of the most crucial events of his life. Indeed, thinking of Franklin as the last American would be less of a hindrance to understanding many crucial aspects of his life: his preoccupation with becoming a gentleman; his longtime loyalty to the Crown and burning ambition to be a player in the British Empire's power structure; the personal character of his conversion to revolutionary; his reasons for writing the Autobiography; his controversies with John and Samuel Adams and with Congress; his love of Europe and conflicted sense of national identity; the fact that his death was greeted by mass mourning in France and widely ignored in America.
The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin is a landmark work, a magnificent fresh vision of Franklin's life and reputation, filled with profound insights into the Revolution and into the emergence of America's idea of itself.
©2004 Gordon S. Wood (P)2004 HighBridge CompanyListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
- Audie Award Finalist, Non-Fiction (unabridged), 2005
" "A fascinating portrait of Franklin, not only as a forefather but as a man." (Publishers Weekly)
"This superbly written work provides a fresh perspective on a justly admired but enigmatic figure." (Booklist)
"Engaging....A skilled writer with both Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes to his credit, he [Wood] possesses as profound a grasp of the early days of the Republic as anyone currently working." (The New York Times Book Review)
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Destined by birth, mentored by greats...
- By Jonathan Love on 03-04-16
By: Fred Kaplan
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Jefferson
- Architect of American Liberty
- By: John B. Boles
- Narrated by: Michael Johnson
- Length: 24 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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From an eminent scholar of the American South, the first full-scale biography of Thomas Jefferson since 1970. Not since Merrill Peterson's Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation has a scholar attempted to write a comprehensive biography of the most complex Founding Father. In Jefferson, John B. Boles plumbs every facet of Thomas Jefferson's life, all while situating him amid the sweeping upheaval of his times. We meet Jefferson the politician and political thinker - as well as Jefferson the architect, scientist, bibliophile, paleontologist, musician, and gourmet.
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Makes Jefferson Human
- By MichaelBuffalo on 06-23-20
By: John B. Boles
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Inventing a Nation
- Washington, Adams, Jefferson
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht, Gore Vidal
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Volumes have been written about George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but no previous work captures the intimate and vital details the way Inventing a Nation does. Vidal's consummate skill takes you into the minds and private rooms of these great men, illuminating their opinions of one another and their concerns about crafting a workable democracy.
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Reader Beware: Mixed with a political agenda
- By Robert on 09-09-04
By: Gore Vidal
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Washington's Circle
- The Creation of the President
- By: David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In Washington's Circle, David and Jeanne Heidler introduce not just the president but the group of extraordinary men who advised him. The familiar names are here, like the often irked and occasionally irksome John Adams, the scheming Alexander Hamilton, and the prodigiously talented James "Jemmy" Madison, but so are the lesser known Edmund Randolph, John Jay, and Gouverneur Morris. Washington's choices of whom to listen to, for better and sometimes worse, were as consequential as the advice his cabinet gave.
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Very Enlightening
- By Morgan on 06-04-18
By: David S. Heidler, and others
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Thomas Jefferson
- By: R. B. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Phil Holland
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone, describing himself simply as "Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia". It is in this simple epitaph that R. B. Bernstein finds the key to this enigmatic Founder - not as a great political figure, but as leader of "a revolution of ideas that would make the world over again". In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein offers the definitive short biography of this revered American - the first concise life in six decades. Bernstein deftly synthesizes the massive scholarship on his subject into a swift, insightful, evenhanded account.
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In-Depth and Interesting
- By Sarahi Nieves on 04-24-19
By: R. B. Bernstein
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James Madison
- A Life Reconsidered
- By: Lynne Cheney
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A major new biography of the fourth US president, from New York Times best-selling author Lynne Cheney. James Madison was a true genius of the early republic, the leader who did more than any other to create the nation we know today. This majestic new biography tells his story. Outwardly reserved, Madison was the intellectual driving force behind the Constitution. His visionary political philosophy was a crucial factor behind the Constitution’s ratification, and his political savvy was of major importance in getting the new government underway.
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Great man, great ideas, muddling book
- By NDFletch on 06-13-15
By: Lynne Cheney
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Washington's Farewell
- The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations
- By: John Avlon
- Narrated by: John Avlon
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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George Washington's Farewell Address was a prophetic letter from a "parting friend" to his fellow citizens about the forces he feared could destroy our democracy: hyper-partisanship, excessive debt, and foreign wars. Once celebrated as civic scripture, more widely reprinted than the Declaration of Independence, the Farewell Address is now almost forgotten. Its message remains starkly relevant. In Washington's Farewell, John Avlon offers a stunning portrait of our first president and his battle to save America from self-destruction.
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Very well written and performed
- By Michael Reading on 03-02-17
By: John Avlon
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James Madison
- By: Richard Brookhiser
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Eminent historian Richard Brookhiser presents a vivid portrait of James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution” and one of America's greatest statesmen.
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OK book but not a biography
- By Joel Mayer on 08-05-12
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Jefferson and Hamilton
- The Rivalry That Forged a Nation
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Bo Foxworth
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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The decade of the 1790s has been called the "age of passion". Fervor ran high as rival factions battled over the course of the new republic - each side convinced that the other's goals would betray the legacy of the Revolution so recently fought and so dearly won. All understood as well that what was at stake was not a moment's political advantage, but the future course of the American experiment in democracy. In this epochal debate, no two figures loomed larger than Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.
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Biased and low quality
- By Yolanda Yzquierdo on 12-04-22
By: John Ferling
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Wood clearly dislikes Adams
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Excellent story, the narration ruined it for me
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Wood clearly dislikes Adams
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A proper history of an obscure epoch
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What listeners say about The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- April
- 07-05-20
Informative and Engaging
This book was well organized, thoughtfully expressed, and engagingly written. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-29-23
Good read
This book is pretty interesting and teaches a lot about Franklin but I only read it for a class.
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- Tina
- 12-31-11
My 3rd or 4th favorite history/biography book
Where does The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I've read and listened to this story and I really like it. It is well-titled but I hadn't really thought about the title when I started it. This book tells the story of Franklin transitioning from a proud Englishman to an independent American. He was such an interesting man, although not so wonderful perhaps in the husband/father category. Regardless, one should admire this pivotal figure in American history.
What other book might you compare The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin to and why?
It's very unique. Franklin had so many different interests and he influenced many different areas of his time period. He lived a long life and understood the value of print to promote his many ideas and beliefs.
Have you listened to any of Peter Johnson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Not that I can remember.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Not that I can remember. It just made me understand more of the impact he had on the development of our nation.
Any additional comments?
Great book
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4 people found this helpful
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- Strephon
- 11-18-14
Franklin Would Have Loved This Book
In far less space than the typical doorstop tome, Wood illuminates Franklin's long professional and intellectual trek to become the most "American" of the founders. Anyone who relies on their high school or college understanding of Franklin will profit from Wood's treatment of a man who was truly a lifelong learner, but one careful never to be too far out in front of what the traffic would bear. Insufficiently appreciated in his time, Franklin turns out to be every bit as much responsible for the success of American independence even if his vision of how to frame the Constitution of the new nation did not emerge as the orthodox view. A great listen.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Katherine
- 08-29-14
Another fantastic book by Gordon S. Wood
If I had to choose a favorite historian, it would be Gordon S. Wood. His scholarship is masterful, and he combines it with a lovely literary style that is very accessible to the general reader. This book on Benjamin Franklin - not a complete biography, but rather an exploration of how Franklin came to be the archetypal American - is a wonderful example. Read it to learn how Franklin's thinking about the British empire and and society, as well as the ancient aristocratic denigration of work, evolved into the uniquely American elevation of the "middling" classes that was readily apparent by the time of Alexis de Toqueville.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Ernie
- 07-22-04
I have good news and bad news
With this book, you will learn some interesting new things about Ben Franklin. He was driven by a desire to be in the gentleman class and he was very much a British loyalist.
On the downside, the narration is atrocious. If you are an insomniac, this guy will put you to sleep fast!!
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20 people found this helpful