Wood scrutinizes the less typically American traits possessed by Franklin--such as his longtime loyalty to the Crown--and why he still became one of the Revolution's necessary men.

In this dazzling work of history, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author follows Benjamin Franklin to France for the crowning achievement of his career ● Michael Douglas stars in Franklin, premiering April 12 only on Apple TV+

In December of 1776 a small boat delivered an old man to France." So begins an enthralling narrative account of how Benjamin Franklin—seventy years old, without any diplomatic training,

...

"From his early career as a printer and journalist, to his scientific work and his role as a founder of a new republic, Benjamin Franklin has always seemed the inevitable embodiment of American ingenuity. But in his youth he had to make his way through a harsh colonial world where he fought many battles: with his rivals, but also with his wayward emotions. Taking Franklin to the age of forty-one, when he made his first electrical discoveries, Bunker...

"A jewel of musical history-- the story of Ben Franklin's favorite invention, the glass armonica-- including the composers who wrote for it (Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, among others); Dr. Mesmer who used it to hypnotize; Marie Antoinette and the women who popularized it; its decline and recent comeback"--Amazon.com.

Benjamin Franklin's companion, Amos the mouse, recounts how he was responsible for Franklin's inventions and discoveries.

"Poor Richard's women describes Deborah's common-law marriage to Ben Franklin and his romances with other women"-- Benjamin Franklin: thrifty inventor, statesman of the Revolutionary era... lover of women. The most prominent among them was Deborah Read Franklin, his common-law wife and partner for 44 years. An independent, politically savvy woman and devoted wife, she raised their children, managed his finances, and fought off angry mobs at gunpoint...

The incredible story of Benjamin Franklin's parting gift to the working-class people of Boston and Philadelphia-a deathbed wager that captures the Founder's American Dream and his lessons for our current, conflicted age. Benjamin Franklin was not a gambling man. But at the end of his illustrious life, the Founder allowed himself a final wager on the survival of the United States: a gift of two thousand pounds to Boston and Philadelphia, to be lent...

The story of one of the most dynamic figures in American history. Includes expert commentary, archival material, and Franklin's own writings.