By H.W. Brands. Published by Anchor Books, New York, 2000, 5 1/4 x 8, paperback, 765 pages, index. National Bestseller. Pulitzer Prize Finalist. Brand new condition.

The foremost American of his day, Benjamin Franklin, was perhaps the pivotal figure in colonial and revolutionary America, and he comes vividly to life in this masterly biography. Wit, diplomat, scientist, philosopher, businessman, inventor, and bon vivant, Franklin was in every respect America's first Renaissance man. Drawing on previously unpublished letters and a host of other sources, acclaimed historian H.W. Brands has written a thoroughly engaging biography of Franklin, the eighteenth-century genius. The First American is a work of meticulous scholarship that provides a magnificent tour of a legendary historical figure.

Cover painting courtesy of Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts, design by Jean Traina.