From the most respected chronicler of the early days of the Republic-and winner of both the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes-comes a landmark work that rescues Benjamin Franklin from a mythology that has blinded generations of Americans to the man he really was and makes sense of aspects of his life and career that would have otherwise remained mysterious. In place of the genial polymath, self-improver, and quintessential American, Gordon S. Wood reveals a figure much more ambiguous and complex-and much more interesting. Charting the passage of Franklin's life and reputation from relative popular indifference (his death, while the occasion for mass mourning in France, was widely ignored in America) to posthumous glory, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin sheds invaluable light on the emergence of our country's idea of itself.

Autorentext

Gordon S. Wood is the Alva O. Way University Professor and professor of history at Brown University. His books have received the Pulitzer, Bancroft and John H. Dunning prizes, as well as a National Book Award nomination and the New York Historical Society Prize in American History. They include Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, Revolutionary Characters, The Purpose of the Past, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, and The Idea of America.



Inhalt

Preface ix Acknowledgements xi List of Illustrations xv

Introduction 1

  1. Becoming a Gentleman 17

  2. Becoming a British Imperialist 61

  3. Becoming a Patriot 105

  4. Becoming a Diplomat 153

  5. Becoming an American 201

Notes 247 Index 287

Titel
The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
EAN
9781101200902
ISBN
978-1-101-20090-2
Format
E-Book (epub)
Veröffentlichung
31.05.2005
Digitaler Kopierschutz
Adobe-DRM
Dateigrösse
1.02 MB
Anzahl Seiten
320
Jahr
2005
Untertitel
Englisch