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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (AmazonClassics Edition) by [Benjamin Franklin]

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Benjamin Franklin

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (AmazonClassics Edition) Kindle Edition

by Benjamin Franklin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Written between 1717 and 1790, and originally referred to by its author as simply Memoirs, Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography is considered the pioneering example of the genre. In this influential account of the American Dream in action, Franklin recounts his early life, his inventions, his quest for virtue and self-improvement, and his political achievements. The unfinished work is a vivid depiction of life in early America, as well as a relatable and inspiring portrait of one of its revolutionary thinkers.

AmazonClassics brings you timeless works from iconic authors. Ideal for anyone who wants to read a great work for the first time or revisit an old favorite, these new editions open the door to the stories and ideas that have shaped our world.

Revised edition: Previously published as The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, this edition of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Print length

192 pages
Language

English
Publisher

AmazonClassics
Publication date

5 September 2017
File size

1248 KB
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Product description

About the Author

Born in Boston to Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger, Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was the fifteenth of his father’s seventeen children. An author, inventor, politician, and printer, he is celebrated for his hand in drafting the Declaration of Independence; negotiating the Peace Treaty between the United States and England following the Revolutionary War; and for numerous inventions, including the Franklin stove, bifocals, and the lightning rod. His autobiography, which remained unfinished and was first published posthumously in 1791, is considered the most influential example of the genre ever written.

Review

Compelling, instructional and …inspring.…It is obvious that Morgan has done his homework. -- (Blue Ridge Business Journal) | Named a Best Book of 2002 -- (Salt Lake City Tribune) | Thanks to Morgan'’s amiable biography …we meet Franklin and track his love of the British Empire and his eventual disillusionment. -- (Salt Lake City Tribune) | [Morgan] writes with the discipline of someone who commands far more detail …than he has allowed himself …to impart. --(George Fetherling, Vancouver Sun) --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

The most widely read American autobiography of all time, accompanied by a generous selection of Franklin's popular journalism - in a hard cover edition with an introduction by Harvard historian Jill Lepore. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

Franklin’s <b>Autobiography</b> is one of the most famous works in American literature. He started it as a private collection of anecdotes for his son, but soon it was transformed into a work of history, both personal and national, revealing Franklin as the man who, as Herman Melville said, possessed “deep worldly wisdom and polished Italian tact, gleaming under an air of Arcadian unaffectedness. <br> --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"The best and most beautiful edition [of the Autobiography]."

"People who have read one or more of the many current books about Benjamin Franklin really ought to direct their attention to the man himself, specifically to The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. . . . It is the first great American book. . . . An extraordinary document. . . . Plainly yet vividly written, its 18th-century prose still accessible to ordinary readers more than two centuries later. . . . It portrays Colonial and Revolutionary America . . . with an immediacy unmatched in almost any other document. . . . Franklin's wisdom is for the ages, our own as much as his. So read the 'Autobiography, ' and--among the many editions available--read Yale's. Its text is the most reliable (the Franklin papers are at Yale) and its supplementary material is uniformly useful."--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

"Where so many fancy books are long on pictures and short on readable reading matter, this one is superbly the reverse . . . what counts here is the text: the first thoroughly edited and adequately annotated version of Franklin's memoirs faithful in every word to Franklin's holograph. . . . The result is like cleaning away the grime and crackled varnish of generations to discover unsuspected sparkle in an old master."--Time

"The best and most beautiful edition [of the Autobiography]."--J. H. Plumb, New York Review of Books

"This is one of those rarest of historiographical achievements: a publication of the original text of a historical and literary classic in which the bookmaker's art and the historian's best technical editorial skill are combined to produce a work that is both a dependable scholar's source, a reader's delight, and a thing of beauty."--American Historical Review

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

Blessed with enormous talents and the energy and ambition to go with them, Franklin was a statesman, author, inventor, printer, and scientist. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and later was involved in negotiating the peace treaty with Britain that ended the Revolutionary War. He also invented bifocals, a stove that is still manufactured, a water-harmonica, and the lightning rod.
Franklin's extraordinary range of interests and accomplishments are brilliantly recorded in his Autobiography, considered one of the classics of the genre. Covering his life up to his prewar stay in London as representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly, this charming self-portrait recalls Franklin's boyhood, his determination to achieve high moral standards, his work as a printer, experiments with electricity, political career, experiences during the French and Indian War, and more. Related in an honest, open, unaffected style, this highly readable account offers a wonderfully intimate glimpse of the Founding Father sometimes called "the wisest American." --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B073WWGYTF
Publisher ‏ : ‎ AmazonClassics (5 September 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1248 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 192 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #938 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 1 in History (Kindle Store)
- 1 in US Revolution & Founding History (Kindle Store)
- 1 in Biographies & Memoirs (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
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Customer reviews

5 star		64%
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3 star		9%
2 star		3%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from Australia

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Anna

Do not buy this book at all cost

Reviewed in Australia on 23 October 2020

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The book is so hard to read. Very cheap print, very hard to concentrate on going. The letter was so small and space between sentences was so closed. I have to run with my ruler every sentence. It was not what I expected. Very first time I order a book from amazon. Almost I order Kindle style. This time I was expecting to keep a printed copy. However was a big disappointment.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Challenging / Not well organized

Reviewed in Australia on 22 June 2019

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This has been a really challenging book to read and rate. It is NOT organized very well and large timeframes are not accounted for in his life - BUT that is exactly how Benjamin Franklin wrote. The parts of his life that are covered are done very well.

I am disappointed that there is NO option to add audio narration of this AmazonClassic.

One person found this helpful

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I.B. Rankin

Four Stars

Reviewed in Australia on 10 November 2014

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one of the best of its genre

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James Chalmers

Fascinating read

Reviewed in Australia on 2 September 2018

Super interesting read. Loved the insight into Franklin, guys thinking, and guys life. I totally enjoyed reading guys narrative of US history, and I loved his way with words. A very enjoyable read. If you're curious about Franklin, US history, or just enjoy well written prose from a bygone era, read this book.

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ARAVIND

The First American - Benjamin Franklin

Reviewed in India on 10 June 2018

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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin...

1st published in 1793. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written as letters to his son by Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790...

Youngest Son of Josiah Franklin, Benjamin Franklin born on 1706 and spend his childhood days in Boston, worked as a apprentice under his own elder brother... where he got a chance to read books and eventually he became very fond of reading them. At age 17, He left to Philadelphia to work as a printer...

In Philadelphia, He made several acquaintances, especially with popular personalities, which eventually helped him grow in his career... He Succeeded in opening his own printing press and there he met his future wife "Deborah Read".

He started writing Articles to the Newspaper at very young age where he got numerous experience in writing articles... He became a member of political group and elected as a leader. He also shown interest in experiments and performed many....!!!! Yes he is a Inventor... The inventor of Franklin stove & Lightening rod.. He is most famous for performing Kite experiment, where he explained the relation between lightening and electricity...

He once appointed as a colonial Postmaster General in battle of Pennsylvania... and also represented AMERICA when he went to other countries. He is also one of the members who signed the declaration of Independence to United states, thus he became one of the founding fathers of AMERICA.

Benjamin Franklin is a Author, printer, political theorist, politician postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.

I Strongly recommend one to buy this book, and the following once...

* The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
* the Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
* The Story of by Life - Hellen Keller
* The story of MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH - MK Gandhi
* Long walk to freedom - Nelson Mandela

Note : I bought this book from Finger print publishers, unlike other books this book has a good paper and printing quality.

87 people found this helpful

Marcolorenzo

DEFINITIVE EDITION OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 December 2019

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This Yale University edition of the Autobiography is the definitive edition. The introductory notes are exhaustive. Where Franklin includes a table or diagram in his autobiography this edition also includes them. The work itself is enlightening about the man, his talents, the goals of his life and his times (The colonies of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania etc., the American Revolution, the new founding American nation, the court of Louis VX , England of the late 18th century etc.) Recommended. Also see the Folio edition Benjamin Franklin in his own words, which is not the autobiography pure and simple but an abridged version with other included material letters, newspaper article to create a fuller story of Franklin's life. The Folio editon work is something half way between this autobiography and a biography also recommended.

6 people found this helpful

manav

A classic, timeless autobiography

Reviewed in India on 26 May 2017

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An amazing read, having been written by an extraordinary man but here's the caveat: Benjamin Franklin has used archaic English (the manuscript was prepared more than 200 years back); the expressions and phrases would baffle most readers so be prepared to struggle on that front when you order this book.

Although the font size, print quality and typesetting is satisfactory, I'm not happy with the binding of the book; last few pages of the book had to be separated with a blade, which is unfortunate, and the same pages were not bound properly, they were loose and i had to use a glue them back into the book.

59 people found this helpful

Knowledge thru Books.

Polymath

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 April 2019

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Ben Franklin was a true polymath. He is without doubt one of the greatest minds of the enlightenment. He role in science and philosophy is profound. I love the personal insights regarding his life. His excellence of mind and his friendship with Thomas Paine are inspiring. The unprincipled rogues in Government today betray the essence of The American Revolution. We need more Franklin , Paine and Jefferson . I really enjoyed this book.

4 people found this helpful

Thomas Cooper

Great

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2021

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Very interesting read from a very intellegent man. It's incomplete and there's a lot missing however there is a lot of interesting information. He mentions scepticism of Christianity, his belief that women should be educated and the public in general. He had his own rules that he wrote in a way to be accepting of other religions. Surprisingly philosophical and educational.

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