Volume 20, Number 6 · April 19, 1973
Ravaged by Common Sense
By J.H. Plumb
Benjamin Franklin: A Biography in His Own Words
edited by Thomas Fleming
Harper & Row, 407 pp., $15.00
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
edited by Leonard W. Labaree, edited by Ralph L. Ketcham, edited by Helen C. Boatfield, edited by Helene M. Fineman
Yale, 351 pp., $2.75 (paper)
Road to Revolution: Benjamin Franklin in England, 1765-1775
by Cecil B. Currey
Peter Smith, 422 pp., $4.00
Code 72—Ben Franklin: Patriot or Spy?
by Cecil B. Currey
Prentice-Hall, 400 pp., $7.95
The Papers of Benjamin Franklin
edited by Leonard W. Labaree, edited by William B. Willcox
Yale, 16 volumes so far pp., $17.50 each
For over twelve months now I have been in pursuit of Benjamin Franklin—rereading his autobiography, plowing systematically through his letters and essays, sampling the deluge of Franklin books that flow from the presses. Franklin is still, I suspect, a million-dollar-a-year industry, possibly more. Who buys, who reads, who believes? Why has Franklin resonated down the centuries? Does he still ring loud and clear to the present generation? Why, again, were his talents so appropriate to his age? Is he, above all, a man whose depth of character combined with genius put him into that category of great men whom time and change in society and politics can never topple?
Review, 3436 words
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