WALTER ISAACSON NEW BIOGRAPHY
The Untold Story Behind How Benjamin Franklin Shaped Revolution, Forged Freedom, and Defined An American LifeBy GRANTSON EUGENE
Length5h 8m
About this audiobook
He never attended college. He ran away at seventeen with nothing but a hunger to matter. Yet Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod, secured America's independence, helped draft the Declaration, and charmed two continents, all while writing some of history's most enduring prose.
But beneath the wit and wisdom lived a man of startling contradictions. He preached thrift while living lavishly in Paris. He championed liberty while owning enslaved people for decades. His devoted wife died alone in Philadelphia while he formed deep bonds with French noblewomen abroad.
This book does not soften that Franklin.
Drawing on his correspondence, Poor Richard's Almanack, congressional records, and diplomatic cables from Versailles, this biography reconstructs the first great American story — and holds up a mirror to the nation he built.
Fifteen chapters. Eighty-four years. One man who made America possible, then spent his life trying to make it worthy of its promise.
Grab your copy today.
Audiobook details
GenreBiography and Memoir, History
Length5 hrs 8 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateAug 6, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Untold Story Behind How Benjamin Franklin Shaped Revolution, Forged Freedom, and Defined An Amer
2PROLOGUE
3The Man on the Coin
4Philadelphia, April 1790
5PART ONE: THE MAKING OF A MAN
Show all chaptersShow less
6Boston Born, Boston Bound
71.1 Josiah Franklin's Household: Candles, Soap, and Seventeen Children
81.2 The Grammar School Door That Closed Too Soon
91.3 Under His Brother's Thumb: The Apprentice and the Press
10CHAPTER 2
112.1 Midnight Flight to Philadelphia — A City That Would Claim Him
122.2 London Interlude: The Young Printer Finds His Footing
132.3 Deborah Read and the Complicated Architecture of Marriage
14CHAPTER 3
153.1 The Pennsylvania Gazette and the Birth of American Journalism
163.2 Poor Richard's Almanack: Wisdom as Product, Wit as Brand
173.3 The Junto Club: Building a Brotherhood of Self-Improvement
18The Print as Both Business and Civic Tool
19The Lessons of the Printer's Trade
20The Complex Personality Behind the Print Shop
21CHAPTER 4
224.1 Kite, Key, and Storm: The Experiment That Electrified the World
234.2 Letters to London: Science as Diplomacy Before There Was Diplomacy
244.3 The Lightning Rod and the Democratization of Safety
25The Philosophical Implications
26The Controversy Over Priority
27The Scientist's Legacy
28The Human Element
29The Broader Context
30The Enduring Significance
31CHAPTER 5
325.1 Paving Streets, Building Libraries, Founding Hospitals — The Civic Visionary
335.2 The Academy That Became a University: Penn's Unlikely Origin
345.3 Militia, Fire Companies, and the Politics of Community
35The Theory of Civic Republicanism
36The Tensions Between Civic Generosity and Personal Ambition
37The Legacy of Civic Franklin
38The Human Element
39The Enduring Significance
40CHAPTER 6
416.1 William Franklin: The Favorite Son Who Would Become a Loyalist
426.2 Sally Franklin and the Daughter History Overlooked
436.3 Deborah's Philadelphia While Benjamin Conquered the World
44The Family's Legacy
45The Absent Father
46CHAPTER 7
477.2 Craven Street: A Second Home and a Second Life
487.3 Friendships, Flirtations, and the Women Who Shaped His Thinking
49The Growing Tensions
50The Duality of the Man
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