Benjamin Franklin was called the "Father of all the Yankees" by Thomas Carlyle. 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 pre-war 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, his experiments with electricity, his political career, his experiences during the French and India 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."