Benjamin Franklin's celebrated Autobiography, published after his death, is one of the greatest autobiographies of all time… but it was incomplete. Franklin ended his life's story in 1757, when he was only fifty-one. He lived another thirty-three full, eventful, and dramatic years, some of the most dramatic years in American history, years in which Franklin was America's advocate in London, represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress, and was America's wartime ambassador to France. During these years Franklin also helped write our nation's Constitution and planned an American Empire that would displace the British Empire.
Franklin is one of the most fascinating of the Founding Fathers—a polymath like Jefferson, a practical statesman like Washington, and a cynic and wit beyond parallel. Now, at last, in The Compleated Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin, we finally get the rest of the story, in Franklin's own words.
Faithfully compiled and edited from Franklin's papers by Dr. Mark Skousen— Franklin's descendant, acting as his devoted secretary—this is the closest we will ever get to Franklin sitting down in his study in Philadelphia, dipping quill into ink, and finishing his autobiography.
Benjamin Franklin never completed his autobiography. Because of the efforts of Mark Skousen, one of Franklin's descendants, who meticulously compiled and edited Franklin's papers, this title fills the void, using Franklin's own words. Richard Ferrone's performance captures the many facets of this brilliant, fascinating, and multitalented American. Ferrone portrays Franklin's intelligence and wit with an understated style that brings out a personality that continues to captivate and intrigue. Ferrone clearly enjoys "being" Franklin, and listeners will be similarly engaged by this book, which provides candid answers to many questions historians have pondered. THE COMPLEATED AUTOBIOGRAPHY is the next best thing to having an autobiography completed by Franklin himself. D.J.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Mark Skousen, Ph.D., is a descendant of Benjamin Franklin through Franklin’s grandson Louis Bache. He has had a lifelong interest in the “grandfather” of our country. His career has sometimes followed that of his illustrious ancestor, as a publisher, author, financial advisor, teacher, father, public servant, and world traveler.
