While the average American approach to Franklin verges on hagiography, I was troubled by the anti-Franklin bias of this writer. Admittedly, it seems too much to hope for that the prototypical American and honorarily French Franklin would get a warm reception from a writer with the amount of bias towards the British establishment shown by Clark, one still can hang on to the idea of objectivity, something that seems to be lacking in this book. IF you're familiar with the life of Franklin this book does give another viewpoint, but please try not to develop your opinion of the first modern American solely on the basis of this book.

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