This engaging book reveals Benjamin Franklin's human side--his tastes and habits, his enthusiasms, and his devotion to democracy and the people of the United States.

Edmund S. Morgan is Sterling Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University, and the recipient of many awards for his previous books, including the Bancroft Prize, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Albert J. Beveridge Award, and the Colonial Dames of America Annual Book Award. He has long been a member of the administrative board of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin. Edmund S. Morgan, has been honored with a 2006 special citation from the Pulitzer board for what Pulitzer officials described as 'his creative and deeply influential body of work as an American historian that spans the last half century'.

"'Mr. Morgan takes us on a journey as Franklin's youthful mind - full of questions, speculations and juvenile skepticism - evolves, matures and expands like some galactic supernova.' James Srodes, Washington Times"