"From his early career as a printer and journalist, to his scientific work and his role as a founder of a new republic, Benjamin Franklin has always seemed the inevitable embodiment of American ingenuity. But in his youth he had to make his way through a harsh colonial world where he fought many battles: with his rivals, but also with his wayward emotions. Taking Franklin to the age of forty-one, when he made his first electrical discoveries, Bunker goes behind the legend to reveal the sources of his passion for knowledge. Always trying to balance virtue against ambition, Franklin emerges as a brilliant but flawed human being, made from the conflicts of an age of slavery as well as reason. With archival material from both sides of the Atlantic, we see Franklin in Boston, London, and Philadelphia, as he develops his formula for greatness. A tale of science, politics, war, and religion, this is also a story about Franklin's forebears: the talented family of English craftsmen who produced America's favorite genius."--

"From Pulitzer prize finalist Nick Bunker comes a penetrating new account or the early life of Benjamin Franklin--a complex, driven young man who elbows his way to success. First as a printer and journalist, and then as a scientist, diplomat, and founder of a new republic, Benjamin Franklin has always seemed to embody American pluck and self-confidence. But in his youth he had to survive in a harsh colonial world where he fought many battles, not only with his rivals but also with his wayward emotions. In Young Benjamin Franklin, Bunker takes Franklin to the age of forty-one, when he made his first electrical discoveries, and goes behind the legend to reveal the sources of his passion for knowledge. Always trying to balance virtue against ambition, Franklin emerges as a brilliant but flawed individual, made from the conflicts of an age of slavery as well as reason. Drawing on archives from both sides of the Atlantic, Bunker gives us the young Franklin in Boston, London, and Philadelphia, surrounded by the people who provided him with his education in human nature. Here we see them come to life: a rich supporting cast of poets, preachers, politicians, and ill-fated women and men who fell by the wayside as Franklin grew toward maturity. This is also a story about the English craftsmen who were Franklin's forebears. "Ingenuity" was Franklin's favorite word, but in the eighteenth century it meant far more than it does to us. For Franklin, it was a many-sided quality of being--a combination of intellect, imagination, and skills with the hand and eye as well as with the brain. Tracing the Franklin family back to their roots, Bunker shows us how they acquired the heritage of talent that Franklin brought to fruition as America's most ingenious citizen."--Jacket

Prologue: The enigmatic seer -- Part one: Beginnings. His ingenious kin ; Coats of many colors ; Coming to America -- Part two: A Boston boy. His happy childhood ; Mr. Pemberton's method ; For the love of books -- Part three: The breakout. The New-England Courant ; Crusade of the Delaware ; Forgetting Boston ; Little Britain ; Papists of Duke Street -- Part four: The weekly grind. Seaweed, sickness, and the junto ; Citizen Franklin ; Years of success ; Devil's instrument ; War and Mr. Whitefield -- Part five: The dawn of American science. A change of life ; Colden, Franklin, and the two frontiers ; A calling found -- Epilogue: An uneasy spirit