A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America (Abridged)

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America (Abridged)

by Stacy Schiff

Narrated by Jason Culp

Abridged — 9 hours, 50 minutes

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America (Abridged)

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America (Abridged)

by Stacy Schiff

Narrated by Jason Culp

Abridged — 9 hours, 50 minutes

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Overview

"In December 1776, a small boat delivered an old man to France." So begins a dazzling narrative account of Benjamin Franklin's French mission, the most exacting-and momentous-eight years of his life.

When Franklin embarked, the colonies were without money, munitions, gunpowder or common cause; like all adolescents, they were to discover that there was a difference between declaring independence and achieving it. To close that gap Franklin was dispatched to Paris, amid great secrecy, across a winter sea thick with enemy cruisers. He was seventy years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French. He was also among the most famous men in the world.

Franklin well understood that he was off on the greatest gamble of his career. But despite minimal direction from Congress he was soon outwitting the British secret service and stirring passion for a republic in an absolute monarchy.

In A Great Improvisation Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff offers an utterly fresh and thrilling account of Franklin's Parisian adventure and of America's debut on the world stage. Schiff weaves her tale of international intrigue from new and little-known primary sources, working from a host of diplomatic archives, family papers, and intelligence reports. From her pages emerges a particularly human Founding Father, as well as a vivid sense of how fragile, improvisational, and international was our country' s bid for independence.

Editorial Reviews

AUG/SEP 05 - AudioFile

Benjamin Franklin has been written about, quoted, and misquoted as much as any figure in America history. But his most significant contribution, as ambassador to France during the American Revolution, is largely overlooked. Stacy Schiff focuses on just this period in this readable biography. She shows how Franklin’s personality—charming, disarming, honest, and devious—exactly suited his mission. Without his efforts, it is possible France wouldn’t have entered the war, becoming the force that brought England to surrender. Jason Culp is solid as narrator. His diction is clear, and he varies his pacing, which keeps the reading from becoming monotonous. He adds a touch of accent to French and English figures, which gives the reading a bit of flavor without becoming cartoonish. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

AUG/SEP 05 - AudioFile

Benjamin Franklin has been written about, quoted, and misquoted as much as any figure in America history. But his most significant contribution, as ambassador to France during the American Revolution, is largely overlooked. Stacy Schiff focuses on just this period in this readable biography. She shows how Franklin’s personality—charming, disarming, honest, and devious—exactly suited his mission. Without his efforts, it is possible France wouldn’t have entered the war, becoming the force that brought England to surrender. Jason Culp is solid as narrator. His diction is clear, and he varies his pacing, which keeps the reading from becoming monotonous. He adds a touch of accent to French and English figures, which gives the reading a bit of flavor without becoming cartoonish. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940172132834
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publication date: 03/22/2005
Edition description: Abridged
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