World Famous Comics: A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America
A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America
By: Stacy Schiff Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Henry Holt and Co. Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 512 Publication Date: April 02, 2005 Release Date: March 10, 2005
Product Description: n December of 1776 a small boat delivered an old man to France.' So begins an enthralling narrative account of how Benjamin Franklin-seventy years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French-convinced France, an absolute monarchy, to underwrite America's experiment in democracy.When Franklin stepped onto French soil, he well understood he was embarking on the greatest gamble of his career. By virtue of fame, charisma, and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers, and hostile colleagues; engineered the Franco-American alliance of l778; and helped to negotiate the peace of l783. The eight-year French mission stands not only as Franklin's most vital service to his country but as the most revealing of the man.
Amazon.com Review: Benjamin Franklin began the "the most taxing assignment of his life" at the age of 70: to secure the aid of the French monarchy in helping the fledgling United States establish their republic. The job required tremendous skill, finesse, and discretion, and as Stacy Schiff makes clear in this brilliant book, Franklin was the ideal American, perhaps the only one, to take on the task, due in large part to his considerable personal prestige. One of the most famous men in the world when he landed in France in December 1776, his arrival caused a sensation--he was celebrated as a man of genius, a successor to Newton and Galileo, and treated as a great dignitary, even though the nation he represented was less than a year old and there were many doubts as to whether it would see its second birthday. Though he had no formal diplomatic training and spoke only rudimentary French, Franklin managed to engineer the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the peace treaty of 1783, effectively inventing American foreign policy as he went along, in addition to serving as chief diplomat, banker, and director of American naval affairs.
Franklin recognized and accepted the fact that French aid was crucial to American independence, but some Founding Fathers resented him for making America dependent on a foreign power and severely attacked him for securing the very aid that saved the cause. Schiff offers fascinating coverage of this American infighting, along with the complex political intrigue in France, complete with British spies and French double agents, secret negotiations and backroom deals. A Great Improvisation is an entertaining and illuminating portrait of Franklin's seven-year adventure in France that "stands not only as his greatest service to his country but the most revealing of the man." --Shawn Carkonen
Hard to Listen to on Audio Book This book was hard to listen to because it is hard to follow. It doesn't keep me interested enough to want to listen to the next disc. Very disappointed.
Franklin: with success, but not always without fault Sometimes plodding account of Ben Franklin's role as commissioner to France from 1776 to 1786 shows the great debt we owe Franklin for our independence, the great difficulties of diplomacy in an era when communication between continents took months, and the great difficulty of negotiating personalities and cultures in a climate of fear and uncertainty. Throughout, Franklin acted always honorably, though not without fault, and with more success than any of his American peers sent to replace, augment, or spy on him.
Put simply, no other American could have accomplished what Franklin did in the circumstance, least of all John Adams, whose legalistic and conspiratorial rantings show him in the most negative light. Without Franklin in France, the American experiment may well have been still-born.
The Great Improvisatiom:Franklin, France and the Birth of America This is a well-written and actually funny book. The energy and joie de vivre of Franklin drove this book. You learn that Paris during the American Revolution was chaotic. Everyone was spying on everyone else. Its a miracle that Franklin got the financial support he needed. Paris loved Franklin and you can see why. I loved this book. In fact i gave my copy to a friend and had to buy a replacement.
The Last Leg A Great Imporovisation is the third leg of a triangle that has long been incomplete. Though several books on Ben Franklin's stay in Paris have been written, none see through the Parisian lens the way Schiff does. None have her flair for physical context and dipolomatic nuance that reflects in their style. Schiff's treatment of this important and even weighty subject may not please the most exacting historians, but it's the way history should be written. Dreary is as dreary does, and none of that will be found here.
Writing syle interferes with content Despite enjoying a lot of books from this genre, I found this book to be almost unreadable. The author is too intent on bowling you over with her writing to write clear and interesting prose.
Here's an example: "The slippery stew which was a Paris thoroughfare accounted for the city's most singular danger. No man who had the means walked through the filth of the streets, and no man who had the means hired a driver with any respect for the individual who did."
I think I understand what this means, but I'm not even sure I do. In any case, I think it is an arrogant exaggeration to make a statement like this. I guess she knew about every man in Paris.
For what it is worth, I am in a book group and there seemed to be universal dislike of this book for similar reasons. I didn't attend, however, because I could not force myself to read past page 80.
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