cover image Benjamin Franklin, Politician: The Mask and the Man

Benjamin Franklin, Politician: The Mask and the Man

Francis Jennings. W. W. Norton & Company, $35 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-393-03983-2

This exhaustively researched study by Jennings (The Invasion of America), director emeritus of the Newberry Library's Center for the History of the American Indian, in Chicago, focuses on Franklin's political career from 1744 to 1775, before the American Revolution. The author traces the bitter struggle between Franklin, who served as master of the Pennsylvania Assembly, and the Penn family, who attempted to control the assembly by feudal rule. Many details of this political battle, which included Franklin's resentment of and revenge against Pennsylvania's Quakers and his prejudice toward German immigrants, were omitted from his Autobiography, a document that Jennings dismisses as ""about as valid as a campaign speech."" Although the author's reassessment of Franklin as a vain and egotistical genius is interesting, his writing style is frequently labored. A further detraction is Jennings's unfortunate habit of including his own opinions in parentheses. Photos not seen by PW. (Sept.) Luciano pavarotti: