Title: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Scenes From the Life of Benjamin Franklin
Author: Bowen, Catherine Drinker (1974)
Call Number: 973.3091 F854b/B F85b67
Notes: A noted Philadelphia author explores Franklin's character through five defining scenes from his life. A highly accessible book for general readers.

Title: The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
Author: Brands, H. W. (2002)
Call Number: 973.3092 F854bra
Notes: This Pulitzer Prize finalist combines masterful storytelling and meticulous scholarship. Franklin comes vividly to life as America's first Renaissance man.

Title: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Author: Franklin, Benjamin (1771-1790)
Call Number: various editions
Notes: Begun in 1771 as advice to his son William, this is the only book that Franklin ever wrote. The Autobiography tells Ben's own story of his early life up to the beginning of his diplomatic career in 1757, full of insight into his character and opinions. A One Book One Philadelphia selection for 2006.

Title: Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
Author: Isaacson, Walter (2004)
Call Number: 973.3092 F854is
Notes: This popular biography is perhaps unique in its discussion of Ben's strained and flawed relationship with his family. It shows us a Founding Father great and human at the same time.

Title: Benjamin Franklin
Author: Morgan, Edmund S. (2002)
Call Number: 973.3092 F854mor
Notes: Perhaps the best short biography of Franklin, noted historian Morgan presents glimpses into the life and character of the man from his own papers. Sometimes faulted for its slight coverage of politics, this is more of an appreciation than a work of meticulous scholarship.

Title: A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America
Author: Schiff, Stacy (2005)
Call Number: 327.7304 F854s
Notes: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Schiff presents an intriguing glimpse into Franklin's diplomatic years in France between the Declaration of Independence and the Treaty of Paris.

Title: Franklin: The Essential Founding Father
Author: Srodes, James (2002)
Call Number: 973.3092 F854sr
Notes: Historian and biographer Srodes tells Franklin's life story in the one of the most riveting accounts yet of the journalist, scientist, politician, and adventurer. A One Book One Philadelphia selection for 2006.

Title: Benjamin Franklin
Author: Van Doren, Carl (1938)
Call Number: 973.3092 F854v
Notes: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1939, Van Doren's work is still considered by most historians the most comprehensive and scholarly biography of Franklin available.

Title: Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin, Slavery, and the American Revolution
Author: Waldstreicher, David (2004)
Call Number: 973.3092 F854waL
Notes: Waldstreicher presents a fresh assessment of Franklin, slavery and the American Revolution, and explains how the Founding Father embodied the American paradox.

Title: The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
Author: Wood, Gordon S. (2004)
Call Number: 973.3092 F854wo
Notes: Not strictly a biography, but an insight into the shifting views and positions that Franklin assumed on his way to becoming an American. Wood is perhaps our foremost interpreter of the founding period in America.