Dr Franklin Goes to France by Stacy Schiff
Six months after America declared her independence, Congress dispatched Benjamin Franklin to France to solicit aid and arms for the upcoming fight. He was seventy years old, possessed of the most rudimentary French and without any diplomatic training. But this most remarkable of envoys, who had in previous incarnations been a printer, a postmaster, a fixer, a colonial agent and who had tamed lightning, was also among the most famous men in the world. In his eight Parisian years he worked harder than he ever had in his life, charmed the French, outwitted the British spies, and stirred a passion for a republic in an absolute monarchy. It was largely through his charisma and negotiating skill that France bankrolled the American Revolution. Stacy Schiff tells a tale of international intrigue entirely from primary sources, working from a host of diplomatic archives, family papers, spy reports, and records of the French foreign service. From her pages emerges an intimate portrait of a brilliant man, as well as a sense of the fragility and improvisation of his country's bid for independence.
'What a brilliant bookTHE FIRST AMERICAN pays tribute to the extraordinary love affair between monarchist France and the republican Benjamin Franklin. Stacy Schiff has written a masterpiece' Amanda Foreman author of GEORGIANA: DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE 'This is a book to savour. Schiff has given a genuine jolt to the recent surge of interest in Franklin, along the way demonstrating why she is generally regarded as one of the most gifted storytellers writing today' Joseph J. Ellis, author of FOUNDING BROTHERS AND HIS EXCELLENCY: GEORGE WASHINGTON
Stacy Schiff is the author of Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) which won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 2000 and Saint-Exupery, which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize. She lives in New York City.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780747569237 |
| ISBN 10 | 0747569231 |
| Title | Dr Franklin Goes to France |
| Author | Stacy Schiff |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2005-09-05 |
| Number of pages | 512 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |