Bibliograph

A great improvisation, Franklin, France, and the birth of America, Stacy Schiff

Type

Label

A great improvisation, Franklin, France, and the birth of America, Stacy Schiff

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 459-461) and index

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

A great improvisation

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

57001654

Responsibility statement

Stacy Schiff

Sub title

Franklin, France, and the birth of America

Summary

"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 he was off on the greatest gamble of his careerBut despite minimal direction from Congress he was soon outwitting the British secret service and stirring a passion for a republic in an absolute monarchy. In A Great Improvisation, 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"

Table Of Contents

The first mistake in public business is the going into it 1776 -- Half the truth is often a great lie 1776-1777 -- Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead 1777 -- The cat in gloves catches no mice 1777-1778 -- There is no such thing as a little enemy 1778 -- Admiration is the daughter of ignorance 1778 -- Success has ruined many a man 1779 -- Everyone has wisdom enough to manage the affairs of his neighbors 1780 -- The sting of a reproach is the truth of it 1780-1781 -- Those who in quarrels interpose may get bloody nose 1782 -- The absent are never without fault 1783 -- Creditors have better memories than debtors 1784-1785

Classification