Schiff Stacy - A Great Improvisation Franklin France And The Birth Of America - Paperback

Binding: Paperback
Description: In this dazzling work of history a Pulitzer Prize - winning author follows Benjamin Franklin to France for the crowning achievement of his career Michael Douglas stars in Franklin premiering April 12 only on Apple TV+ " In 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 1778; and helped to negotiate the peace of 1783. 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. In A Great Improvisation Stacy Schiff draws from new and little - known sources to illuminate the least - explored part of Franklin's life. Here is an unfamiliar unforgettable chapter of the Revolution a rousing tale of American infighting and the treacherous backroom dealings at Versailles that would propel George Washington from near decimation at Valley Forge to victory at Yorktown. From these pages emerges a particularly human and yet fiercely determined Founding Father as well as a profound sense of how fragile improvisational and international was our country's bid for independence.
Title: A Great Improvisation Franklin France And The Birth Of America
Author(s): Schiff Stacy
Publisher: Henry Holt And Co.
Barcode: 9780805080094
Pages: 528 Pages
Language: English
Publication Date: 1/10/2006
Category: History Of The Americas