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The Best Books About Benjamin Franklin

“What are the best books about Benjamin Franklin?” We looked at 90 of the top Franklin book and biographies, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 6 titles, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Benjamin Franklin” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 75+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.

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Top 6 Books About Benjamin Franklin



6 .) A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain by Benjamin Franklin

Lists It Appears On:

  • Ranker
  • Questia

“The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses.”

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5 .) Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

Lists It Appears On:

  • Jack Miller Center
  • Quora

Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard’s Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.

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4 .) Benjamin Franklin’s The Art of Virtue: His Formula for Successful Living

Lists It Appears On:

  • Ranker
  • Owlcation

Benjamin Franklin’s The Art of Virtue consists of a collection of Franklin’s writings organized around his timeless philosophy on such topics as: goal setting and personal achievement, obtaining wealth and preserving health, human relations and family living, religion and morality, aging and dying, and much, much more.

Full of profound insights, delightful humor, quotable quotes, and plenty of common sense; The Art of Virtue provides wonderful reading for both young and old alike.

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3 .) Franklin: Writings

Lists It Appears On:

  • Ranker
  • Owlcation

Depicting Franklin as a controversial figure in his own time, this volume includes political, economic, and social pieces, scientific articles, opinions on education and religion, propaganda exercises drawn from “Silence Dogwood,” writings from the “Pennsylvania Gazette,” and “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” and letters

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2 .) Now and Ben by Gene Barretta

Lists It Appears On:

  • NY Times
  • Best Childrens Books

What would you do if you lived in a community without a library, hospital, post office, or fire department? If you were Benjamin Franklin, you’d set up these organizations yourself. Franklin also designed the lightning rod, suggested the idea of daylight savings time, and invented bifocals-all inspired by his common sense and intelligence. In this informative book, Gene Barretta brings Benjamin Franklin’s genius to life, deepening our appreciation for one of the most influential figures in American history.

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1 .) The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

Lists It Appears On:

  • Questia
  • Patheos
  • Ranker
  • Owlcation
  • Jack Miller Center
  • Quora

“Written initially to guide his son, Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography is a lively, spellbinding account of his unique and eventful life, now a classic of world literature that is sure to inspire and delight readers everywhere.

Few men could compare to Benjamin Franklin. Virtually self-taught, he excelled as an athlete, a man of letters, a printer, a scientist, a wit, an inventor, an editor, and a writer, and he was probably the most successful diplomat in American history. David Hume hailed him as the first great philosopher and great man of letters in the New World.”

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The 75+ Additional Best Benjamin Franklin Biographies and Autobiographies



 

#BooksAuthorsLists
(Titles Appear On 1 List Each)
7A Companion to Benjamin FranklinDavid WaldstreicherQuestia
8A DANGEROUS ENGINEJoan DashNY Times
9
A Letter By Dr. Franklin To The Royal Academy Of Brussels
Ranker
10A letter from B. Franklin to a young manRanker
11
A letter from Mr. Franklin to Mr. Peter Collinson, F.R.S. concerning the effect of lightning ; A letter of Benjamin Franklin, Esq. to Mr. Peter Collinson, F.R.S. concerning an electrical kite
Ranker
12A letter of advice to a young man concerning marriageRanker
13A parableRanker
14AddressRanker
15Amazing Ben Franklin Inventions You Build YourselfCarmella Van Vleet
Best Childrens Books
16America A Concise HistoryRanker
17America’s Big BenRanker
18Anais NinRanker
19Apology for printersRanker
20Articles of beliefRanker
21Articles Of Belief And Acts Of Religion Vol.2Ranker
22AutobiographyRanker
23Autobiography, Poor Richard, and later writingsRanker
24
Automatic Wealth: The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind–Including
Ranker
25Avis nécessaire à ceux qui veulent devenir richeRanker
26B. Franklin, innovatorRanker
27Ben and Me
Best Childrens Books
28Ben Franklin and the Magic SquaresFrank Murphy
Best Childrens Books
29Ben Franklin of Old PhiladephiaMargaret Cousins
Best Childrens Books
30Ben Franklin, American Genius
Best Childrens Books
31Ben Franklin, His Wit and Wisdom from A to ZAlan Schroeder
Best Childrens Books
32Ben Franklin’s Almanac
Best Childrens Books
33Ben Franklin’s FameStacia Deutch
Best Childrens Books
34Benjamin FranklinCarl Van DorenPatheos
35Benjamin FranklinEdmund S. Morgan
Jack Miller Center
36Benjamin FranklinJohn Bach McMasterQuestia
37Benjamin FranklinRalph L. KetchamQuestia
38Benjamin Franklin and American Foreign PolicyGerald Stourzh
Jack Miller Center
39Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan EdwardsRanker
40Benjamin Franklin and the American CharacterCharles L. SanfordQuestia
41Benjamin Franklin on balloonsRanker
42Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later WritingsJ. A. Leo Lemay
Jack Miller Center
43Benjamin Franklin: His Contribution to the American TraditionI. Bernard CohenQuestia
44Benjamin Franklin: Silence Dogood, the Busy-Body, and Early WritingsJ. A. Leo Lemay
Jack Miller Center
45Benjamin Franklin’s autobiographical writingsRanker
46Benjamin Franklin’s ExperimentsRanker
47Benjamin Franklin’s HumorPaulm ZallQuestia
48Benjamin Franklin’s own storyRanker
49Benjamin Franklin’s Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early AmericaRalph FrascaQuestia
50
Benjamin Franklin’s Proposals for the education of youth in Pennsylvania, 1749
Ranker
51Bite-size Ben FranklinRanker
52Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane FranklinJill LeporePatheos
53Books of American Wisdom Boxed SetRanker
54
Christian Experience Or, Sincerity Seeking The Way To Heaven
Ranker
55Collected Works Of Benjamin FranklinRanker
56Compleated Autobiography by Benjamin FranklinRanker
57Complete WorksRanker
58Conseils pour s’enrichirRanker
59
Cool Thoughts On The Present Situation Of Our Public Affairs
Ranker
60Critical Essays on Benjamin FranklinMelvin H. Buxbaum
Jack Miller Center
61Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of EnlightenmentMichael Brian Schiffer; Kacy L. Hollenback; Carrie L. BellQuestia
62
Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise, or, Early rising, a natural, social, and religious duty
Ranker
63Essays And Letters V1Ranker
64Essential Writings Of Benjamin FranklinRanker
65
Experiments and observations on electricity, made at Philadelphia in America
Ranker
66Experiments in ElectricityRanker
67Facetiæ Frankliana. [sic]Ranker
68
Father Abraham’s speech to a great number of people, at a vendue of merchant-goods
Ranker
69Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin Volume 2Ranker
70Franklin was thereRanker
71Franklin’s boyhood in BostonRanker
72Franklin’s Way to wealth, or, “Poor Richard improved”Ranker
73General Benjamin Franklin: The Military Career of a PhilosopherJ. Bennett NolanQuestia
74How Ben Franklin Stole the LightningRosalyn Schanzer
Best Childrens Books
75John, Paul, George and BenLane Smith
Best Childrens Books
76Mr. Franklin: A Selection from His Personal LettersBenjamin Franklin; Whitfield J. Bell Jr.; Leonard W. LabareeQuestia
77Poor Richard’s AlmanackOwlcation
78Reappraising Benjamin Franklin
Jack Miller Center
79The Amazing Life of Benjamin FranklinJames Cross Giblin
Best Childrens Books
80The Americanization of Benjamin FranklinGordon WoodPatheos
81The autobiography and other writingsRanker
82The Ingenious Dr. Franklin: Selected Scientific Letters of Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin; Nathan G. GoodmanQuestia
83The Life of Benjamin FranklinJ.A. Leo LemayPatheos
84The Papers of Benjamin FranklinLeonard W. Labaree
Jack Miller Center
85The Private Franklin: The Man and His FamilyClaude-Anne Lopez; Eugenia W. HerbertQuestia
86The sayings of Poor RichardRanker
87
The Thinking Revolutionary: Principle and Practice in the New Republic
Jack Miller Center
88The Way to WealthOwlcation
89What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?Jean Fritz
Best Childrens Books
90Who Was Ben Franklin?Dennis Fradin
Best Childrens Books


8 Best Learn More About Benjamin Franklin Book Sources/Lists



SourceArticle
Best Childrens Books Benjamin Franklin Biography for Kids
Jack Miller Center BEST BOOKS ON BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: LORRAINE PANGLE
NY Times Benjamin Franklin Books
Owlcation Five Benjamin Franklin Books With Encouragement and Inspiration
Patheos Top Five Books on Benjamin Franklin
Questia Benjamin Franklin
Quora What is the best book to read on Benjamin Franklin?
Ranker Benjamin Franklin – Books/Stories/Written Works