Reviews

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Lewis Gaston Leary, Benjamin Franklin

mattinthebooks's review against another edition

3.0

A few strong truths in here that I still hold onto, including:
- The idea that any person can reason themselves into any conclusion that feels right to them
- Any person can make great change provided they have sufficient determination, stamina, and organization
- Someone isn’t defined by where they are born or where they die, but what they do with the time in between

chloekg's review against another edition

3.0

If history is written by the victors, then every autobiography is full of triumph. It's a readable period piece with funny anecdotes. There is a gap in the middle where it seems like he abandoned the project and picked it up again after a few years. That second half is much less good.

veechronicles's review against another edition

3.0

did you guys know that benny loved swimming? he invented these wooden flippers and actually used them... anyway my prof went into heavy detail about this so now i'm inflicting this useless knowledge onto you

jasperburns's review against another edition

4.0

View my best reviews and a collection of mental models at jasperburns.blog.

ryan_reads_alot's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

jason_pym's review against another edition

2.0

I did like the part about his early life, apprenticed to an obnoxious brother and descriptions of the journey from Philidelphia to Boston where he had to jump ship and wade through a marsh. But overall I don't have enough knowledge of the times, it needed context. I'll definitely pick up a biography at some point.

timsin10's review against another edition

4.0

Fascinating but ended abruptly and didn't cover that latter part of his life

raghav_kannan's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

red_whiskey's review against another edition

4.0

I quite liked the book, but it does require your full attention to decipher what he is saying as it is written in the 18th century style. Ben Franklin was involved in so many things I hadn't known before reading this autobiography. I really liked hearing about the events of the day from a first person point of view. I would definitely recommend this to any history buff!

jongcharles's review against another edition

challenging funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective

4.5