William Morrow Press
352 Pages
The previous book that I read was also by Edward J. Lawson, The Return of George Washington. I saw this book at the bookstore and thought that it might make a good addition to the reading project. Franklin & Washington is an intriguing book, but I’m not sure whether it really fits into the project. Going forward, my future presidents will have a more focused reading list. I am starting to take another look at John Adams as I start to close in on our second president.
Benjamin Franklin and George Washington are among two of the most visible of the Founding Fathers. Obviously they had considerable interaction during the formation of our country, even if Franklin was often overseas. By the title of this book, I thought there would be more focus on their relationship during the years of the Revolution, the Articles of the Confederation, and the Constitutional Convention. I was hoping for a deeper dive into their personal relationship. On this point, I was sorely disappointed.
This book did a great job giving us the basics on the lives of each of these Founding Fathers individually. It offered insights on their thinking while the Articles of Confederation were crumbling and the need for a re-write was paramount. With George Washington at the helm Franklin returned from France, he was appointed as the de facto governor of Pennsylvania. In 1787, he graciously hosted the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and served as a Pennsylvania delegate at the same. George Washington was the president of that convention. This book does go into some nicer detail on this process.
Franklin and Washington by Edward Larson does not break much new ground, but its readability gives the casually interested reader of history a chance to learn a bit more about these two men. There are several little nuggets of information that could induce someone to take up another book to get a deeper understanding of these men and their times. Much of the Articles of Confederation era are not well known. This gives us a glimpse of some of that time, even if it’s mostly cursory.
As for this book fitting into the biographies of George Washington, this one barely qualifies for the project. It doesn’t really give any new information on Washington. However, it does work as a reading companion to the main project. At the time of this writing (which is well after I’ve read this book as well as several others), my George Washington books are wrapping up and I’m transitioning to John Adams. When I finish the reviews for Washington, I will develop a list of biographies that are the best, in my opinion, for others to read. I will clearly denote which are solid biographies as opposed to companion pieces. Franklin and Washington fits firmly into the companion piece category.
I did like Edward J. Larson’s writing in this book. It was easy to follow, even after reading nearly thirty books on Washington. I’ve started to go cross eyed reading some of these, but Larson delivers a refreshing narrative that reinvigorated me into the project. Relatively short at 350 pages, this could be a book for someone just looking to read a little history about the birth of our nation and two of the men who helped to mold it,
Craig Bacon is feverishly working to read more books on the Presidents. I’ll get there. I promise.
NEXT UP: Valiant Ambition by Nathaniel Philbrick