The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
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Narrated by:
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Walter Covell
About this listen
At one time, Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia and succeeded in making a profit out of it. He organized the citizenry to pave and light the streets, started a fire brigade and a fire insurance company, founded a lending library, helped build a hospital, and got and academy underway that later became the University of Pennsylvania.
And to everything he touched, including this autobiography, Franklin brought originality and wit.
Big Ben: explore our extensive list of titles about Benjamin Franklin.Public Domain (P)1987 JimCin RecordingsListeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
Benjamin Franklin is widely hailed as one of the first great Americans: an inventor, publisher, scientist, and diplomat. In his 1791 autobiography, readers are invited to meet the man behind the legend.
Composed between 1771 and 1790, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin begins as a letter from Franklin, at age 65, to his son William. This form gives the book an intimate tone as Franklin recounts family stories and his apprenticeship as a printer. In later sections, he discusses his plans for a public library and his experiments with electricity.
Narrator Walter Covell, using a mid-Atlantic accent appropriate to 18th-century American English, breathes life into this generous, eclectic autobiography.
Critic reviews
"The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is a document essential to any understanding of the famous American philosopher and statesman. It is one of the best-known American books and has been much admired in all parts of the world." (Masterworks of Autobiography)
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revolutionary ideas for sure
- By reggie p on 08-20-03
By: Thomas Paine
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John Adams
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 29 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,123
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,292
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Story5 out of 5 stars 7,275
McCullough's John Adams has the sweep and vitality of a great novel. This is history on a grand scale, an audiobook about politics, war, and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, it is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An outstanding biography
- By Davis on 07-10-06
By: David McCullough
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Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 24 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,819
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,738
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,704
Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us - an ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings. In best-selling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin turns to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. In Benjamin Franklin, Isaacson shows how Franklin defines both his own time and ours. The most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good book, not crazy about the narrator
- By Cathi on 07-20-13
By: Walter Isaacson
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Vicar of Wakefield
- By: Oliver Goldsmith
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4 out of 5 stars 50
The simple village vicar, Mr. Primrose, is living with his wife and six children in complete tranquility until unexpected calamities force them to weather one hilarious adventure after another. Goldsmith plays out this classic comedy of manners with a light, ironic touch that is irresistibly charming.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Snidely Whiplash Ravishes Hapless Maidens
- By Joseph R on 12-26-09
By: Oliver Goldsmith
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Notes from the Underground (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Constance Garnett - translator
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 293
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 247
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 245
Isolated from society in a tenement basement in St. Petersburg, a malicious former civil servant vents his resentments. In the rambling notes that follow, we are exposed to the inner turmoil of the Underground Man, who represents the voice of his generation. An emotional, paranoid knot of contradictions, the spiteful narrator is also desperate to join a society he loathes, if only to prove his superiority to it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing
- By Bryan on 02-19-19
By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and others
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The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
- By: Benvenuto Cellini
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 69
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4 out of 5 stars 49
Master Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and writer Benvenuto Cellini is best remembered for his magnificent autobiography. In this work, which was actually begun in 1558 but not published until 1730, Cellini beautifully chronicles his flamboyant times. He tells of his adventures in Italy and France, and his relations with popes, kings, and fellow artists.
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2 out of 5 stars
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The problem is with Cellini himself.
- By Leslie Ross on 06-07-10
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Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
Jonathan Swift is best remembered today as the author of Gulliver’s Travels, the satiric fantasy that quickly became a classic and has remained in print for nearly three centuries. Yet Swift also wrote many other influential works, was a major political and religious figure in his time, and became a national hero, beloved for his fierce protest against English exploitation of his native Ireland. What is really known today about the enigmatic man behind these accomplishments? Can the facts of his life be separated from the fictions?
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5 out of 5 stars
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JOHNATHAN SWIFT AND POWER OF THE PEN
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 09-30-14
By: Leo Damrosch
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The Confessions
- By: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 30 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 57
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Story4 out of 5 stars 47
Dr. Johnson may have been correct in saying that “Rousseau was a very bad man,” but none can argue that his ideas are among the most influential in all of world history. It was Rousseau, the father of the romantic movement, who was responsible for introducing at least two modern day thoughts that pervade academia. The Confessions is Rousseau’s landmark autobiography. Both brilliant and flawed, it is nonetheless beautifully written and remains one of the most moving human documents in all of literature.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Extraordinary in its ordinariness...
- By Varni-Maree on 08-28-12
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The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
- By: Henry Fielding
- Narrated by: Kenneth Danzinger
- Length: 35 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 262
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 206
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 205
A foundling of mysterious parentage, Tom Jones is brought up by the benevolent and wealthy Squire Allworthy as his own son. Tom falls in love with the beautiful and unattainable Sophia Western, a neighbor’s daughter, whose marriage has already been arranged. When Tom’s sexual misadventures around the countryside get him banished, he sets out to make his fortune and find his true identity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Well read, many accents, older recording
- By Elizabeth on 12-16-10
By: Henry Fielding
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Benjamin Franklin: A Captivating Guide to an American Polymath and a Founding Father of the United States of America
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story5 out of 5 stars 32
Benjamin Franklin was a Founding Father of America and had an enormous impact on America as it is today. In addition to that, there are many little-known facts about the man who is Benjamin Franklin. Unlike many of the other Founding Fathers, he started out in humble circumstances. From a young age, Benjamin Franklin fought for the rights of America at home and abroad. Yet, he bore the burdens of leadership and never shirked nor faltered in his mission. His greatest asset was his charm and friendliness, but he had his detractors as well and felt the emotional impact of that.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Audiobook
- By Jaxon Jordon on 02-10-19
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The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
- Written by Himself
- By: Frederick Douglass
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 586
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 516
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Story5 out of 5 stars 509
The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass was Douglass' third autobiography. In it he was able to go into greater detail about his life as a slave and his escape from slavery, as he and his family were no longer in any danger from the reception of his work. In this engrossing narrative he recounts early years of abuse; his dramatic escape to the North and eventual freedom, abolitionist campaigns, and his crusade for full civil rights for former slaves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent in so many ways...
- By Your Old Pal Sisco on 06-24-14
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The Memorable Thoughts of Socrates
- By: Xenophon, Edward Bysshe - translator
- Narrated by: Nicholas Tecosky
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Xenophon was a Greek who admired and studied with Socrates. He marched with the Spartans and later was exiled from Athens. He wrote about the history of his times, the sayings of Socrates and about life in Greece. Edward Bysshe translated Xenophone's work in 1702. This translation has continued to have an excellent reputation. In this work Xenophon discusses the views of life taught by Socrates.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Philosopher, Soldier, Historian and Mercenary
- By Darwin8u on 12-04-12
By: Xenophon, and others
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The Club
- Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 372
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 308
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
In 1763, the painter Joshua Reynolds proposed to his friend Samuel Johnson that they invite a few friends to join them every Friday at the Turk's Head Tavern in London to dine, drink, and talk until midnight. Eventually, the group came to include among its members Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, and James Boswell. It was known simply as "the Club". In this captivating audiobook, Leo Damrosch brings alive a brilliant, competitive, and eccentric cast of characters.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful survey
- By Tad Davis on 05-10-19
By: Leo Damrosch
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William Wilberforce
- A Hero for Humanity
- By: Kevin Belmonte
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity is the definitive biography of the English statesman who overcame incredible odds to bring about the end of slavery and slave trade. Called 'the wittiest man in England' by philosopher and novelist Madame de Stael, praised by Abraham Lincoln, and renowned for his oratorical genius, Wilberforce worked tirelessly to accomplish his goal. Whether you are an avid student of history, a pupil of prominent leaders of the past, or simply someone who reads for pleasure, you will love award-winning biographer Kevin Belmonte's vivid account....
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Genuine Hero
- By mathmac on 09-30-17
By: Kevin Belmonte
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Lady Susan
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Linda Barrans, Denis Daly, Catherine Bilson
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Lady Susan Vernon, middle-aged and recently widowed, has retained her looks and appealing vivacity. She makes use of her bereavement and her loss of wealth by imposing herself on the hospitality of relatives, and by amusing herself in flirtation with the various men who fall under her spell. Lady Susan has a daughter, Frederica, who is bashful and innocent—in stark contrast to her unfeeling and manipulative mother. Her mother is anxious to marry Frederica off to a spouse of appropriate wealth and social standing, and also, perhaps, to capture a new mate for herself.
By: Jane Austen
What listeners say about The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- D. Coulon
- 09-13-07
Interesting, but poor audio
The book is a very interesting look at Ben Franklin, although it is quite short. I would have liked to have had more of his writings included, such as his writings on virtues. The audio quality is poor and the book downloaded with 3 hours of some other book spliced into the end. I would try to find a Ben Franklin book that includes more of his writings if I had to do it again.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Buhldog
- 11-04-15
Enlightening
I really enjoyed hearing some great things about an important Founding Father. I would have loved to hear more. More about experiences with the Revolution, experiments, role as an ambassador, patriot, etc. He gives just enough to make you more interested. I recommend reading autobiographies first before you read all the trash that has been written about the person in the last 10 years. I recommend the same with this.
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