History's Locomotives: Revolutions and the Making of the Modern WorldYale University Press, 1. jaan 2006 - 384 pages This engaging book reveals Benjamin Franklin's human side, his tastes and habits, his enthusiasms, and his devotion to democracy and the people of the United States. Three hundred years after his birth, we may remember Franklin's famous autobiography, or his status as framer of the Declaration of Independence, or perhaps his sage advice on diligence and thrift. But historian Edmund Morgan invites us to meet the man himself, an ordinary, sociable, good-natured human being with boundless curiosity about the natural world and a vision of what America could be. Drawing on life-long research in the vast Franklin archives, Morgan assembles lesser-known writings that offer insights into this founding father's thinking. The book is organized around three major themes, each with an introduction. The first section includes journal excerpts and letters revealing Franklin's personal tastes and habits. The second is devoted to Franklin's inexhaustible intellectual energy and his scientific discoveries. The third chronicles his devotion to serving the people who became the United States, and to his democratic vision of their independent future. Franklin's humanity and genius have never seemed more real than in the pages of this appealing anthology. |
From inside the book
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Page 15
... princes of the em- pire, it was only prudent for them to seek control of the church's center in Rome. Prudent but not practical; for feudal administrative means were inadequate for controlling the sprawling German-Italian domain. And so ...
... princes of the em- pire, it was only prudent for them to seek control of the church's center in Rome. Prudent but not practical; for feudal administrative means were inadequate for controlling the sprawling German-Italian domain. And so ...
Page 16
... prince and his comitatus of boyars (druzhina), which until the late fifteenth century functioned under a contractual regime of what may be fairly called incipient feudalism.10 THE WESTERN TAKEOFF It was in the heartland of Latin ...
... prince and his comitatus of boyars (druzhina), which until the late fifteenth century functioned under a contractual regime of what may be fairly called incipient feudalism.10 THE WESTERN TAKEOFF It was in the heartland of Latin ...
Page 19
... Prince to largely free himself from dependence on the hereditary boyar nobility , and to replace it with a gentry ( sluzhilye liudi ; dvorianstvo ) holding its lands on condition of military service . The whole of this structure was now ...
... Prince to largely free himself from dependence on the hereditary boyar nobility , and to replace it with a gentry ( sluzhilye liudi ; dvorianstvo ) holding its lands on condition of military service . The whole of this structure was now ...
Page 41
... princes preemptively adopted Christianity and sought a royal title , preferably from the pope rather than the emperor , to pro- tect themselves from conquest and colonization by the Germans . Thus in 973 , Prague , which hitherto had ...
... princes preemptively adopted Christianity and sought a royal title , preferably from the pope rather than the emperor , to pro- tect themselves from conquest and colonization by the Germans . Thus in 973 , Prague , which hitherto had ...
Page 44
... prince , the Elector of Saxony . In this enforced retreat , Hus began to preach to the peasants in the open countryside . Though he was now on the verge of open revolt against the church , it should be emphasized that throughout his ...
... prince , the Elector of Saxony . In this enforced retreat , Hus began to preach to the peasants in the open countryside . Though he was now on the verge of open revolt against the church , it should be emphasized that throughout his ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
35 | |
Part II Classic Atlantic Revolutions | 131 |
Part III The Quest for Socialist Revolution | 213 |
Conclusion and Epilogue | 279 |
Whats in a Name? | 287 |
Appendix II High Social Science and Staseology | 302 |
Notes | 317 |
Index | 343 |
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