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
Results 1-5 of 52
Page viii
... turned out to be a false problem . What remains instead is the problem of the route leading to 1776 , and especially 1789. And just as important , we confront the new task of explaining the two- century long illusion of 1789's Second ...
... turned out to be a false problem . What remains instead is the problem of the route leading to 1776 , and especially 1789. And just as important , we confront the new task of explaining the two- century long illusion of 1789's Second ...
Page 6
... turning point of 1830–1848 . Since the French Revolu- tion failed to complete its task of human emancipation , after the July overturn of 1830 its more radical heirs took to anticipating a second , and final , 1789 . On the far left ...
... turning point of 1830–1848 . Since the French Revolu- tion failed to complete its task of human emancipation , after the July overturn of 1830 its more radical heirs took to anticipating a second , and final , 1789 . On the far left ...
Page 12
... turning points or caesurae in human af- fairs , and one of these is the fall , or fading away , of the Western Roman Empire between the fifth and the eighth centuries . Indeed , some would argue that it was medieval Europe's great good ...
... turning points or caesurae in human af- fairs , and one of these is the fall , or fading away , of the Western Roman Empire between the fifth and the eighth centuries . Indeed , some would argue that it was medieval Europe's great good ...
Page 16
... turned homeward on learning of their Great Khan's death. In the meantime, however, most of Russia had become their tribu- tary. Thus, like Spain for some five hundred years after the Arab conquest of 712, or Hungary for almost two ...
... turned homeward on learning of their Great Khan's death. In the meantime, however, most of Russia had become their tribu- tary. Thus, like Spain for some five hundred years after the Arab conquest of 712, or Hungary for almost two ...
Page 19
... turned out that there were in fact three Europes . There was the original Europe of the Atlantic West , which was about to spearhead Christendom's second great expansion , this time across the Atlantic and around the world . There was ...
... turned out that there were in fact three Europes . There was the original Europe of the Atlantic West , which was about to spearhead Christendom's second great expansion , this time across the Atlantic and around the world . There was ...
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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