A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America

Arrived on time as described

In my British ignorance, I had led myself to believe that there was only one version of the life of Benjamin Franklin - that of the unique and unparalleled polymath and all-American hero, born in the British Empire but buried at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the great republic that he helped to create. But Stacy Schiff's extremely readable and obviously well-researched book that covers the period of Dr. Franklin's life when he was an envoy of the second Continental Congress to the Court of King Louis XVI of France also covers the controversy that surrounded this amateur ambassador, stirred most particularly by the brothers Arthur Lee and William Lee of Virginia and John Adams of Massachusetts, later to be the second President of The United States. The former seem to have been motivated by Southern superciliousness and arrogance, 'qualities' battered out of their kind in the later 'War for Southern Independence' by the descendants of the likes of the latter, possessors of their own special sort of sanctimonious superiority complexes. I can forgive the Lee family for almost anything, for one of my all-time American heroes is General Robert Edward Lee, but it is clear that his older relatives, Arthur and William, disgraced themselves, Virginia and their infant nation by their constant sniping at the one man who was winning over French opinion and, more importantly, attracting French cash and much, much more, for General Washington's army. As to Adams, his distaste for the venerable Dr. Franklin is sufficiently well-documented not to be doubted. The motive for this distaste can reasonably be attributed in part to his narrow and God-fearing New England background, especially when contrasted with Franklin's leading and learned role in enlightening America. The one was old Massachusetts, through and through, whilst the other early 'escaped' to Philadelphia. I don't suppose it suited some of his critics that Benjamin Franklin was a 'liberal,' not only in his personal and family life but also in his general tolerance of others and his enjoyment of the female attractions of the French Court and of Paris. Of course, they might just have been jealous of the old boy, who, well into his seventies, was getting away with what a twenty-year-old might not have dared to attempt. Not all were detractors of the good doctor: I was delighted to read - and will remember - the marvellous quote (which I hope is not apocryphal) of the Virginian who was to become the third President of The United States. Mr Jefferson, upon arriving at Versailles in May, 1785, is said to have been asked: "Is it you, Sir, who replaces Dr. Franklin?," to which another of my all-time American heroes replied: "No one can replace him, Sir; I am only his successor." But, for me, the most surprising portion of this book is its thorough cataloguing of the ingratitude of America and Americans towards Franklin and towards France, without whose financial sacrifices and physical support in the

Stacy Schiff does a wonderful job with A Great Improvisation. Not only was it educational to read due to the fascinating content, Ms. Schiff also presented the material with engaging prose. Some people contend that her sentence structure is too complicated. I have to say that I don't agree. Surely one can't expect books that matter to only contain simple sentence structure and grade-6 vocabulary. This book was far easier to digest than, say, some esoteric philosophical treatise. But it certainly was more sophisticated than one of the Harry Potter novels. Ms. Schiff provides a tremendous amount of insight into Franklin from the French perspective. Few Franklin biographers have been able to attack primary sources written in the French language. Thus we may in fact be getting a far more realistic portrayal of the man who single handedly enabled America to obtain enough funds to maintain a protracted war for independence. Without these funds, that literally emptied France's coffers, America would probably be more like Canada or Australia today. Not the most distasteful of images. One could also speculate that if Franklin would have failed in Paris, America would have entered WWII in 1939 as part of the British Commonwealth and millions of lives would have been saved. But I digress. The statement Ms. Schiff makes about the "ugly American" in her epilogue is quite revealing. She pointed out that "one thing Franklin did not invent was the ugly American, that uncouth, incurious, chest-jabbing chauvinist, spiritually bankrupt and materially insatiable, given to baseball hats, sports metaphors and sanctimoniousness." This ugly American identity is seen throughout the book. It is established through the discussion of Franklin's American enemies who had distaste for France and the rest of Europe for the most part. This theme of "American enemies" is woven throughout American history. Schiff's portrayal of Adams and the Lee clan for example portray an American divide that exists to this day. Schiff does do justice to the memory of Franklin. She does not white wash the inconsistencies of Franklin's personality or his lack of organizational skills. On the other hand you do get the feeling that he was an endearing old man who had interesting stories to tell and continuously made astute observations that Americans seemed to care little about. Franklin had said that there was no good war and no bad peace, but there was little effort on Franklin's part to support his famous adage. I would have liked Schiff to address this inconsistency in more detail instead of just pointing it out. As well, Franklin didn't seem to consider the poverty in France as an issue to be discussed. This is another area that could have been addressed if, of course, there are any records of his thoughts on such issues. The bottom line is that if you care anything about American history this book is a must to read. And unlike many history books, this one is enjo

Founding Fathers are hot stuff these days. Benjamin Franklin, with two major bios in the past three years (Morgan and Isaacson) and re-publication of others by H.W. Brands and Gordon Wood, may be the hottest. Into this crowd wades Stacy Schiff, whose elegant and witty biography of Vera Nabokov won a 2000 Pulitzer (and whose previous bio of Saint-Exupéry garnered a nomination). Why step from uncommon byways onto a crowded boulevard? Happily, Schiff's breezy, cosmopolitan, but never superficial style is excellently suited to the open-minded satirist and scientist, and a tale that reads like a cruel farce. _A Great Improvisation_ focuses on just eight years of Franklin's 84-year life, starting in 1776 when he was sent to Paris by the Continental Congress at the age of 70 to get France into the war. Fortunately, France regarded Franklin as a celebrity genius, which was more than many of his colleagues back home in Congress thought of him. Franklin was "honest, but not too honest, which qualifies in France as a failure of imagination." He could "indulge in the ingenious and wholly specious argument, a staple of French conversation." His defense of French admiral d'Estaing was "a shining tribute to benevolent ignorance. (And one that happened accidentally to be accurate.)" Surrounded by spies, he had papers and money stolen. The other Americans in Paris squabbled endlessly with one another, accusing the French of deceit and intrigue even more than the British. Franklin's co-commissioner, Arthur Lee, "was ideally suited for the mission in every way save for his personality, which was rancid." Poor trans-Atlantic communications enabled the Paris delegation's enemies to poison Congress against them, especially Franklin, who risked censure several times. He also was beset by psoriasis boils, gout and bladder stones. Schiff does not neglect Franklin's poor relations with much of his family, and his flirtations with French ladies, widowed and married. It's a wonder it all came out so well. Not a little of the credit goes to Franklin's skill as "a natural diplomat, genial and ruthless." When he was "rebuffed, he played hard to get"! France ended up backing the colonies' successful revolution with men, arms, ships, and aid that would be worth $13 billion today. Americans who carp about Gallic "ingratitude" for their 1940s rescue might consider whether we were paying a 160-year-old debt. With writing this good, it's startling to encounter a false note: more than once, Schiff uses "adverse" when "averse" is the word she wants. The book also shows rare but regrettable signs of sloppy editing. Franklin's grandson Temple is said to be 18 upon their arrival in Paris in mid 1777, but thirty pages and five months later he is 17. The news of Burgoyne's capture as a prisoner after the Battle of Saratoga is reported to hit Paris on Dec. 4, 1778, which is a year late. Nevertheless, Schiff handles a broad array of characters and events with élan. Her book reads like

Populated by characters worthy of Dickens (including a theatrical producer, a dyspeptic diplomat and a female impersonator), ranging from back alleys to country estates to the royal court, combining elements of espionage, political deal-making, dangerous liaisons and the price of fame, "A Great Improvisation" has a you-are-there immediacy and tells an irresistible story that just happens to be at the heart of our survival as a country.

"Silas Deane was stranded in Paris, sick with anxiety, and nearly out of invisible ink." Every book should begin this well. All the wonderful adjectives others have used to describe this book are true. A tip: if by chance you are writer and you give this book to your mother and after finishing it she asks why you can't write like Stacy Schiff, the best reply is just, "Who can?" Then leave the room and count to ten.