Who was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), the American whose death prompted the French National Assembly to order three days of national mourning? In his vivid biography, Ernst-Christian Demisch paints an authentic picture of this astonishingly versatile and influential personality. At the age of 22, Franklin had already founded a printing press, he invented the lightning rod after many scientific experiments, and as a statesman he shaped the political and social life of his time. Demisch's impressive descriptions also familiarise us with an important period of American, English and French history.