Biographies

 Benjamin Franklin, An American Life,  by Walter Isaacson.

Brilliant, influential, charming and eccentric, Ben Franklin was a keen observer of the human animal as well as the many natural phenomena that he studied that he studied during his long and illustrious life. His advice on how to improve oneself is just as applicable today as when he first wrote his list of virtues nearly 300 years ago. His advice on how get along with one’s fellow man (always a delicate task) is just as perceptive and apt. Franklin was well known as a charming man and a gifted writer during his lifetime. The author of this biography, Walter Isaacson, displays his own ready charm and well-honed writing style in this personable and thoughtful look at one of America’s great men.

 

 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill by Gretchen Rubin.

A terrific introduction to the towering, complicated Winston Churchill. Rubin combines a warm, conversational writing style with exacting research. The book reads like a light, easy chat. The author’s tone is so relaxed and personable, one almost takes for granted Rubin’s quality and density of critical analysis. Churchill was described as “larger than life” even during his  own lifetime. Rubin does an excellent job in introducing the reader to the ever fascinating, vivid, charming, difficult, tumultuous Winston Churchill.