When Benjamin Franklin, a runaway with a few coins in his pocket, arrived in Philadelphia, few could imagine that he would rise to become America’s foremost writer, scientist, diplomat and one of her most ingenious and practical political leaders.

Despite the brilliance of his career, however, it is Franklin’s common touch which has made him the most familiar and popular of the Founding Fathers. From meagre beginnings as a printer’s apprentice in Boston to his position as one of the young republic’s most senior statesmen, Franklin came to embody a new, uniquely American archetype – the self-made man, characterised by pragmatism, populism, homespun wisdom and entrepreneurial energy.

In this vibrant biography, Walter Isaacson deftly explores each period of Franklin’s long, eventful life and remarkable achievements: his involvement with the Continental Congress, editing the Declaration of Independence; his role as a peacemaker in shaping alliances and treaties with France and Britain; his civic works such as the promotion of street lighting and the improvement of the police force; and his philanthropic interests, including the founding of the University of Pennsylvania. Franklin was a scientist and inventor – his iconic experiment of flying a kite in a storm to attract an ‘electrical charge’ from lightning was just one of many. He went on to develop, amongst several innovations, bifocal glasses and a new design for a wood-burning stove.

Franklin was an unashamed self-publicist, consciously tailoring his image to his audience. It is Isaacson’s great skill as a biographer to reveal a rounded portrait of Franklin, covering both his private life with friends, wife and children and his public persona, whether sparring with political opponents, scientists and philosophers or flirting with Parisian ladies as Ambassador to France. Franklin’s vision of government for everyman – encapsulated in his motto, ‘To pour forth benefits for the common good is divine’ – is arguably his greatest legacy.

Today the United States of America is a global powerhouse, yet when it first secured independence, many doubted that this new nation would endure. The vision and dedication of America's first leaders proved them wrong.

This collection of America's founding fathers includes the extraordinary lives of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. These authoritative, modern biographies reveal individuals who were passionate in their convictions, dedicated to their ideals, and yet, for all their brilliance, often flawed human beings. Fascinating portraits, they evoke the troubled, tumultuous times in which they lived, when the spirit of revolution was in the air.