This companion provides a comprehensive survey of the life, work and legacy of Benjamin Franklin - the oldest, most distinctive, and multifaceted of the founders.

• Includes contributions from across a range of academic disciplines
• Combines traditional and cutting-edge scholarship, from accomplished and emerging experts in the field
• Pays special attention to the American Revolution, the Enlightenment, journalism, colonial American society, and themes of race, class, and gender
• Places Franklin in the context of recent work in political theory, American Studies, American literature, material culture studies, popular culture, and international relations

David Waldstreicher is Professor of History at Temple University. He is the author of numerous publications including Slavery's Constitution: From Revolution to Ratification (2009); Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin, Slavery and the American Revolution (2004); and In the Midst of Perpetual Fetes: The Making of American Nationalism, 1776-1820 (1997).