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008			130114s2005 nyua b 001 0deng
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050	0	0	_aE183.8.F8 _bS35 2005
082	0	0	_a92 FRA
100	1		_aSchiff, Stacy
245	1	2	_aA great improvisation _b: Franklin, France, and the birth of America _c/ Stacy Schiff
250			_a1st ed.
260			_aNew York _b: Henry Holt _c, 2005.
300			_axvii, 489 p. _b: ill. _c; 25 cm.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 459-461) and index.
520			_aSchiff follows Benjamin Franklin to France for the crowning achievement of his career In December of 1776 a small boat delivered an old man to France." So begins an enthralling narrative account of how Benjamin Franklin-seventy years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French-convinced France, an absolute monarchy, to underwrite America's experiment in democracy. When Franklin stepped onto French soil, he well understood he was embarking on the greatest gamble of his career. By virtue of fame, charisma, and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers, and hostile colleagues; engineered the Franco-American alliance of l778; and helped to negotiate the peace of l783. The eight-year French mission stands not only as Franklin's most vital service to his country but as the most revealing of the man. In A Great Improvisation , Stacy Schiff draws from new and little-known sources to illuminate the least-explored part of Franklin's life. Here is an unfamiliar, unforgettable chapter of the Revolution, a rousing tale of American infighting, and the treacherous backroom dealings at Versailles that would propel George Washington from near decimation at Valley Forge to victory at Yorktown. From these pages emerge a particularly human and yet fiercely determined Founding Father, as well as a profound sense of how fragile, improvisational, and international was our country's bid for independence.
600	1	0	_aFranklin, Benjamin _d, 1706-1790
651		0	_aFrance _x--Foreign relations _z--United States
651		0	_aUnited States _x--Foreign relations
942			_cMO
999			_c255105 _d255105