The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

A modern-English edition of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, the classic account of self-education, industry, invention, and public ambition. Franklin’s narrative helped define the American language of improvement and upward striving. This edition preserves the wit and practicality of the original while making the prose smoother and more immediate.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin remains compelling because it is both a personal story and a manual of worldly intelligence. It shows how Franklin thought about habits, reputation, civic life, and deliberate self-formation.

For readers interested in biography, early American history, or the roots of self-help culture, this is one of the foundational texts.