Young America knew Ben Franklin, knew him as a printer and as a statesman, a friend and a reformer, knew him for the salty almanac from which the pithy, witty sayings of "Poor Richard" went straight into the American heritage.

Europe, too, knew Poor Richard, knew him as the troublesome representative of those rebellious colonies, knew him as the Ambassador who conquered all Paris with his urbane charm. Benjamin Franklin in his time lived more lives than many men together, but he never forgot Poor Richard's maxims: "If your head is wax, don't walk in the sun"; "The worst wheel in the cart makes the most noise"; "God helps them that help themselves."

He was, without a doubt, the greatest American of his era, and in many ways he remains the greatest American of us all. The brilliance and inexhaustible ingenuity of mind that fascinated his contemporaries continue to charm us now. He is our most distinguished citizen and most interesting human being.

Here is a turbulent biography, alive with that relish, that essential American quality that is a part of all Daugherty's work, both prose and illustration. Here is an understanding of the Poor Richard that underlay all Franklin's life, through honors and distinctions, foreign and domestic, saying, with shrewd Yankee economy: "Well done is better than well said,"

From the dust jacket