Period English Biography

Fort de Chartres, built in 1719-1720 in the heart of what would become the American Midwest, embodied French colonial power for half a century. Lives of Fort de Chartres, by David MacDonald, details the French colonial experience in Illinois from 1720 to 1770 through vivid depictions of the places, people, and events around the fort and its neighboring villages.

On January 29, 1774, Benjamin Franklin was called to appear before the Privy Council--a select group of the king's advisors--in an octagonal-shaped room in Whitehall Palace known as the Cockpit. Spurred by jeers and applause from the audience in the Cockpit, Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn unleashed a withering tirade against Franklin. Though Franklin entered the room as a dutiful servant of the British crown, he left as a budding American revolutionary.

One of the most famous and influential examples of autobiography, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written by Benjamin Franklin himself from 1771 to 1790. Franklin's account of his life is divided into four parts, reflecting the different periods at which he wrote them.

A revealing biography of Dr. Benjamin Rush - fiery signer of the Declaration of Independence, prominent physician, ardent politician, zealous social reformer, passionate humanitarian, and dedicated educator. Known primarily as America's most influential and leading physician, Rush was also among the first to call for the abolition of slavery, equal rights for women, free education and health care for the poor, slum clearance, citywide sanitation facilities, an end to child labor, and universal public education, among other causes.

The Widow Washington is the first life of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother, based on archival sources. Her son's biographers have, for the most part, painted her as self-centered and crude, a trial and an obstacle to her oldest child. But the records tell a very different story. The Widow Washington is a necessary and deeply insightful corrective, telling the story of Mary's long, arduous life on its own terms, and not treating her as her son's satellite.

Silencing the Women: The Witch Trials of Mary Bliss Parsons is the true story of what happened to an early New England colonial Puritan woman settler who was too beautiful, too rich, and too outspoken for her times. Enmeshed in a web of jealousy and gossip, she struggled to overcome victimization by the harsh judgments of church, state, and gender expectations. How she survived in the fearsome wilderness of the Connecticut River Valley Massachusetts Bay Colony is a love story told by a descendant.

Though he was a great statesman, one of America's founding fathers, and the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson suffered from depression. In Jefferson's Demons, Michael Knox Beran examines episodes of melancholia in Jefferson's life. In particular, he focuses on the journey Jefferson made to Europe in 1787 to escape the depression that set in due to his tumultuous experience as governor of Virginia following the Revolution and his wife Martha's death.

He fought and beheaded three Turkish adversaries in duels. He was sold into slavery and then murdered his master to escape. He was captured by pirates--twice--and marched to the gallows to be hanged, only to be reprieved seconds before the noose dropped over his head. And all this happened before he was thirty years old. This is Captain John Smith's life.

Have you ever wondered, "Who really was Thomas Jefferson?" History tells us he was a brilliant scholar, violinist, surveyor, astronomer, lawyer, planter, bibliophile, architect, founding father, statesman, governor of Virginia, ambassador to France, Secretary of State under George Washington, vice-president under John Adams, the third US president, scientist, natural philosopher, family man, and sage.

Among other things, Franklin was a printer, philosopher, inventor, statesman, and not least, a writer. Franklin's autobiography captures the essence of his spirit. In it, we can see him as a product of the 18th century enlightenment, a type of Yankee statesman who could use the language of Addison, Steele, Swift, and Defoe. In his autobiography, Franklin asks himself, "Who am I, how did I come to be, and why am I a human being as I am?" And he answers with the honesty, wit, and charm.

Benjamin Franklin's wide range of activities and interests opened the doors of the world to him. Printer, inventor, philosopher, ambassador, champion of liberty - his influence has been felt by every American generation. And to everything he touched, including this autobiography, Franklin brought originality and wit.

Of all the original 13 colonies in America, only one owes its conception to one man, and indeed, Pennsylvania was and still remains bound up in the life and character of its founder, William Penn. Here was a man born into a military family who saw his father rise through the ranks of the 17th-century English court to become a friend of the king, and he even considered a military career for himself, only to leave it all behind to become a member of the "Society of Friends", known colloquially as the Quakers.

The story of Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys is one of those delightful tales that American schoolchildren hear about in school, but it is also one that is much more interesting to listen to in older age. Unlike revered founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who came from Virginian plantations, Allen was a rough and tumble frontiersman, more likely to fight than talk. And yet, he was in no way a dullard, but instead as well-read as many of his contemporaries and more so than the average man of his day.

John Smith is one of the most common names in the English language, but every Briton and American is familiar with the explorer and mercenary Captain John Smith, who helped found the first permanent British colony in the New World, at Jamestown, in 1607. He wrote several accounts of his exploration and his time spent in the New World, but in America, Smith is better known for his association with Pocahontas, a Native American princess. Smith credited her with saving him from being killed by the Native Americans. Retellings of the story fictitiously cast the two as lovers.

Alexander Hamilton did not rise to public prominence as an austere New Englander or a gentlemanly Virginian. He was not born in the colonies at all. He was born in the West Indies, the son of a woman of French descent who had left her husband for another man. As an illegitimate child, Hamilton could not be educated in the local church school, so businessmen, impressed by his remarkable intelligence, sent him to America for his schooling.

Discover the moving, true story of the Native American named Squanto, who is captured from his beloved Pawtuxet tribe, taken to Spain, and sold into slavery. Years later, Squanto regains his freedom and embarks on a miraculous journey back to his homeland where he teaches the Pilgrims how to survive the difficult early years in the Plymouth colony - culminating in the first Thanksgiving celebration.

Anne Bradstreet was born into an unusual family that, in the early years of the 17th century, believed in educating daughters as well as sons. She then moved to the American wilderness as a young bride and proceeded to produce children and poetry at nearly equal speed in the years that followed. She was the first published poet from the North American colonies, beating out the men who would follow her by a number of years. Anne Bradstreet: The Life and Legacy of the Famous Puritan Poet in the American Colonies examines Bradstreet’s influential work.

In this one-hour history book, discover the US Presidents from the 18th century. It all started with Georges Washington, the first American President and John Adams, the second US President. Discover how these Founding Fathers of the U.S.A. became presidents, the main events of their presidency, and their impact on America and World’s history!

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) served his country in many capacities - architect, naturalist, and linguist, author of the Declaration of Independence, and President of the United States. Not a conventional autobiography, this memoir is more of a summary of his life's work. Begun in 1821 at the age of 77, Jefferson provides a detailed account of his young life and the period in which he wrote the Declaration. The work includes his comments on the Articles of Confederation, his experiences as governor of Virginia, ambassador to France, and observations of the French Revolution.