Somersett: Benjamin Franklin and the Masterminding of American Independence
By: Phillip Goodrich
Reviewed by: Melissa Friedlund, Reference Specialist
Genre: Nonfiction, History – American Revolution
Suggested Age: Adult
What is the book about? What do you envision when you think of Benjamin Franklin? An eccentric inventor? A sage, elder Founding Father? How about a cunning schemer who spent decades laying the groundwork for the success of the American Revolution? The latter is what author, Phillip Goodrich, contends in this fleshed-out, extensively-researched account. Benjamin Franklin wanted his beloved Pennsylvania out from under the thumb of the Penn family. He saw the only way to do that was to gain independence for ALL the colonies. Together with a secret cabal of other Englishmen, Benjamin Franklin plotted and planned, biding their time and watching for the British courts to make a critical ruling. What was the auspicious ruling they were waiting for? Somersett v. Stewart: a case where the British court freed a black man who had been born into slavery in the colonies.
My Review: I listened to the audiobook which has some dramatized conversations included in the narration that are not in the printed book. I enjoyed it very much. The author even says that you can start with the Interlude (which details Somersett v. Stewart) first if you want to read it separately from the Benjamin Franklin narrative. I did not do that, but I can see the appeal. I found the audiobook to be very detailed and comprehensive regarding Benjamin Franklin’s role in bringing about and supporting colonial independence. There are so many things that Goodrich lays out as directly occurring due to Benjamin Franklin, it’s easy to wonder if things could have gone the other way if he not had his hand in so many aspects of the conflict between the colonies and the Crown.
Side note: The print edition on our shelf has a slightly different title; Somersett: or Why and How Benjamin Franklin Orchestrated the American Revolution.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Illuminating, Revelatory, Wide-Reaching
Give This a Try if You Like…Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight, The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents, 1773-1783 by Joseph J. Ellis, and Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick
Rating: 5/5
