A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America Book

Despite our own self-serving myths about our war for independence, the American revolution did not reflect the action of a single country coming of age. Rather, the revolution marked the debut of the United States onto the global stage where France and the rest of Europe had already been players. The revolution was not so much as "won" by the colonies as by the aid of the French and the blunders by the British. The foreign aid provided by France during the revolution was essential to the outcome of the uprising. Critical to getting these funds from the French monarchy was Benjamin Franklin. The story of the eight years he spent in Paris, persuading the French to support the fledgling American army in ways both concrete and symbolic, is the subject of Schiff's book. The story of how it was obtained is fascinating and messy, as diplomacy often is. And in that age, diplomacy and intrigue were separated only by the thinnest of lines. As the title implies, he was open to spontaneous inventiveness when it came to pursuing his goals. Schiff attributes Franklin's success to his laissez-faire attitude, an ability to be logical without being pedantic, and a single-minded approach that both genial and ruthless. There probably was no one else better suited to the posting. George Washington wanted to win the war without French assistance, and John Adams wanted to win without owing anything to France. Franklin, however, simply wanted to win.

Franklin and his mission (which he actually opposed at first) are at the center of events in the book, but Schiff's in-depth research and great writing makes us intimate with the labyrinth of colossal personalities and complex issues involved. She effectively shows how Franklin (whose diplomatic credentials were dubious at best given that America was far from a sovereign nation in a technical sense) forged a rocky trans-Atlantic alliance with France. Even after the alliance was fromalized by treaty in 1778, it was unclear whether France would enter the war. And when they did, joint efforts between France and America were far from coordinated. During those years, Franklin lived in houses teeming with both French and British spies, having no secretary except his own adept grandson, and receiving from Congress new emissaries and contradictory or unnecessary directions. We also see how Franklin attempted to adapt to the culture. The French of that day placed a great emphasis on high-minded ideals (conscience, honor, faith, etc.) that, contrary to the heroic and noble mythology that we would like to believe, simply were not widespread in America.

Adding to the challenge was the colorful cast of Frenchmen that he had to deal with each day. They ranged from Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, the flamboyant secret agent who provided the colonies with many of their weapons; to the young Marquis de Lafayette, who received the weapons and sailed recklessly to America against the king's orders; to the stubborn British ambassador to Versailles, the Viscount Stormont. The American cast of characters was no less of a challenge to Franklin. His American colleagues in Paris ( some of whom were also supposed to be representing America in France, and some of whom stayed on the congressional payroll but simply never went to their postings in other countries) were full of complaints about Franklin. Schiff paints a vivid picture of the infighting among John Adams (who hated Franklin), John Jay, Richard Izard, Arthur and William Lee, Silas Deane (who hated the French while Franklin still loved Britain), and the various others. Some of Franklin's colleagues made utter fools of themselves as he attempted to reach his objective.

The British launched an aggressive operation to spy on Franklin. The British ran a very effective network of spies in paris that kept Stormont well informed of most of Franklin's "clandestine" activities. The British spy Edward Edwards was particularly ingenious. Edwards was actually trusted by the Americans and distrusted by his superiors, who spied on him in turn.

Through all the back-biting treachery, Franklin (who once satirized Machiavelli) managed to persuade the French government to support the war with its navy, gunpowder, thousands of soldiers, and provide contributions which would amount to something like thirteen billion in today's dollars. Franklin never directly asked for help from the French. Instead he tried to manipulate events in such a way that France would see intervention in the war to be in her own interest.And, when the English finally admitted defeat, Franklin, along with John Jay and John Adams, negotiated a most beneficent peace. This is a fascinating story providing yet another dimension to this supposedly familiar figure. Schiff has written a lively story with a cast of colorful characters and plot twists that could easily compare to a work of historical fiction.

An interesting part of the narrative was how the French mission brought out Franklin's best and worst traits. Franklin was personally averse to intrigue, but there was plenty of it to be had during his time in Paris. During his posting, Franklin displayed the wit, charisma, ingenuity and silkiness that he was known for. At the same time, he could be negligent, manipulative, inconsistent, unmethodical, uncommunicative, and vindictive. "We are commanded to forgive our enemies," Franklin noted, "but we are nowhere commanded to forgive our friends." Franklin was like a lightning rod for people with the wildest ideas, not just in America, but in France as well. "I don't know what it is about our home, " Franklin's wife once said, "but not one madman sets foot on the American continent without preceding directly to our front door." Jean-Paul Marat was but one of the many colorful characters that Franklin attracted.

Ms. Schiff masterfully weaves a thousand and more strands and bits of human folly and achievement into a delightful, humorous tale of one man's often erring, sometimes stumbling but ultimate success in helping the colonies become a nation, and gives us a unique view of a man and the difficult birth of his nation.

The writing is flowery to the point of exaggeration: "The slippery stew which was a Paris thoroughfare accounted for the city's most singular danger. No man who had the means walked through the filth of the streets, and no man who had the means hired a driver with any respect for the individual who did."

But in all, an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable book.