Atlantic Cousins: Benjamin Franklin and His Visionary Friends Book

I found this dull although some of that might have been due to my familiarity with the people portrayed (I did my degree in 18th century American literature which necessitated a familiarity with 18th century thought elsewhere as well). I felt it didn't cohere totally as a text both because of the narrative's jumping from protagonist to protagonist and because I really didn't see why Fruchtman needed the putative connection with Franklin. Franklin didn't seem that "present" for someone whose name is in the title of the book. I think the author would have been better off simply writing about 18th century revolutionary thought.