Edmund S. Morgan

The greatest statesman of his age, Benjamin Franklin was also a pioneering scientist, a successful author, the first American postmaster general, a printer, and a bon vivant. In addition, he was a man of vast contradictions. This biography offers a compact and provocative portrait of America's most extraordinary patriot. Benjamin Franklin by Edmund S. Morgan provides an insightful exploration into...

In the American Revolution, Virginians were the most eloquent spokesmen for freedom and equality. George Washington led Americans in battle against British oppression. Thomas Jefferson led them in declaring independence. Virginians drafted the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. And they were slave owners. Through the lens of colonial Virginia, American Slavery, American Freedom is the classic examination...

"If it is possible to understand the American paradox, the marriage of slavery and freedom, Virginia is surely the place to begin," writes Edmund S. Morgan in American Slavery, American Freedom, a study of the tragic contradiction at the core of America. Morgan finds the key to this central paradox in the people and politics of the state that was...