{"product_id":"9780739320396","title":"A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn December 1776, a small boat delivered an old man to France.” So begins a dazzling narrative account of Benjamin Franklin’s French mission, the most exacting–and momentous–eight years of his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Franklin embarked, the colonies were without money, munitions, gunpowder or common cause; like all adolescents, they were to discover that there was a difference between declaring independence and achieving it. To close that gap Franklin was dispatched to Paris, amid great secrecy, across a winter sea thick with enemy cruisers. He was seventy years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French. He was also among the most famous men in the world. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFranklin well understood that he was off on the greatest gamble of his career. But despite minimal direction from Congress he was soon outwitting the British secret service and stirring passion for a republic in an absolute monarchy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn A Great Improvisation Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47095025828080,"sku":"9780739320396","price":18.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780739320396_p0.jpg?v=1763632320","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780739320396","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}