Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The Printer and the Preacher {a BookLook review and giveaway}

We've been studying US History this year, and I really wanted to have some extra biography read-alouds to throw into the mix.  I love biography.

The Printer and the Preacher by Randy Petersen is a biographical tale of Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield.   My US History courses never even mentioned Whitefield, so I certainly didn't know they were friends.  Even the homeschool programs I've used with my kids (both explicitly Christian, and at least not antagonistic towards Christianity) have never mentioned it.

So reading through this book has been fun.

From the publisher:
A groundbreaking look at the strange friendship between George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin, who together defined what it means to be an American.

They were the most famous men in America. They came from separate countries, followed different philosophies, and led dissimilar lives. But they were fast friends. No two people did more to shape America in the mid-1700s.

Benjamin Franklin was the American prototype: hard-working, inventive, practical, funny, with humble manners and lofty dreams. George Whitefield was the most popular preacher in an era of great piety, whose outdoor preaching across the colonies was heard by thousands, all of whom were told, "You must be born again." People became excited about God. They began reading the Bible and supporting charities. When Whitefield died in 1770, on a preaching tour in New Hampshire, he had built a spiritual foundation for a new nation-just as his surviving friend, Ben Franklin, had built its social foundation. Together these two men helped establish a new nation founded on liberty. This is the story of their amazing friendship.

Our thoughts:

We were attempting to read through this book at a pace of a chapter a day, which would have taken us five weeks.  My teens would have been okay with that speed, but the younger two (ages 9 and 11) struggled a bit to stay focused.  So we slowed that down.

With other summer stuff happening, it has taken a long time to get through the book!

I've been really impressed with both the information and the fairly casual style of writing.  Petersen uses letters and journals to show what each of these men was thinking.  We've learned a whole lot about Whitefield, and some about Franklin... and certainly everything about the two of them interacting is material we didn't know.

Fascinating stuff.

I received two copies of this title accidentally, so BookLook Bloggers graciously allowed me to give one away.  US and Canada only please!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

2 comments:

Enjoying the Chaos said...

This looks an interesting read. I would love to add it to my reading list :)

Debbie said...

This looks like a great addition to our US History study this year.