"During the six months from May through October 1781, Benjamin Franklin continued to address important diplomatic, political, and economic matters as minister plenipotentiary to France. While the decisive Yorktown campaign was being waged in America, Franklin, a distant observer, faced a battle of his own - to save America's financial credit in Europe. Congress had drawn so many bills on him, on John Jay in Spain, and on John Adams in the Netherlands that Franklin, ultimately responsible for all of them, faced the danger of bankruptcy. Here, as at Yorktown, French help permitted the young nation to weather the crisis." "Having recovered from a prolonged spell of gout and having learned that he would be retained as American minister in France, Franklin was revived in health and spirits. He undertook his many public responsibilities with renewed vigor and was appointed by Congress to a five-member commission to negotiate peace with Britain. Franklin found time for experiments with different inks and paper, masonic activities, purchasing books and exchanging them with friends, and maintaining a wide correspondence that provides exceptionally revealing glimpses of his thinking on science, politics, and Indian languages."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved