A spellbinding, rich history of the American Enlightenment-think 1776 meets The Metaphysical Club.

Jonathan Lyons, an engaging storyteller and insightful scholar, conveys the breathtaking sweep of this crucial story with grace and flair, and in the process he provides a compelling and innovative perspective on the American Revolution and the new nation that emerged from that upheaval. John Ferling, author of THE ASCENT OF GEORGE WASHINGTON and INDEPENDENCE: THE STRUGGLE TO SET AMERICA FREE Clear, focused snapshots of a movement and its celebrated leader. Kirkus Reviews [A] highly readable account of the societies (the title one, later the American Philosophical Society, being the prototype), academies, mechanics' associations, and other social institutions the group engendered that believed science and experimentation to be collective endeavors, Lyons illuminates a formative period in American cultural history. Booklist Lyons has raised important questions about the origins of "useful knowledge" in America that will have wide appeal. Recommended. Library Journal You can listen to an interview with Jonathan Lyons on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show here: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2013/jun/25/bringing-enlightenment-america/ _ Lyons has done a fine job in giving us a glimpse not just of Franklin the virtuoso but of the world in which he lived and worked, his contemporaries, and their enthusiasms. Weekly Standard

Jonathan Lyons is the author of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization (Bloomsbury Press, 2009). He served as editor and foreign correspondent for Reuters for more than twenty years. He holds a doctorate in sociology, and has taught at George Mason University, Georgetown University, and Monash University in Australia. He lives in Portland, Oregon.