The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. XXXII; March 1 through June 30, 1780: Vol. XXXIII; July 1 through November 15, 1780.(Review)

The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. XXXII; March 1 through June 30, 1780: Vol. XXXIII; July 1 through November 15, 1780, ed. Barbara Oberg et al. (New Haven/London: Yale U.P., 1996, 1997; pp. lix, 588), recount and annotate Franklin's mission to France at its mid-point. He was in good health, energetic and engaged in a variety of important ministerial tasks and private pursuits. In these volumes, the fifth and the sixth in the sequence dealing with Franklin's tenure as sole minister to the French court, Franklin focuses on diplomatic activities and his role of expressing to France his country's pressing needs at a time of economic instability and military stalemate in North …