Making of A Patriot: Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit

On January 29, 1774, Benjamin Franklin was called to appear before the Privy Council--a select group of the king's advisors--in an octagonal-shaped room in Whitehall Palace known as the Cockpit. Spurred by jeers and applause from the audience in the Cockpit, Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn unleashed a withering tirade against Franklin. Though Franklin entered the room as a dutiful servant of the British crown, he left as a budding American revolutionary. This biography demonstrates how Franklin's ultimate decision to support the colonists was by no means a foregone conclusion.  Paperback, 184 pages. Written by Sheila L. Skemp.