Benjamin Franklin had an astonishing life and career. Not only an author, scientist, inventor, and newspaper editor, he also served as an early President (now Governor) of Pennsylvania, the first U.S. Postmaster General, and the first president of The Academy and College of Philadelphia. Add to that minister to Sweden and, most famously, France.

Yet, for all that we know about Franklin, it appears our understanding of his time living in England may be surprisingly incomplete. George Goodwin’s well-written book Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America’s Founding Father tackles the long-standing myth that Franklin was a political outsider in this great city. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Franklin’s first London trip ended up being a rather gratifying experience.

The talented historian and author in residence at London’s Benjamin Franklin House wrote, “Franklin had all his life considered himself to be British.” He was inspired by British writers, philosophers, and ideas. “It was because of his British influences, not through a rejection of them,” writes Goodwin, “that he was so willing to put the British government to the test of his ‘Prudential Algebra.’ ” At the same time, “Franklin was then prepared to become” what the Earl of Sandwich “had already believed him to be: ‘one of the bitterest and most mischievous Enemies [Britain] had ever known,’ and at great personal cost.”

Franklin’s first taste of British society occurred between 1724 and 1726. Still a teenager,