Rush

Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father

By: Stephen Fried

Narrated by: John H. Mayer

Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

The monumental life of Benjamin Rush, medical pioneer and one of our most provocative and unsung Founding Fathers

Finalist for the George Washington Book Prize

American Library Association Notable Book of the Year

By the time he was 30, Dr. Benjamin Rush had signed the Declaration of Independence, edited Common Sense, toured Europe as Benjamin Franklin’s protégé, and become John Adams’s confidant, and was soon to be appointed Washington’s surgeon general. And as with the greatest Revolutionary minds, Rush was only just beginning his role in 1776 in the American experiment. As the new republic coalesced, he became a visionary writer and reformer; a medical pioneer whose insights and reforms revolutionized the treatment of mental illness; an opponent of slavery and prejudice by race, religion, or gender; an adviser to, and often the physician of, America’s first leaders; and “the American Hippocrates.” Rush reveals his singular life and towering legacy, installing him in the pantheon of our wisest and boldest Founding Fathers.

Praise for Rush

“Entertaining.... Benjamin Rush has been undeservedly forgotten. In medicine...[and] as a political thinker, he was brilliant.” (The New Yorker)

“Superb.... Reminds us eloquently, abundantly, what a brilliant, original man Benjamin Rush was, and how his contributions to...the United States continue to bless us all.” (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

“Perceptive... [a] readable reassessment of Rush’s remarkable career.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“An amazing life and a fascinating book.” (CBS This Morning)

“Fried makes the case, in this comprehensive and fascinating biography, that renaissance man Benjamin Rush merits more attention.... Fried portrays Rush as a complex, flawed person and not just a list of accomplishments;...a testament to the authorial thoroughness and insight that will keep readers engaged until the last page.” (Publishers Weekly - starred review)

“[An] extraordinary and underappreciated man is reinstated to his rightful place in the canon of civilizational advancement in Rush.... Had I read Fried’s Rush before the year’s end, it would have crowned my favorite books of 2018...[a] superb biography.” (Brain Pickings)

©2018 Stephen Fried (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Benjamin Rush is best known as the founding father the more famous founders wrote to. Stephen Fried, in this fascinating biography, shows us why we need to reconsider, and pay more attention to a man whose talents rivaled Franklin’s, opinions equaled Adams’s, and facility with language approached Jefferson’s.” (H.W. Brands, author of The First American and Heirs of the Founders)

“The best books are full of surprises. Rush has more of them than any historical biography I have read in ages. It is vast and sumptuous and brings to life Founding Father Benjamin Rush in full technicolor. Too long ignored, Rush’s varied and mercurial brilliance puts him smack in the company of such figures as Adams and Jefferson and Washington and Hamilton with one exception: He is more interesting than any of them. He revolutionized medicine. He revolutionized healthcare. He revolutionized life. Fried draws it all out with his usual perfect pitch of reportage and writing. What a grand feast and feat.” (Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights and A Prayer for the City)

"An important and fascinating account of a relatively neglected yet critical Founding Father. Benjamin Rush - Surgeon General of the Continental Army, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Jefferson's choice for medical advisor to the Lewis and Clark Expedition - is also acknowledged as the Father of American Psychiatry for his study and treatment of the mentally ill. Stephen Fried brings to life Rush's extraordinary political and medical contributions, as well as the times in which he lived." (Kay Redfield Jamison, author of An Unquiet Mind and Robert Lowell: Setting the River on Fire)

Very interesting biography of a little known signer of the Declaration.

A very well researched and well read story. I primarily knew if him through “Rush’s Pills” so it was entertaining to learn more about him. The book got a bit long winded with a very long Epilogue and an extremely long Afterword.

It's a good book.

I really enjoyed learning about Benjamin Rush. There are many interesting details that the author brought out, but I think he made a really good characterization of Rush.

One point of disagreement that I have is the author's premise that Rush supported the separation of church and state. He made this commenting several times, but never provided direct evidence to support this claim, especially as we understand it today. Rush was one of the most religious founding fathers, so to think he didn't want churches influencing government at all didn't match with what we know of him.

Also, this was read too slow for my liking. I had to speed it up to enjoy it.

Masterpiece

I recently began delving into American history and so glad I caught Mr. Fried speaking about his book on Benjamin Rush during a television interview. This book is so detailed and so well written. The narration by Mr. Mayer was magnificent, as if Mr. Rush himself was telling the story. I’m amazed at Mr. Rush’s forward thinking & diligence in writing it all down. The author captured it perfectly!

Enlightening review of early American history

Many stories between stories along with the rest of the story on the founding of our nation, medicine and education. Benjamin Rush appears more accomplished than Ben Franklin without Franklin's less than moral trists.

The narration problem can be corrected

I'm only partway through this book, but I wanted to share my solution to the weird slow-speech and pauses. I had listened to another biography read by the same narrator, and that sounded fine, so I decided to try adjusting the playback speed to 1.1 (that's an option in the Audible app) and that did the trick. It seems that for some reason the publisher decided to slow down the narration. It's a shame, because they're doing a disservice to both the narrator and this (so far) excellent book.

An Amazing Read!

Well-researched and thoroughly engaging story of the life of one of the founding fathers-Dr Benjamin Rush. The amazing life of a man who was intimately acquainted with all the principals in the American Revolution. He was also the American pioneer in mental health and in military camp hygiene. His voluminous correspondence adds much to our knowledge of the lives and times of the Revolution. He was responsible for the rapprochement between Adams and Jefferson which produced years of letters between those two until their deaths. This is a “must read” audiobook!

A Must Read

RUSH was the best most informative book on our forefathers and the revolutionary times of America.
Life has not changed much in America. Rush insights into pandemics and mental illness prophetic . A must read for all who value ANERICA.

Fascinating and Eye-opening.

I had to listen at 1.3x speed to bring the narrator up to a tolerable pace, but otherwise the narrator was quite good. The book was fascinating. I had previously heard of Rush but only in limited capacity. I've come to have huge respect for and further interest in him. We learn about Rush through his own words, the words of his friends, colleagues, students, enemies, supporters, and detractors. The book is not a puff piece, and addresses some legitimate criticisms of the man and paradoxes (for example, he was very clearly anti-slavery and a huge supporter of free Blacks, but he had also purchased a slave, whom he later freed) as well as celebrates his achievements and the unappreciated-in-the-modern-day influence he had in medicine, in the revolution, and in shaping our government in ways which last until today. I found the story especially fascinating as a Philadelphian, and have made a few trips into town to see certain locations for myself with fresh eyes. If you enjoy biography, and have a special interest in the Revolution, colonial and early America, or the history of medicine, this book is highly recommended.

An Eye Opening & Enjoyable Book

Though I say “book” in the summary above, I listened to the Audible edition.

This book is an incredible narrative on many fronts. Never having even heard the name of Benjamin Rush, the book caught my attention. Having finished the book, all I can ask is “Why hasn’t this man’s life, his importance to the founding of out nation, and his contribution to medicine in the US, not been a part of every history class covering the American Revolution and it’s aftermath?”

If you want to know more about the men & women that made significant contributions to the founding of our nation, read this book (or listen to it). You will also learn about of the less attractive words & actions that politicians continue to (sadly) emulate to this day.

interesting read

enjoyed the overall information and learned a good deal about a founding father. some information was repetitive. now I will read about Hamilton.