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jujubean_07's review against another edition
4.0
I have to say, I am so happy that I was gifted this biography. I went into it knowing nothing more about Lafayette than what little was written into the musical “Hamilton.” There were very few bland bits that get really detailed in terms of battles fought and political strategies employed. However, most of it was wonderfully written and incredibly fascinating. It is a very thorough look at his life that has made him my new favorite founding father. Lafayette deserves way more historical attention than I feel he has received (at least in my experience in the US public school system).
rheren's review against another edition
4.0
This was the first book I've ever read about the Marquis de Lafayette, and I learned a lot. He was a fascinating character, with a story almost unique in its heroism and its ups and downs. He was certainly a polarizing figure, an odd character who was raised in the most extreme trappings of old-Europe wealth and privilege, and became one of the primary proponents of what we would today recognize as a "constitutional, liberal democracy" as embodied in the founding of the United States. It's tragic how, and why, the things he tried to export from America failed so miserably in France, culminating in the disastrous French Revolution, which failed to produce real, lasting good in almost every substantive way that the American Revolution succeeded.
As far as the book goes, it was quite good. Some of it seems to gravitate toward Lafayette-worship, giving him the benefit of the doubt in everything, and putting a more modern slant on some of the things he proposed and wrote about (and demonizing anyone who even hinted at disagreeing with him), but overall it seems to be pretty even-handed in telling the mistakes he made along with his heroic and idealistic successes.
As far as the book goes, it was quite good. Some of it seems to gravitate toward Lafayette-worship, giving him the benefit of the doubt in everything, and putting a more modern slant on some of the things he proposed and wrote about (and demonizing anyone who even hinted at disagreeing with him), but overall it seems to be pretty even-handed in telling the mistakes he made along with his heroic and idealistic successes.
avefrater's review against another edition
5.0
Basically, I read this book in two sittings and stayed up until 2 am to finish it. While I agree with some other reviews that I had to skim through a few of the correspondences and thought the entire book very complimentary to Lafayette (maybe a little too much, meaning there's perhaps a bias somewhere) - it was well-written and I obviously couldn't put it down.
I also had no idea the scope of the Marquis' involvement in the Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, the later rebellions, and the extent of his impact on the U.S.! He basically turned down the ability to rule France multiple times. I might have cried. Don't judge me. Possibly also multiple times, but definitely when he visited the U.S. for his grand tour and everyone loved him and he cried. :( The summary of the French Revolution was the most harrowing part of the book, though. That part was tough to read.
Anyway, I loved the book as a whole. I love Lafayette. Go read it.
I also had no idea the scope of the Marquis' involvement in the Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, the later rebellions, and the extent of his impact on the U.S.! He basically turned down the ability to rule France multiple times. I might have cried. Don't judge me. Possibly also multiple times, but definitely when he visited the U.S. for his grand tour and everyone loved him and he cried. :( The summary of the French Revolution was the most harrowing part of the book, though. That part was tough to read.
Anyway, I loved the book as a whole. I love Lafayette. Go read it.
greatlibraryofalexandra's review against another edition
4.0
This was a MAGICAL read. It was a visionary romp that felt like a heart-pounding, chivalrous reimagining of the three musketeers. It’s not easy to call a dense biographical book a “wild, exciting ride” - but this is.
It’s also not often I pick up a biography about an old dead white guy and come away thinking “Whoa, he was better than I imagined.”
I’ve been a Lafayette fangirl since he had a cameo in a “Dear America” diary book I read in elementary school - and like many, Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” only fanned the flames.
Unger paints a dashing, swoon-worthy, magnificent portrait of “the hero of two worlds,” digging into Lafayette’s youth, education, family, and the bloody, brutal chaos of his time post-America. I was fairly familiar with his American exploits; but this book gave me a horrific education on many aspects of the French Revolution era - and the constant disappointment Lafayette experienced as he tried to lift his beloved nation towards his cherished ideals.
As much as I enjoyed this love letter to Lafayette, I have to dock it a star - and it’s precisely because it’s such a love letter. I’ve also read Unger’s biography of Monroe, and I had the same issue - Unger is simply too head-over-heels. Not one single bad thing is ever uttered about our dear Marquis, which forces me to adopt some skepticism, as no one is perfect (despite the fact that I want Lafayette to be). I’m also no expert on the French Revolution, but I question Unger’s assessment of it because it is portrayed as so virulently heinous in all respects.
Really rousing historical read, with a touch too much romanticism - but there’s no doubt that Lafayette was an outstanding man; the truest American patriot there ever was.
He’s my favorite founding father.
It’s also not often I pick up a biography about an old dead white guy and come away thinking “Whoa, he was better than I imagined.”
I’ve been a Lafayette fangirl since he had a cameo in a “Dear America” diary book I read in elementary school - and like many, Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” only fanned the flames.
Unger paints a dashing, swoon-worthy, magnificent portrait of “the hero of two worlds,” digging into Lafayette’s youth, education, family, and the bloody, brutal chaos of his time post-America. I was fairly familiar with his American exploits; but this book gave me a horrific education on many aspects of the French Revolution era - and the constant disappointment Lafayette experienced as he tried to lift his beloved nation towards his cherished ideals.
As much as I enjoyed this love letter to Lafayette, I have to dock it a star - and it’s precisely because it’s such a love letter. I’ve also read Unger’s biography of Monroe, and I had the same issue - Unger is simply too head-over-heels. Not one single bad thing is ever uttered about our dear Marquis, which forces me to adopt some skepticism, as no one is perfect (despite the fact that I want Lafayette to be). I’m also no expert on the French Revolution, but I question Unger’s assessment of it because it is portrayed as so virulently heinous in all respects.
Really rousing historical read, with a touch too much romanticism - but there’s no doubt that Lafayette was an outstanding man; the truest American patriot there ever was.
He’s my favorite founding father.
pdonnellan's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, this really was an engaging read. I didn't realize how little I knew about Lafayette and what an extraordinary life he led. Most impressively, this is the first book I've read that really humanized George Washington for me; his letters to Lafayette were so full of love and devotion that I could finally feel his deep capacity for emotion.
historyh22's review against another edition
5.0
Finished this stellar book about one of my favorite people in history last night. "Our Marquis", as George Washington called him, was truly a great hero for the American people. Lafayette's love of liberty would help inspire the French to revolution, but not to the manner he envisioned. Anarchy would soon reign, and his refusal to take executive power would have adverse consequences on France and Europe abroad. Lafayette's selfless nature and the sacrifices he made for the young United States make him one of legends, and Mr. Unger does a stellar job of detailing the life of this great man.
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
3.0
I was a little bothered by the slightly breathless tone with which Unger often wrote about Lafayette- he came off a bit like an adolescent writing about his first crush, rather than a serious biographer. I also noticed some minor incorrect details here and there, including some unverified facts, and some cases of simplistic wrapping up of complicated issues. On the whole, not a bad biography- just not an outstanding one, though it had some inspiring moments.
librarianonparade's review against another edition
5.0
When the Maquis de Lafayette died, America went into the kind of mourning it had only experienced once before, at the death of George Washington. Indeed, the President at the time, Andrew Jackson, expressly ordered the same military honours as Washington had received. Every city in the land held memorial services; flags were lowered to half-mast; every officer in the army and navy wore black armbands for six months; Congress passed a joint resolution expressing its sorrow; all Americans were asked to wear mourning for thirty days.
The story of how a French aristocrat became such a revered figure in post-Revolution America, as revered in his time as George Washington and the other Founding Fathers, is a fascinating story, and Harlow Giles Unger tells it well, with a real sympathy and affection for his subject that comes across in every page. Indeed, it was infectious - I finished this book with the same kind of fondness for Lafeyette that so many in his day felt.
That Lafeyette, born into almost unimaginable wealth and court position, became a true revolutionary, a liberal dedicated to freedom, equality, liberty and a true republican government, is almost a story too much to be believed. This was a man who was at the head of not one, not two, but three revolutions; who became almost an adopted son to Washington and fought as a major general in the Continental Army at only nineteen; who unwittingly unleashed the horrors of the French Revolution and the Terror in his attempts to introduce American-style republican government into France; who could have stretched out a hand and ruled France had he chosen to; who was fêted as his country's saviour and later imprisoned for five years, before rising to the heights of power again and just as quickly falling again.
Ironically, American is full of towns, counties, schools, monuments, parks all named after Lafayette, and yet in his native country, he goes almost unmentioned. In his day Lafayette was as famous and as loved as any other Founding Father, and yet today how many Americans would know why? How many would know Lafayette as anything more than the name of a street, of a high school or a park or town square?
The story of how a French aristocrat became such a revered figure in post-Revolution America, as revered in his time as George Washington and the other Founding Fathers, is a fascinating story, and Harlow Giles Unger tells it well, with a real sympathy and affection for his subject that comes across in every page. Indeed, it was infectious - I finished this book with the same kind of fondness for Lafeyette that so many in his day felt.
That Lafeyette, born into almost unimaginable wealth and court position, became a true revolutionary, a liberal dedicated to freedom, equality, liberty and a true republican government, is almost a story too much to be believed. This was a man who was at the head of not one, not two, but three revolutions; who became almost an adopted son to Washington and fought as a major general in the Continental Army at only nineteen; who unwittingly unleashed the horrors of the French Revolution and the Terror in his attempts to introduce American-style republican government into France; who could have stretched out a hand and ruled France had he chosen to; who was fêted as his country's saviour and later imprisoned for five years, before rising to the heights of power again and just as quickly falling again.
Ironically, American is full of towns, counties, schools, monuments, parks all named after Lafayette, and yet in his native country, he goes almost unmentioned. In his day Lafayette was as famous and as loved as any other Founding Father, and yet today how many Americans would know why? How many would know Lafayette as anything more than the name of a street, of a high school or a park or town square?