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A review by greatlibraryofalexandra
Lafayette by Harlow Giles Unger
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.