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A review by socraticgadfly
Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette and the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan
4.0
VERY good book, but with one BIG "BUT" (listed at the end of this review) that I'll keep in mind if I read another book by Duncan or from this publisher. (I have previously read "The Storm before the Storm."
First, Duncan notes that most Americans know only about Lafayette in America, and he thoroughly rectifies this. About 2/3 of the book or more is about his time in France, obviously starting with his birth, childhood, early orphaning, then coming into major wealth with the death of his sonless father-in-law.
Duncan then explains the details of how he managed to get to America when the French government actually didn't want him to leave.
Next comes what most Americans know .... his military service, relation to Washington and more.
In France? Lafayette first comes to the forefront as Louis XVI faces the financial crisis that eventually leads him to assemble the Estates General, and of course, from there, the eventual French Revolution in all its phases. Lafayette was looked up to, pre-Terror, because of his American connections. He tried to steer a narrow course of loyalty to Louis, especially as commander of the National Guard, combined with loyalty to the idea of non-violent revolution.
Duncan notes that, whether he had a choice or not, Lafayette lit the fuse that led to the Terror, though, when he and Paris Mayor Bailly ordered martial law when a citizen assembly in summer 1792 failed to disperse.
Then, when the Jacobins had the reigns, Lafayette came under the sharpest scrutiny, and as an army commander in the field, was distrusted by many of his own troops. So, he decides to defect, knowing that Austria has been charitable to many French nobles doing so. But, not him. He's regarded as a prisoner of state, not a prisoner of war, and put in odious conditions for half a dozen years, which his wife shared for a while after not being able to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor to free him.
Eventually, First Consul Napoleon's second Italian campaign and victory at Marengo does the trick. Duncan notes that Lafayette walked a fine line with Napoleon, especially after he became emperor.
Anyway, these "fine lines," Duncan shows, defined the rest of Lafayette's political life, from the Bourbon restoration, then the second restoration after the Hundred Days, then Charles X (and Lafayette's coup-plotting), then the 1830 revolution and the crowning of Louis Philippe.
In all of this, I'd have to agree with some of L's French critics that Duncan cites: Lafayette was a naif at times, and no more so than with Louis Philippe.
==
Now, the BUT.
There are NO illustrations in this book. NONE.
And, I don't just mean a lack of slick photo plate pages. I mean, even on the paper stock pages, there are NO illustrations.
Obviously, this is pre-photograph, but there were plenty of paintings of Lafayette. Probably a few of both his wife and his rich father-in-law. Definitely of Hamilton, Washington et al in America. Certainly of Louis XVI, Danton, Marat, Robespierre, Louis XVIII, etc.
Plus, there's no other illustrations. No map of the battle of Yorktown. No map of the details of Versailles and what gate was left open so the people could enter. No map of the flight to Varennes. No map of the location of Lafayette's birthplace. Etc., etc. I can't remember if "The Storm before the Storm" — also published by PublicAffairs — had this lack, but I'll definitely remember it if I read another Duncan book.
It makes both the publisher and the author look cheap. (On my review of that book, I noted a typesetting glitch that occurred throughout the book, that, in light of this book, comes off as a bit more disconcerting.)
First, Duncan notes that most Americans know only about Lafayette in America, and he thoroughly rectifies this. About 2/3 of the book or more is about his time in France, obviously starting with his birth, childhood, early orphaning, then coming into major wealth with the death of his sonless father-in-law.
Duncan then explains the details of how he managed to get to America when the French government actually didn't want him to leave.
Next comes what most Americans know .... his military service, relation to Washington and more.
In France? Lafayette first comes to the forefront as Louis XVI faces the financial crisis that eventually leads him to assemble the Estates General, and of course, from there, the eventual French Revolution in all its phases. Lafayette was looked up to, pre-Terror, because of his American connections. He tried to steer a narrow course of loyalty to Louis, especially as commander of the National Guard, combined with loyalty to the idea of non-violent revolution.
Duncan notes that, whether he had a choice or not, Lafayette lit the fuse that led to the Terror, though, when he and Paris Mayor Bailly ordered martial law when a citizen assembly in summer 1792 failed to disperse.
Then, when the Jacobins had the reigns, Lafayette came under the sharpest scrutiny, and as an army commander in the field, was distrusted by many of his own troops. So, he decides to defect, knowing that Austria has been charitable to many French nobles doing so. But, not him. He's regarded as a prisoner of state, not a prisoner of war, and put in odious conditions for half a dozen years, which his wife shared for a while after not being able to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor to free him.
Eventually, First Consul Napoleon's second Italian campaign and victory at Marengo does the trick. Duncan notes that Lafayette walked a fine line with Napoleon, especially after he became emperor.
Anyway, these "fine lines," Duncan shows, defined the rest of Lafayette's political life, from the Bourbon restoration, then the second restoration after the Hundred Days, then Charles X (and Lafayette's coup-plotting), then the 1830 revolution and the crowning of Louis Philippe.
In all of this, I'd have to agree with some of L's French critics that Duncan cites: Lafayette was a naif at times, and no more so than with Louis Philippe.
==
Now, the BUT.
There are NO illustrations in this book. NONE.
And, I don't just mean a lack of slick photo plate pages. I mean, even on the paper stock pages, there are NO illustrations.
Obviously, this is pre-photograph, but there were plenty of paintings of Lafayette. Probably a few of both his wife and his rich father-in-law. Definitely of Hamilton, Washington et al in America. Certainly of Louis XVI, Danton, Marat, Robespierre, Louis XVIII, etc.
Plus, there's no other illustrations. No map of the battle of Yorktown. No map of the details of Versailles and what gate was left open so the people could enter. No map of the flight to Varennes. No map of the location of Lafayette's birthplace. Etc., etc. I can't remember if "The Storm before the Storm" — also published by PublicAffairs — had this lack, but I'll definitely remember it if I read another Duncan book.
It makes both the publisher and the author look cheap. (On my review of that book, I noted a typesetting glitch that occurred throughout the book, that, in light of this book, comes off as a bit more disconcerting.)