This biography of French liberator Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) reveals not only how the nineteen-year-old bravely ventured to the infant United States to serve in its War of Independence, but also the iconoclast's enormous contribution to the causes of social and economic justice in France, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Poland. The Marquise (1759-1807), born Adrienne de Noailles, shared the same controversial beliefs as her husband, supporting and defending him wholeheartedly despite ongoing political persecution-including the Marquis's exile in an Austrian dungeon and her own imprisonment (and near-execution) by French radicals. Employing a sweeping, classical feel, and visiting landscapes including the magnificent court at Versailles, the brutal hardship of Valley Forge, and the momentous storming of the Bastille, Lane chronicles and celebrates the couple's passionate yet tumultuous relationship while documenting the birth of America, two French Revolutions, and the Napoleonic era.
Lane's dual biography of Gilbert and Adrienne Lafayette provides readers with insights into the events as much as the persons.Why did Americans of all political persuasions enthusiastically embrace Lafayette while the royalist and radical French political establishments largely rejected him?
Lane's first book offers a detailed glimpse of French society in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as seen through the lives of two aristocrats dedicated to liberty.
Jason Lane provides a lively, engaging account of Lafayette's political ideals and public career as well as an insightful description of the remarkable personal relationship between Lafayette and his wife Adrienne.
I found General and Madame Lafayette so well documented that the reader can imagine realistically the hero and heroine of liberty living through the main events of their time. Even well informed readers can learn a great deal....
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