Many months ago, I was getting ready for a short road trip to New Mexico and Texas, and I needed something to listen to. I’ve read a couple of history books by Sarah Vowell, and I enjoyed her take and irreverent style. When I saw, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States (2015) by Vowell, I decided to read it.
Before reading this book, everything I knew about Lafayette was from Hamilton. In fact, I imagined Daveed Diggs, the original Lafayette from Hamilton, as I read this book. First, I need to admit that I read this book so long ago, that I’m having a hard time remembering many of the details. Add to that, a couple of years ago, I read You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe, which if you can’t guess by the title, is a somewhat irreverent biography of George Washington. These two books may have gotten mixed up in my head a little bit at some point.
Sarah Vowell likes to dig into the interesting little tidbits of history instead of getting bogged down in the depths. She begins the book with Lafayette returning to the United States to overwhelming support. Over 1/3 of New York City was out on the streets to see him arrive, and his face was plastered and sold on anything and everything, including handkerchiefs. He was like an incredibly popular rock star.
I knew that Lafayette was French and an important officer in the American Revolution from Hamilton, but that was about it. There were a number of things I learned from this book that surprised me: Lafayette was only 19 when he came over to America to help fight the revolution. He came against the wishes of his father-in-law and had to sneak out of France. He arrived in South Carolina and had to get himself unglamorously up to Pennsylvania where he was not even wanted. Apparently, the troops were flooded with French officers who spoke no English and were not very helpful. Lafayette offered to work for no pay, so he would not be turned away.
Lafayette distinguished himself in battle, and was quite fearless. And then he went back to France where he just missed getting beheaded because of his nobility and became a hero there as well. (However, I really don’t remember much about this part of the book).
One thing I do remember learning from this book was how pivotal France’s help was in the United States winning its independence. It’s something that we don’t think about (or even know about) today. But we were desperate for money. The troops were starving and had no shoes; the conditions were terrible. So, it was funny when Vowell recounts visiting D.C. back after 9/11 when Congress was screaming about “Freedom Fries” and hating on France for not joining in on our war in Iraq. I think she found it ironic when Lafayette square was right outside.
On the whole, I recommend this novel for the history buffs that would appreciate it. I do think it would have retained more if I had read it instead of listening to it on Audiobook, though.
You can find all my reviews on my blog.