DOC Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell in History

Review

86 of 88 people found the following review helpful. Sharply humorous; insightful; and stirringBy JayliaSarah Vowell’s acerbic; insightful wit comes through loud and clear in this fascinating account of French General Lafayette and his role in the American Revolution; but it took me a while to adjust to her irreverent banter in print--as well as being an author Vowell is also known for her radio pieces on This American Life. This book runs almost 270 pages without any chapter breaks; and reads like the long-winded but mesmerizing stand-up routine of a highly knowledgeable; history obsessed comedian who knows how to use humor to make a point.Lafayette was still a teenager when he left his young bride behind and snuck out of France to join the American Revolution against the wishes of his family; but he ended up becoming such a key figure in the winning of the war that cities all over the country are named for him. Vowell has a special knack for revealing the personalities of the many historical figures she writes about; their foibles; revealing quirks; and strengths. Since Lafayette had a close relationship with George Washington he features prominently in the book and I really appreciated getting a clearer picture of the man behind the myth. Vowell even manages to make battles and military strategy interesting; in part by keeping her focus on the people involved; and in part by not overlooking the missteps or ironies of the situations.Vowell finds plenty of opportunities to relate the struggles of the Revolutionary period to American politics today; pointing out that many current ideological divisions and tendencies have an origin; or at least an analog; dating back to the founding of the country. The book also covers the aftereffects of the Revolutionary War in France and Britain; and the America of 1824; which was when John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson competed in a notorious presidential election and the then elderly Lafayette made a return trip to the country that was still so besotted with him that two thirds of the population of New York City welcomed him ashore. While researching the book Vowell visited historic sites in America and France and she takes readers along on those trips too; giving us her impressions of tourist destinations like Williamsburg and Valley Forge while relating what happened there in the past.In this book Vowell manages the neat trick of being both funny and stirring. She clearly loves history; and she makes it very easy to join her in that passion.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Weird But Good HistoryBy Robert B. LammI'd heard about Sarah Vowell; but I was never interested in reading any of her books until I heard her being interviewed about this one. Something about what she said intrigued me; so I got it. It won't be the last book of hers that I read -- in fact; I've got another one on order already. She reminds me of Bill Bryson; though I've only read one of his books; in that she provides lots of history combined with contemporary wit and humor and a sense of the uncanny connections between historical events separated by generations. For example; she discusses a connection between the story of Lafayette and Herman Melville that I found intriguing; but there are quite a few other examples. She also makes some American icons (and their British counterparts) come alive in ways that traditional (i.e.; often bland) history does not.I have only one criticism of the book; really: the story of Lafayette recedes in the background (sometimes out of the picture entirely) in favor of her retelling of key episodes in the Revolutionary War; I didn't really expect a history of the War and was disappointed that Lafayette vanishes at times. However; she does a very good job in describing the weird coincidences and serendipity that resulted in the defeat of the British.I also have a second complaint; but not against Ms. Vowell (well; not really). There was one instance where she talks about a solider named Stephen in one place and a few pages later he becomes Stephens (or maybe it was Steven and Stevens; I can't recall). As I often ask; where were the editors? If I caught this on a casual read; why didn't someone else catch it? Maybe having to do an index would have helped.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Funny and informativeBy Theresa AlanI thought I knew American history; but it turns out that there was a whole lot of stuff I didn’t know; and this book helped fill in some gaps. Vowell is always funny; but some of the material in here is dense; so you have to love history and nonfiction to enjoy this book.Vowell wrote part of this during the 2013 temper tantrum in Washington that shut down all nonessential government services and cost our country $24 BILLION. (So much for fiscal responsibility.) The fact that our country is constantly fractured is a theme throughout the book.One of the things I hadn’t realized was the importance of the French helping secure American independence; specifically Marquis de Lafayette; who was only 19 when he came over to fight on the side of the Americans against the British during the Revolutionary war. I also never realized that George Washington was fighting with an untrained army of hungry (sometimes to the point of starvation) troops who often didn’t have boots for the feet to fight in NEW ENGLAND (which; of course; gets a bit nippy in winter).This quote illustrates Vowell’s writing style: “The newly dubbed General Lafayette was only 19 years old. Considering Independence Hall was also where the founders calculated that a slave equals three-fifths a person and cooked up an electoral college that lets Florida and Ohio pick our presidents; making an adolescent who barely spoke English a major general at an age I got hired to run the cash register at a Portland pizza joint was not the worst decision ever made there.”The best quote of the book; however; is when she talks about Lafayette Square across from the capitol in DC; where innumerable protests have taken place over the years. In reference to a Klan rally held there she writes; “Freedom of expression truly exists only when a society’s most repugnant nitwits are allowed to spew their nonsense in public.”If only we could get rid of the electoral college and preposterous gerrymandering and we might actually get something resembling a functional congress.