Lafayette: Hero of Two Countries

by Olivier Bernier

Profiles the statesman and officer whose liberal ideals prompted him to fight with the colonists in the American Revolution

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History, Biography Memoir, France, American Revolution

356 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1983

Reviews

[Matt McCormick · Rating 5 out of 5]

First is the title; which actually is Lafayette Hero of Two Worlds.

Bernier does an admirable job presenting Lafayette accurately and objectively. Well researched and thoughtfully structured, the life of the Marquis is an opportunity for the reader to better appreciate both major revolutions of the 1700s, American and French, and to understand how the principal participants acted in each. One is reminded how fortunate the newly minted Americans were when their colonizers physically left the country and permitted the victorious rebels the opportunity to develop a governmental system alone.
Bernier may rely a bit too heavenly on psychoanalysis to explain Lafayette’s love of Washington and inability to use granted power more effectively. Yet, Bernier is appropriately respectful of his subjects accomplishments and determination. Few of us us would have chosen to remain in a harsh prison for a political conviction. Maybe fewer would, like Lafayette, walk away from a great fortune and the pleasures it can bring to show up in a backward country and live there for years in hardship (he was at Valley Forge) all to achieve glory in a good cause. I was especially struck by the author’s observation that one thing that made Lafayette special was that he adopted as his life’s passion one of the most important ideas of a century - liberty.
Lafayette wasn’t a great thinker, a great general (although a good one) nor was he particularly prescient. But, he was committed and determined and on the side of humanity while fighting for it within two nations, on two continents.

[Brian Krouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive

Well, this book took me a while to finish. But I really enjoyed it overall. The funny part, as an avid reader of American Revolution books, that part of the book felt like a slog. Once we got back to France, I feel the story really took off. Overall, I really enjoyed this. Great read.

[Alan Gable · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and decent biography

Although I felt the author took some speculative liberties, this is an enlightening book surrounding the complexity of Lafayette. Worth the read.

[Ed Cerne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most readable history book

[Michael K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

There really is not much I could add to the original write-up on this book. It was an excellent book on the life of Marque de Lafayette. He took no pay from the American Army, paid his own way and both paid for and raised funds for the American Army who both lived and were clothed as though they were in squaller. His courage and his determination drove him, his love for liberty was the internal fire in his belly. When he returned home (France) his love of liberty got him into some hot water. Even Napoleon saw him as a threat as a potential rival.

An excellent book of our history and one of our greatest allies in the American Revolution! Well worth the time to read.

[rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

My city's namesake in book form took a dubious occupation in my life by haunting me thru the years with its insistence in being read, which first reared its head about 15 years ago, finally concluding this year when I got thru the bastard. Bernier sacrifices all the interesting stuff that happened around the Marquis, from Cornwallis' defeat to the Reign of Terror back home in France, in lieu of telling every single detail of his everyday through an admittedly startlingly intricate summation of his world coupled together from his letters to and from those he loved (and some he didn't). He assumes a lot, is what I'm saying, you may need to invent yr own footnotes (or find a separate book on the French Rev). The writing is (mostly) laborious though it does pickup after awhile, and it also manages to be highly critical, only glorifying the man in the specific instances it was warranted. The main thruline here is that throughout life he had one song to sing and sang it: liberty. It just happened to be the song of the century; he was a people's hero, not a war hero, always deflecting power in turn for pomp. I appreciate his affect on liberalism as a whole, but I guess an abridged version of anything never haunts a man.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit lengthy for me. The afterword was my favorite part because it summed up Lafayette positively even in light of his very human flaws--he seemed to be a little bit of a hot mess, at least for the French, though not for the Americans. I wonder if I would have appreciated the book more if I had a better understanding of French history.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting--I never knew Lafayette was such a leader in the French Revolution also. What a guy!