Hero of Two Worlds by Mike Duncan 4 stars

[Joanne]

Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution 4 stars

A marvelous "two-fer" (another GR's reviewers description of the book, and I loved it, so I stole it). With this book you get a comprehensive biography of Lafayette AND an excellent account of The French Revolution. I picked up the book because I had done some reading on the American Revolution earlier this year and wanted to know more about this man. I got every thing I needed to know about the man, and perhaps the best explanation of how and why the French revolted shortly after the Americans. Like the Americans. the French spent years fighting to gain basic freedoms and Lafayette was at the heart of all of it.

I learned so many things about this man's amazing long life. I had no idea he had spent 5 years in an Austrian prison. The last of of those years in solitary confinement. For him to survive this and then live into his late 70's, just amazing. Another thing that surprised me: George Washington sheltered Lafayette's son for 2 years to keep him out of harms way. Many books gloss over the facts of the friendships that Lafayette forged during his time in America. Not only Washington, but Hamilton, Monroe, Jefferson, these men and many more all were lifetime friends of Lafayette.

For a book like this the research has to be impeccable, and it is. Excerpts from letters between Washington and Lafayette and also those written to and from his family are found throughout.

Highly recommended

[Cora]

Thanks for the great review. Ever since I saw Hamilton I have been looking for a good book about Lafayette and I picked this up recently when it was on sale for kindle. I am happy to hear it was a good purchase.

[Joanne]

I am sure you will enjoy it Cora. I look forward to your thoughts