SKU: 11797655780

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

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Lafayette in the Somewhat United StatesFrom the bestselling author of Assassination Vacation and The Partly Cloudy Patriot, an insightful and unconventional account of George Washington's trusted officer and friend, that swashbuckling teenage French aristocrat the Marquis de Lafayette. Chronicling General Lafayette's years in Washington's army, Vowell reflects on the ideals of the American Revolution versus the reality of the Revolutionary War. Riding shotgun with Lafayette, Vowell swerves


From the bestselling author of Assassination Vacation and The Partly Cloudy Patriot, an insightful and unconventional account of George Washington's trusted officer and friend, that swashbuckling teenage French aristocrat the Marquis de Lafayette.

Chronicling General Lafayette's years in Washington's army, Vowell reflects on the ideals of the American Revolution versus the reality of the Revolutionary War. Riding shotgun with Lafayette, Vowell swerves from the high-minded debates of Independence Hall to the frozen wasteland of Valley Forge, from bloody battlefields to the Palace of Versailles, bumping into John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Lord Cornwallis, Benjamin Franklin, Marie Antoinette and various kings, Quakers and redcoats along the way.

Drawn to the patriots' war out of a lust for glory, Enlightenment ideas and the traditional French hatred for the British, young Lafayette crossed the Atlantic expecting to join forces with an undivided people, encountering instead fault lines between the Continental Congress and the Continental Army, rebel and loyalist inhabitants, and a conspiracy to fire George Washington, the one man holding together the rickety, seemingly doomed patriot cause.

While Vowell's yarn is full of the bickering and infighting that marks the American past--and present--her telling of the Revolution is just as much a story of friendship: between Washington and Lafayette, between the Americans and their French allies and, most of all between Lafayette and the American people. Coinciding with one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history, Vowell lingers over the elderly Lafayette's sentimental return tour of America in 1824, when three fourths of the population of New York City turned out to welcome him ashore. As a Frenchman and the last surviving general of the Continental Army, Lafayette belonged to neither North nor South, to no political party or faction. He was a walking, talking reminder of the sacrifices and bravery of the revolutionary generation and what the founders hoped this country could be. His return was not just a reunion with his beloved Americans it was a reunion for Americans with their own astonishing, singular past.

Vowell's narrative look at our somewhat united states is humorous, irreverent and wholly original.



Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Published: 10/04/2016
ISBN: 9780399573101
Pages: 288
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.80d
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SKU: 11797655780

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Agamemnon
Draper, US
★★★★★ 5
Excellent Essay
Format: Paperback
Wolff is a one of the best people I know of to deliver a quick handbook to Marx. He delivers a master class on this complicated subject and I have long respected his views on economics and politics.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2025
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CL
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Awesome Introduction. A quick, easy read.
Format: Paperback
Very good overview and a quick little read! I was able to read this in a day, despite having ADHD. That, in my opinion, is a testament to the engaging, straight-forward writing style. I now feel well-versed enough in thd basics to read more in-depth texts. Highly recommended.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2025
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M.Jones
Cuba, US
★★★★★ 4
Brief and informative
I recommend this book to anyone that is curious about what exactly Marxism or socialism is but does not care to read volumes of material from Karl Marx himself. It's a quick yet poignant look at the major points and positions of the philosopher Karl Marx and gives you reason to go further study of you desire. This book will leave the average person with enough knowledge to hold an intelligent conversation about what Marxism is. Can be read on a commute to and from work or a 2hr plane ride.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2020
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Brian Mulvey
Birmingham, US
★★★★★ 5
The only system to replace capitalism m
Format: Paperback
Professor Wolff has written Marxism in an easy to understand, simplified pamphlet. I have listened to many of his podcasts and he speaks very clearly and deliberately so his audience can easily understand. Highly recommended reading for all Americans.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2024
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Kristofer Carlson
Birmingham, US
★★★★★ 5
An excellent introduction
Dr. Richard Wolff has a gift for simplifying complex material, distilling it down to its essence, and delivering it in a winsome manner. His gifts are on display here, for Karl Marx is a hard read. And yet, after reading this introduction, it is possible to catch a glimpse of hitherto unseen trains of Kark Marx's thought. After reading this introduction, it is clear that Marxism is not the same thing as Communism, or Socialism, or Fascism. Marxism is nothing more than an analysis and critique of Capitalism. That analysis and critique is used by many for their own purposes, purposes that have only a tenuous relationship to the source material.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2020

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