Reviews for Unlikely allies : how a merchant, a playwright, and a spy saved the American Revolution
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
A tantalizing reassessment of America's earliest foreign policy. Paul (International and Constitutional Law/Univ. of California, Hastings) explores the network of spies, diplomats and profoundly self-serving aristocrats whose actions helped determine the outcome of the American Revolution. The primary characters are Silas Deane, the Connecticut merchant charged by the Continental Congress to secure financial and military aid from France, and two French counterparts, Beaumarchais, the playwright and inventor, and Chevalier d'Eon, the transgendered officer and secret agent. A web of personal and professional machinations are brought to bear on each of these players as they engineer sometimes duplicitous missions for the French, British and American governments with often unintended but weighty consequences. We learn about the intricacies of Beaumarchais's covert arrangements with Deane and King Louis XVI to smuggle arms to the Americans; a partnership between Deane and his fellow diplomat, Benjamin Franklin, built as much on a shared interest in the dirty politics of a domestic land-grab scheme as a love of liberty; and the intriguing and self-absorbed political ramifications of d'Eon's transgendered identity. Paul handles each of these relationships with diligent care, accounting not only for the grand schemes and boisterous actions of his subjects, but also the nuanced textures of their daily lives in revolutionary-era Europe and America. The author keeps a close eye on the weather, fashion and, most importantly, the sense of timethe unreliable and painfully slow pace of trans-Atlantic communication plays heavily into the narrative. Occasionally, the author's detail work moves from harmless quotidian chronicling to questionable character assessments, as when he asserts that "it was precisely because d'Eon was so readily swayed by her heart's desire, rather than by rational self-interest, that she found herself in this predicament," as a primary reason that she became alienated from the French king. A few such quibbles are not enough, however, to undermine an otherwise keen, intriguing assessment of how personal politics might play out on the international stage. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal
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Numerous hagiographies portray the Founding Fathers as selfless, infallible leaders of the colossal struggle between liberty and tyranny, while lesser-known heroes fall between the cracks of time and are lost to history. In this notable reassessment, the critical roles played by Connecticut merchant Silas Deane, French playwright Caron de Beaumarchais (Barber of Seville), and the enigmatic Chevalier d'Eon in the successful outcome of the American Revolution are placed at the forefront. Drawing on a wealth of sources, Paul (Hastings Coll. of Law, Univ. of California) constructs an intriguing and readable account of three "unlikely" but extraordinary characters who in the face of substantial obstacles diligently labored to supply the American revolutionaries with arms at a critical juncture in the war and forged the decisive Franco-American alliance. Through grit, determination, and great personal sacrifice, Deane arduously struggled behind the scenes, emerging as the unsung hero of a tale with a brilliant cast of characters, including the infamous rake John Wilkes and the story's villain, Arthur Lee. VERDICT Paul's fast-paced, engaging narrative fills a gap in the historiography of the American Revolution and is essential reading for students of revolutionary diplomacy as well as general devotees of the age.-Brian Odom, Pelham P.L., Pelham, AL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
More than 200 years ago, three very different men found themselves with something in common. Silas Deane, a Connecticut merchant and politician; Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont (better known as Chevalier d'Eon), a top-level French spy; and Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, a French watchmaker and writer these strange bedfellow were important, even vital, to the success of the American Revolution. It's a bit of a labyrinthine story, its details no doubt unfamiliar to many readers, its players forgotten or remembered for other things. Beaumarchais, for example, is best known these days as the author of The Barber of Seville and other plays. Paul traces the life of the three up to their coming together in 1776 and then follows them as they carried out a plan as complex and dangerous as any spy-novel plot at one point, success hinged on d'Eon successfully passing himself off as a woman (luckily, he did that a lot, apparently). A rip-roaring account of the American Revolution, told from a fresh, and undeniably offbeat, perspective.--Pitt, David Copyright 2009 Booklist
Publishers Weekly
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Arthur Morey steps into the boots of three unwitting heroes of the American Revolution: with his smooth delivery and flawless voice, Morey transforms into Silas Deane, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, and Chevalier d'Eon-respectively the eponymous merchant, playwright, and spy, allowing listeners to lose themselves in this compelling, true story of American's origins. Morey's voice and Paul's words prove to be the ideal combination for an entertaining and informative history. A Riverhead hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 21). (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
