Review: Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

Title: Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

Author: Sarah Vowell

Date Completed: 2/14/2016

I read Vowell's Wordy Shipmates last year, but did not appreciate her disdainful treatment of religion in general and christianity in particular. Granted the Puritans were puritanical, but historical writing is typically approached with a bit more of an open mind. That being said, her voice and writing style intrigued me enough to give her a second chance.

In recent years I have found that I have less patience for the drier, academic histories that require great concentration or I fall asleep. I actually DNF'ed a less than 200 page history of the War of 1812 right before I picked this book up. I had had that book for a month and had barely made it 50 pages. Too many good books in the world to slog through one I don't enjoy.

Popular histories and narrative non-fiction have been scratching my history-loving itch in the past year, and Vowell's book definitely falls into the narrative non-fiction category. She covers the basics of Lafayette's life and focuses in on some of the key events he participated in during the Revolutionary War, but provides colorful commentary all along the way.

It is definitely a history through a modern person's eyes and biases. The sort we were all warned about in college. However, I really enjoyed her slightly irreverent take on our founding fathers. She didn't try or claim to be an unbiased observer--she made her perspective quite clear and told Lafayette's story through her own eyes. She put the founding fathers' humanity on display and avoided the tendency to hero worship or to twist their words/actions to fit with one's modern political agenda.

Lafayette has always fascinated me as he has many Americans through the years, so this was not the first book I have read on him. Even though Vowell is not a "professional historian," it appears all "the facts" are correct. But what made this books so interesting was not "the facts." She didn't just read about him in books and just retell the story again. She traveled all around the United State and France visiting all the sites she could that were associated with him--from battlefields to random monuments put up by school children in the late 1800s. She talked with a variety of park rangers/tour guides, a Lafayette impersonator, and even watched a Lafayette puppet show. She colored in the character of Lafayette by letting the historical facts be merely a guideline in her exploration.

One of the more touching moments she shared about Lafayette was when the United States came to the aid of France during World War I. They marched into Paris and went straight to Picpus Cemetery where Lafayette is buried. Colonel Stanton addressed the French people: "America has joined forces with the Allied Powers and what we have of blood and treasure are yours. Therefore it is that with loving pride we drape the colors in tribute of respect to this citizen of your great republic. And here and now, in the presence of the illustrious dead, we pledge our hearts and our honor in carrying this war to a successful issue. Lafayette, we are here."