When one mentions “Lafayette”, most think about the college in Pennsylvania ranked 37th in the country, or the various cities and towns throughout America. Sarah Vowell however, speaks about Lafayette as in the Marquis de Lafayette, a French 19-year-old who volunteered to fight with George Washington in the Revolutionary War. In Vowell’s Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, readers journey through the life of the French aristocrat and his journey through the Revolutionary War as one of the trusted friends of the future first president of the United States and as General Lafayette. True to Vowell’s methods, she once again travels across the nation to view various historical locations, documents and facts while also incorporating her witty humor into an insightful novel. Vowell manages to reflect on the ideals of the American Revolution while also considering the realities of the Revolutionary War as she introduces ideas through General Lafayette. Orphaned at a young age, Marquis de Lafayette was not even a teenager when both his …show more content…
A book that I would completely recommend, the history and revelations made are not lost through the humor, as well as emotional weight, Vowell includes in her book. While explaining the American Revolution from a viewpoint of neither the Americans nor the British, the French, a new point of view can be formed. One of the most iconic American victories was actually dependent on the French, and despite France’s bankruptcy causing support, the French were awarded with nothing but a small island after America’s victory. Bringing attention to one of the major, but rarely discussed, players of the Revolutionary War, Vowell manages to write an entertaining and educational book through the eyes of the Marquis de