Sunteți pe pagina 1din 36

Lafayette,

Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757- 1834
Alphabetical by Author listing:
The Marquis: Lafayette Reconsidered by Laura Auricchio
The fire and the glory: Lafayette and America's fight for freedom by Virginia Oakley Beahrs
Lafayette, hero of two worlds by Olivier Bernier
Lafayette, A Biography by Peter Buckman
Crossing the Delaware; Lafayette and the French alliance by Orson Scott Card
Revolutionary Friends: George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette by Selene Castrovilla
The letters of Lafayette and Jefferson with an introd. and notes by Gilbert Chinard
Adopted son: Washington, Lafayette, and the friendship that saved the Revolution by Clary, David A.
Marquis de Lafayette : French hero of the American Revolution by Kathleen Collins
The Mock Court Martial of British General Sir William Howe by Roy (Rudy) Cusumano
The Journey of the French Coat: Adventures in the Wilds from Fort Niagara to the Our House Tavern
by Gretchen A. Duling, Ph.D.
Lafayette and the American Revolution by Russell Freedman
Lafayette in America during and after the Revolutionary War and other essays on Franco-American
relations by Hamilton Fish
Why not, Lafayette? By Jean Fritz; illustrated by Ronald Himler
The Apostle of Liberty by Maurice de la Fuye and Emile A. Babeau, Thomas Yoseloff Inc. English edition.
Statue in search of a pedestal: a biography of the Marquis de Lafayette by Noel B. Gerson
An evening at Monticello: an essay in reflection by Edwin M. Gill
Lafayette: French freedom fighter byJoAnn A. Grote; Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
For Liberty and Glory, Washington, Lafayette and Their Revolutions by James R. Gaines
Lafayette in the French Revolution by Louis Gottschalk, Margaret Maddox
The letters of Lafayette to Washington, 1777-1799 edited by Louis Gottschalk

Lafayette in America, 1777-1783 by Louis Gottschalk. 1st Bicentennial ed.


Lafayette: a guide to the letters, documents, and manuscripts in the United States edited by Louis
Gottschalk, Phyllis S. Pestieau, Linda J. Pike
Lafayette, man in the middle by Sabra Holbrook
Lafayette in the age of the American Revolution: selected letters and papers, 1776-1790 / Stanley J.
Idzerda, editor, Roger E. Smith, associate editor, Linda J. Pike and Mary Anne Quinn, assistant editors.
Lafayette, hero of two worlds: the art and pageantry of his farewell tour of America, 1824-1825: essays
by Stanley J. Idzerda, Anne C. Loveland, Marc H. Miller
A Buss for Lafayette by Dorothea Jensen
Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of Liberty by Yasmin S. Khan
The return of Lafayette, 1824-1825 by Marianne Klamkin

Lafayette in Two Worlds by Lloyd Kramer


General and Madame de Lafayette: partners in liberty's cause in the American and French Revolutions by
Jason Lane
Lafayette: Lessons in Leadership from the Idealist General by Marc Leepson
Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825 by August Levasseur, translated by Alan R. Hoffman
Adrienne, the Life of the Marquise de Lafayette by Andre Maurois
Lafayette: His Extraordinary Life and Legacy by Donald Miller
Harvard honors Lafayette by Agnes Mongan
Lafayette and the liberal ideal, 1814-1824: politics and conspiracy in an age of reaction by Sylvia Neely
Lafayette: Hero of Two Worlds (Comic)
Marquis de Lafayette: French hero of the American Revolution by Gregory Payan
Lafayettes Gold: The Lost Brandywine Treasure by Gene Pisasale
The call of liberty: Marquis de Lafayette and the American Revolution byJoanne Randolph
A Son and his Adoptive Father: The Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington by Diane W. Shaw,
Christine H. Messing and John B. Rudder
Symbol in Two Worlds: Essays on Lafayette by Diane W. Shaw, Robert R. Crout, Alan R. Hoffman and
Paul S. Spalding
Lafayette: prisoner of state by Paul S. Spalding. University of South Carolina Press (July 31, 2010)
The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution: with some account of the attitude of France
towards the war of independence by Charlemagne Tower, Jr.
Lafayette by Harlow Giles Unger
Hermione, Lafayette and LaTouche-Treville by Patrick Villiers, J.C. Lemineur
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell
Lafayette in Brooklyn by Walt Whitman

Reviews of selected works, by published date

2010

1. Lafayette : prisoner of state / Paul S. Spalding. Columbia, S.C. :


University of South Carolina Press, 2010. 392 p. University of
South Carolina Press (July 31, 2010)
ISBN 1570039119

http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/books/2010/3911.html

La f a y e t t e
Pr i s o n e r o f S t a t e
Pa u l S. Sp a l d i n g

A harrowing account of how a champion of liberty became the world's most famous political prisoner

Lafayette: Prisoner of State is the first book-length study of the five-year captivity of MarieJoseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, by a coalition of Austrian and
Prussian forces during the French Revolution, including international efforts to win his release.
Paul S. Spalding constructs this original history of Lafayette's imprisonment by drawing in part
on extensive manuscript collections in America and Europe, some of which have only recently
been made available to researchers.
The "hero of two worlds," Lafayette is widely known as the French marquis who fought
alongside the colonials in the American Revolution and then played a leading role in the early
stages of the French Revolution. He is much less remembered for having spent five years as a
political prisoner, but his incarceration was a matter of great notoriety at the time. In August
1792 radical Jacobins overturned the young French constitution and began massacring
opponents. While fleeing for his life, Lafayette fell into the hands of Austrian and Prussian
troops intent on invading France and restoring the monarchy. A special tribunal decided that
Lafayette was too dangerous to release and declared him a prisoner of state. Thereafter he
was moved through a series of prisons in western and central Europe from 1792 to 1797.
During this time Lafayette's supporters on both sides of the Atlantic actively campaigned for

his release, eventually championing his cause before the British


Parliament, the U.S. Congress, France's Directory and Councils, and
European peace talks in northern Italy. Lafayette's imprisonment
became a cause of international debate, moving France to demand his
release as a condition of European peace.
Using firsthand accounts, police and military records, and private
correspondence, Spalding delineates both public and covert efforts to
gain Lafayette's release by negotiation or force, including the
prominent role of South Carolinians Thomas Pinckney, for a time the
dean of America's ambassadors, and Francis Kinloch Huger, a
medical student turned secret agent. Spalding's research also provides a case study in how
dedicated men and women, most without political office, can frustrate statesponsored efforts
to suppress dissent and dissenters.
Paul S. Spalding is the Joel Scarborough Professor of Religion at Illinois College in
Jacksonville, Illinois, and an officer of the American Friends of Lafayette. He is the author of
Seize the Book, Jail the Author: Johann Lorenz Schmidt and Censorship in EighteenthCentury Germany.

"A well-crafted work of history framed as a dramatic story played out across an international
stage. Based on archival research in eight countries, Spalding gives a spirited account of the
imprisonment for political reasons, the bungled escape, and the eventual liberation of colonial
America's favorite Frenchman. The book shows how hard it was to keep the Marquis de
Lafayette isolated. He and his fellow prisoners whistled and secretly wrote their way around
the elaborate efforts of old-style monarchies to block their communication with each other and
with the world beyond their prison cells."Frederik Ohles, President, Nebraska Wesleyan
University

2. Lafayette and the American Revolution / by Russell Freedman. New


York : Holiday House, 2010. 96 p. Holiday House (October 15, 2010)

ISBN-10 0823421821

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
When the Marquis de Lafayette ran off to join the American Revolution against the explicit
orders of the king of France, he was a strong-willed nineteen-year-old who had never set
foot on a battlefield. Although the U.S. Congress granted him an honorary commission only
out of respect for his title and wealth, Lafayette quickly earned the respect of his fellow
officers with his bravery, devotion to the cause of liberty, and incredible drive.
Playing a pivotal role in the Revolution, Lafayette convinced the French government to send
troops, made crucial pacts with Native Americans, and lead his men to victory at Yorktown.
This thrilling account of a daring soldier will fascinate young historians. Source notes,
bibliography, time line, index.

The Author
Russell Freedman grew up in San Francisco and graduated from the University of California
at Berkeley. Russell Freedman (born 1929 in San Francisco) is a biographer and author of
nearly 50 books for young people. He is most notable for receiving the 1988 Newbery Medal
with his work Lincoln: A Photobiography. In 1998, he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder
Medal for his lifelong contribution to children's literature. He received one of the 2007
National Humanities Medals.

2007

3. Adopted son : Washington, Lafayette, and the friendship that saved the
Revolution/ Clary, David A. New York : Bantam Books, c2007. 564 p. :
ill., maps ; 25 cm.
ISBN 0553804359

(Link)
The author :
David A. Clary, former chief historian of the U.S. Forest Service, is the author of
numerous books and other publications on military and scientific history. He has
been a consultant to several government agencies and has taught history at the
university level.
Information provided by the publisher
They were unlikely comrades-in-arms. One was a self-taught, middle-aged Virginia
planter in charge of a ragtag army of revolutionaries, the other a rich, glory-seeking
teenage French aristocrat. But the childless Washington and the orphaned Lafayette
forged a bond between them as strong as any between father and son. It was an
unbreakable trust that saw them through betrayals, shifting political alliances, and
the trials of war.
Lafayette came to America a rebellious youth whose defiance of his king made him
a celebrity in France. His money and connections attracted the favor of the
Continental Congress, which advised Washington to keep the exuberant Marquis
from getting himself killed. But when the boy-general was wounded in his first
battle, he became a hero of two countries. As the war ground on, Washington found
in his young charge the makings of a courageous and talented commander whose
loyalty, generosity, and eagerness to please his Commander in Chief made him one
of the wars most effective and inspired generals. Lafayettes hounding of
Cornwalliss army was the perfect demonstration of Washingtons unconventional
bush-fighting tactics, and led to the British surrender at Yorktown.
Their friendship continued throughout their lives. Lafayette inspired widespread
French support for a struggling young America and personally influenced
Washingtons antislavery views. Washingtons enduring example as general and
statesman guided Lafayette during Frances own revolution years later.

Using personal letters and other key historical documents, Adopted Son offers a
rare glimpse of the American Revolution through the friendship between
Washington and Lafayette. It offers dramatic accounts of battles and intimate
portraits of such major figures as Alexander Hamilton, Benedict Arnold, and
Benjamin Franklin. The result is a remarkable, little-known epic of friendship,
revolution, and the birth of a nation.

4. For liberty and glory : Washington, Lafayette, and their revolutions /


James R. Gaines. New York : W.W. Norton & Co., c2007. viii, 533 p., [24]
p. of plates : ill. (some col.), maps ; 25 cm.
ISBN 9780393061383
On April 18, 1775, a riot over the price of flour broke out in the French city of Dijon. That night,
across the Atlantic, Paul Revere mounted the fastest horse he could find and kicked it into a
gallop. So began what have been called the "sister revolutions" of France and America. In a
single, thrilling narrative, this book tells the story of those revolutions and shows just how deeply
intertwined they actually were.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1018862.For_Liberty_and_Glory_Washington_Lafayette
_and_Their_Revolutions
Sound recording version available (audiobook)

5. Lafayette in America, in 1824 and 1825 : journal of a voyage to the


United States / by Auguste Levasseur ; translated by Alan R. Hoffman.
Manchester, N.H. : Lafayette Press, 2006.xxv, 603 p. : ill., col. folded map
; 24 cm.

ISBN 9780978722401

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Originally published in French in 1829, this is a journal of General Lafayette's tour of all 24
United States. Lafayette's secretary, Levasseur, describes how the 67-year-old hero of the
American Revolution and apostle of liberty in Europe was welcomed and adored by
Americans. Details Lafayette's visits with Founding Fathers and addresses slavery and Native
American issues. This is the only unabridged English translation.

More readers reviews to be found on Amazone.com

2006
6. The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution : with some
account of the attitude of France towards the war of independence / by
Charlemagne Tower, Jr. Cranbury, NJ : Scholars Bookshelf, 2006. 2 v. :
ill. ; 21 cm. + 7 foldout maps.
ISBN 1601050593
The American Historical Review, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Oct., 1895), pp. 158-160
(review consists of 3 pages)
Published by: American Historical Association
Stable URL:

The author :
Charlemagne Tower Jr (From Wikipedia) was a diplomat born in 1848.
In 1891 he began to devote himself exclusively to history and archaeology, and
became a professor in the University of Pennsylvania. He served as Minister to
Austria-Hungary (1897-1899) for President William McKinley before being
transferred to Russia as Ambassador (1899-1902). Following his post in St.
Petersburg, he served as Ambassador to Germany from 1902 to 1908 under
President Theodore Roosevelt

2004
7. The call of liberty : Marquis de Lafayette and the American Revolution /
Joanne Randolph. New York : Rosen Pub. Group, 2004. 32 p. : col. ill., col.
map ; 23 cm.
ISBN 0823943682

Marquis de Lafayette was a Frenchman who helped America's patriots win the Battle of
Yorktown--one of the most decisive battles of the American Revolutionary War. He was
a close friend of George Washingtons and one of the greatest soldiers this country has
ever known. Readers will be thrilled by this tale of his heroism on the battlefield as he
brought America one step closer to independence.
Joanne Randolph has contributed to The Call of Liberty: Marquis de Lafayette and the
American Revolution as an author. Randolph is a freelance writer and editor of
children's educational books.

8. Marquis de Lafayette : French hero of the American Revolution /


Kathleen Collins. New York : Rosen Central Primary Source, 2004. 32 p. :
ill. (some col.), maps (some col.) ; 23 cm.
ISBN 0823941159

For children 9 to 12
The Marquis de Lafayette was born to a noble French family. He fell in love with the concept of liberty,
and with the idea of America, fighting for democracy and freedom his whole life. He and other
European adventurers, soldiers of fortune, and romantics of the time flocked to the continental army
during the American Revolution. Lafayette fostered his passion for the new America by enlisting in the
continental army just as Von Steuben from Prussia, and Kosduszko and Polaski from Poland had done.
(http://www.flipkart.com/book/marquis-de-lafayette-kathleen-collins/0823941876 )

9. Marquis de Lafayette = El Marques de Lafayette : French hero of the


American Revolution = heroe frances de la Guerra de Independencia /
Kathleen Collins ; traduccin al espaol, Eida de la Vega. New York :
Rosen Pub. Group, 2004. 32 p. : ill. (some col.), col. maps ; 23 cm.
ISBN 0823941639
First bilingual edition

2003

10.General and Madame de Lafayette : partners in liberty's cause in the


American and French Revolutions / Jason Lane. Lanham : Taylor Trade :
Distributed by National Book Network, c2003. xiv, 370 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN : 1589790189

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Propelled through life by an unquenchable thirst for liberty and justice, Gilbert du Motier de
Lafayette distinguished himself in both his homeland, France, and in America by his canny
leadership in the fight for freedom. Using the letters of Lafayette and his wife, Adrienne,
Lane (a member of American Friends of Lafayette) provides a workmanlike hagiographic
account of Lafayette's life and work. Lafayette was only 17 when he plotted to come to
America to aid the colonies in their revolution; he faced resistance from his in-laws and his
own lack of skill in battle and in speaking English. But he learned English on the voyage over,
and when he came ashore near Charleston quickly made a name for himself as a brave and
heroic leader. Lafayette became fast friends with George Washington, whom he helped to
defeat Cornwallis in Virginia. He returned home a hero and began to press for the cause of
liberty in France. His wife, who had supported him during his American campaign with her
loving and uplifting letters, stood beside him once again. He won great support during the
French Revolution, but was eventually arrested and imprisoned for his support of a
constitutional monarchy. Adrienne voluntarily shared his dungeon cell for two years,
contracting the illness that finally killed her. Written in a prosaic style, Lane's first book

offers a detailed glimpse of French society in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as seen
through the lives of two aristocrats dedicated to liberty. 13 b&w illus.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
For more reviews
http://www.amazon.com/General-Madam-Lafayette-Partners-Revolutions/dp/1589790189

2002
11.Marquis de Lafayette : French hero of the American Revolution /
Gregory Payan. New York : PowerPlus Books, 2002. 112 p. : ill. (some
col.) ; 25 cm.
ISBN 082395733011.

For children 9 to 12

Book Summary of Marquis De Lafayette: French Hero Of The American Revolution


Welcome to PowerPlus Books. This new imprint, which will be launching in Fall 2001, is aimed at
grades four to eight, written at the fifth grade reading level. (PowerKids Press Books are at the third
grade level.) The PowerPlus imprint is designed to explore a wide range of subject areas, especially
history and science, to meet the needs of upper elementary and middle school students. These books
help students with research, reports, projects, and assignments. Supplementing the curriculum and
classroom work, these books offer students a level of specificity and detail that a chapter in a more
general textbook cannot supply. Be sure to check out our subscription program for great savings.
The first series in the PowerPlus imprint is a 12-book collection: The Library of American Lives and
Times. Coming in Fall 2001, these books are comprehensive biographical treatments of important
Americans, emphasizing not just their lives, but the times in which they lived. Each book is 112 pages
with dynamic four-color photos through out. Text is designed to make the navigation and

comprehension of these more extensive supplemental books an easy transition from the third grade
material under the PowerKids Press imprint.
A leader in American victories against the British in the American Revolutionary War, Lafayette also
championed the Americans' cause at peace talks in France. A life story interwoven with issues of
international diplomacy, military expertise, and contributions to another nation's fight for freedom, de
Lafayette is an important reminder that not all the heroes of the American Revolution were American.
100+ Page Biographies That Cover the Lives of Americans and Other Patriots Who Shaped Our
Country's Destiny Ready for immediate shipment, these books are comprehensive biographical
treatments of important Americans, emphasizing not just their lives, but the times in which they lived.
Each book is 112 pages with dynamic full-color photos throughout.
From :

http://www.flipkart.com/book/marquis-de-lafayette-gregory-payan/0823957330

12.Lafayette / Harlow Giles Unger. New York : John Wiley & Sons, 2002.
xxiii, 452 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
ISBN : 0471394327

(Link)
HARLOW GILES UNGER is the author of Noah Webster and John Hancock (both
from Wiley). A veteran journalist, he was a foreign news editor at the New York
Herald Tribune Overseas Service and a foreign correspondent for the Times and the
Sunday Times (London). The author of eight books on American education, he
lives in New York City and Paris, France.
Publishers description

Acclaim for Lafayette "I found Mr. Unger's book exceptionally well done. It's an admirable
account of the marquis's two revolutions-one might even say his two lives-the French and the

American. It also captures the private Lafayette and his remarkable wife, Adrienne, in often
moving detail." -Thomas Fleming, author, Liberty!: The American Revolution
"Harlow Unger's Lafayette is a remarkable and dramatic account of a life as fully lived as it is
possible to imagine, that of Gilbert de Motier, marquis de Lafayette. To American readers
Unger's biography will provide a stark reminder of just how near run a thing was our War of
Independence and the degree to which our forefathers' victory hinged on the help of our French
allies, marshalled for George Washington by his adopted' son, Lafayette. But even more
absorbing and much less well known to the general reader will be Unger's account of Lafayette's
idealistic but naive efforts to plant the fruits of the American democracy he so admired in the
unreceptive soil of his homeland. His inspired oratory produced not the constitutional democracy
he sought but the bloody Jacobin excesses of the French Revolution."-Larry Collins, coauthor, Is
Paris Burning? and O Jerusalem!
"A lively and entertaining portrait of one of the most important supporting actors in the two
revolutions that transformed the modern world."-Susan Dunn, author, Sister Revolutions: French
Lightning, American Light

2001
13.Lafayette : French freedom fighter/ JoAnn A. Grote ; Arthur M.
Schlesinger, Jr., senior consulting editor. Philadelphia : Chelsea House
Publishers, c2001. 80 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm.
ISBN 0791059731

Book Summary of Lafayette: French Freedom Fighter (Revolutionary War Leaders)

Lafayette was very rich. He was friends with the king and quee n of France. He
loved his family very much. But when he was 19 years old, he risked everything.
He crossed the ocean to help Americans in their way for freedom.
Watch how Lafayette kept fighting after he was shot in the leg. Learn how he
helped George Washington win the war.
Then follow Lafayette back to France. See how he stood up for the rights of poor
people in his country. Lafayette spent five years in jail during the French
Revolution, but he never quit fighting to help make everyone free.
The collection :Revolutionary War Leaders :
-----

Compelling portraits of American history's most notable male and female leaders
Includes informative sidebars
Interesting, easy-to-understand content
Complements school curriculum

Marquis de Lafayette volunteered to fight in the American Revolution and served with distinction under
George Washington.

(http://www.flipkart.com/book/lafayette-joann-grote-arthur-meier/0791059731)

1999

14.Why not, Lafayette? / Jean Fritz ; illustrated by Ronald Himler. New


York : G.P. Putnams Sons, c1999. 87 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN 039923411X

the author :
Jean Fritz brings history to life. No other author has made such an enormous impact on
childrens historical literature. By her own admission, she knew her career path at the age
of five, yet her writing did not really take off until she was in her mid-thirties. Since then,
Fritz has authored books about virtually every American historical subject imaginable. Her
writing process is one of careful research and rewriting, and she eschews the label
historical fiction due to the careful construction of her books. Whether recounting the
treachery of Benedict Arnold or the nobility of President James Madison, Fritz captures the
essence of the period and makes historical figures memorable for her young readers.
(http://www.enotes.com/authors/jean-fritz
)

1996

15.Lafayette in two worlds : public cultures and personal identities in an


age of revolutions/Lloyd Kramer. Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North
Carolina Press, c1996. xii, 354 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN 0807822582

(link ?)
A Lafayette for our times
This ambitious, complex, and important work is unlike anything else in the vast body of Lafayette
literature. For a start, as its subtitle suggests, it is not in the normal sense a biography. What
once would have been called Lafayette's "formative years" are dispatched in a dozen or so lines
of a two-page biographical summary contained in the Introduction. Neither are we offered the
customary pen picture or character sketch of the subject, though he does feature in many of the
thirty-one contemporary paintings or prints which accompany the text. As a result, when at the
beginning of Chapter One the nineteen-year old marquis lands in the New World to serve in
George Washington's army, he is almost as unfamiliar to us as he must have been to his
American hosts.
Nor is the book a study of his political life. The high points of a public career spanning nearly
sixty years--his involvement in, respectively, the American and French Revolutions and the
Revolution of 1830 in France--are each the subject of a chapter. Surprisingly, his active support
at a safe distance for the failed Polish nationalist rising of 1830-31 is similarly singled out for
special attention. However, the prominent part he played in the events of the "Pre-Revolution" in
France, which resulted in the breakdown of royal absolutism and the calling of the EstatesGeneral for 1789, is passed over in complete silence, while the account of his activities as
republican king-maker to Louis-Philippe in 1830 is not prefaced with an investigation into his
behaviour in the escalating political crisis which brought down Charles X. Other episodes such as
his cautious return to public life during Napoleon's Hundred Days, or during the Restoration his
lead role in the liberal opposition up until the loss of his seat in the Chamber of Deputies in 1824,
simply form the backdrop to the book's other four chapters.
Three of these--variously titled "Lafayette and Liberal Theorists," "Lafayette and Romantic
Culture, 1814-1834," and "Lafayette and Women Writers"--consist of excursions into his relations
with friends or acquaintances in intellectual and artistic circles. In the first case, these are with
the liberal political theorists Destutt de Tracy, Benjamin Constant, and Jeremy Bentham; in the
second, with the writers Lady Morgan and Fenimore Cooper, and the opera singer Maria Malibran;
and in the third, with the writers Germaine de Stael, Fanny Wright, and Cristina Belgiojoso. The
odd one out of this quartet of chapters takes the occasion of Lafayette's triumphal tour of the
United States in 1824-25 as the opportunity not so much for an account of the extraordinary
reception given him by the American people on his spiritual homecoming, as for a comparison of
Lafayette and Alexis de Tocqueville as interpreters and shapers of an emerging American national
identity.
Faced with such a puzzling and apparently disjointed collection of essays, the cynical or--in
Kramer's terminology "ironic"--reviewer may be tempted to see it as a pragmatic response to

historiographical circumstances: that is, either an attempt to plug gaps left by other writers or
else a case of simply following where the sources lead. Certainly, the overall concentration of the
book on the post-1800 period, not covered in Louis Gottschalk's six-volume biography (1935-72),
and the prominence given to Lafayette's dealings with women intellectuals are partly justified in
the former terms. In fairness, though, it has to be said that Kramer is as much concerned to
render the better known aspects of the Lafayette story less familiar as the reverse. Probably the
exigencies of his sources have had a greater influence on the final shape of the work. Although
issues surrounding the selection and handling of source material are given remarkably little
coverage, it is safe to infer that Kramer's heavy reliance on Lafayette's correspondence contained
in several collections of private papers has much to do both with his general preoccupation with
Lafayette's friendships, and his choice of those to feature in the book's cast list. Most conspicuous
among the absentees is Adrienne, the wife he married at sixteen, who after his capture by
Austrian troops chose to share his imprisonment, and whose portrait, we are told, he worshiped
every day after her death in 1807.
Kramer's ambition, however, is not to find a place within the existing historiography, but to
transcend it. His purpose is in two senses to provide us with "a Lafayette for our times." First and
foremost, this entails a methodological project: to bring to bear on an individual life the insights
and methods of the new cultural history more usually deployed in the study of the mentalities of
groups or political culture. Kramer has made elsewhere the general case for a new cultural
approach to history founded on an awareness of "the active role of language, texts, and narrative
structures" (see his essay "Literature, Criticism, and Historical Imagination: The Literary
Challenge of Hayden White and Dominick LaCapra," in Lynn Hunt (ed.), The New Cultural History
(Berkeley, 1989: 97-98.). Here he justifies his project more in terms of the bankruptcy of
traditional biography, based as it is on outmoded notions of the transcendent self and the
autonomy of the individual actor. For Kramer "individuals can never be separated from the social,
cultural, and symbolic world in which they act and construct an identity for themselves" (p. 2).
This was all the more so in Lafayette's case since as a well known public figure on two continents
for the best part of sixty years, "his life became inseparable from the public narratives about his
life" (p. 8). Accordingly, the historian's task is not to read through these narratives, but quite
simply to read them. Naturally this task of metaphorical textual criticism calls for the skills and
techniques of the literary specialist.
In place then of an impossible search for the real Lafayette, this work offers us a series of essays
in "the dialectics of identity" in which our hero is both subject and object. Each chapter examines
how in a particular political or cultural context his identity was shaped, reshaped, and sustained
through his interactions with other individuals, movements, and national cultures, and how in turn
he helped these "others" find meaning and identity. So, for example, the first chapter "America's
Lafayette and Lafayette's America: A European and the American Revolution" looks at, in
Kramer's phrase, the "identity-forming exchange" whereby, on the one hand, the young marquis
becomes symbolically transformed into the hero of two worlds, and, on the other, America's
emerging national identity is reinforced and given respectability by association with its high born
visitor.
Given that, in comparison with traditional biography, the logic of this post-modern or literary
critical treatment de-centres the subject in a number of ways--for example, privileging the times
over the life--it is surprising to learn that Lafayette in Two Worlds seeks at the same time, in a
sense, to "re-centre" its subject in the historiography. For the book's second over-riding purpose
is to combat modern accounts of Lafayette's life which have minimised his historical importance
and worth. In Kramer's view Lafayette has been one of the great casualties of the "ironic"
assumptions and debunking tendencies of twentieth-century scholarship which have transformed
the Romantic symbol of disinterested idealism into a popularity-hunting, political mediocrity.
Rather than a systematic refutation of the charges contained in this historiography, Kramer
prefers to deconstruct it initially and then to offer his own alternative, "post-ironic" readings of
Lafayette's career and significance.

How far does the book succeed in this enormously ambitious undertaking? In my view, the
rehabilitation of Lafayette is no more than a qualified success. Indeed, it can be objected that the
exercise is not as necessary as Kramer maintains. His claim that Lafayette has been badly treated
by modern historians involves a partial reading of the American historiography. Firstly, it rests on
associating Louis Gottschalk, the greatest figure in the twentieth-century scholarship of
Lafayette, with his detractors. True the picture which emerges from his various works is of the
"warts and all" variety, but to attribute this to the malign influence of "the structuring ironic
assumptions of modern historiography" (p. 4) rather than the obligations of critical scholarship, is
surely open to question. Secondly, it ignores--for this purpose--the contribution of Kramer's own
mentor and since Gottschalk's death, the leading living authority, Stanley Idzerda, who has
consistently represented Lafayette as a uniquely moral force in politics (see, for example, his
essay "Character as Destiny: A New Look at Lafayette's Career" in La France et l'esprit de 76:
Colloque du bicentenaire de l'Independance des Etats-Unis ..., Universite de Clermont-Ferrand II;
nouv. ser., fasc. 1, 1977).
Compared to Idzerda, Kramer offers a broader, more balanced and also--mercifully--more
restrained defence. But its very moderation is a source of weakness as well as strength. His
argument that Lafayette was a more effective political actor than widely supposed is made in part
through directing attention from the moments when he was at the centre of the political stage to
his work behind the scenes for an endless list of civil rights campaigns. Yet even here Kramer is
forced to admit in terms of tangible results that his record was not terribly impressive. Writing
specifically of his efforts on behalf of Italian liberals in prison and exile, he acknowledges that
"Lafayette's public campaign ... met with the small successes and large disappointments that
characterised so many of his political causes" (p. 176).
On the largest and historically most important of these disappointments Kramer can do no little
more than plead mitigating circumstances. Rather than the result of a lack of political skill or
nerve, his ultimate failure in the French Revolutions of 1789 and 1830, when as commander of
the National Guard he appeared to hold the reins of power, was due to forces beyond his control.
Indeed in view of the difficulties he faced and the conflicting demands and interests of the various
groups which made up his power base, the wonder is he was able to stay on top as long as he
did.
This analysis may or may not be correct--I find it more persuasive in the case of the events of
1790-91 than 1830--but without any consideration of the range of theoretical political options
open to him, it remains unconvincing. Furthermore, in the case of 1830, the appeal to what
almost amounts to a culturalist version of historical inevitability is somewhat undermined by the
acknowledgment that Lafayette's moral scruples--his refusal to resort to "historical tricks that no
honest leader could perform" (p. 251)--further circumscribed his room for manoeuvre.
It is perhaps a tacit admission of the comparative weakness of this part of the argument that in
the end Kramer rests his case on Lafayette's importance as an enduring political symbol rather
than as a historical actor. Although he argues with his customary subtlety and eloquence for
Lafayette's continuing relevance today--his optimistic idealism and faith in the democratic
process as an antidote to the prevailing scepticism and disillusionment within contemporary
Western (perhaps in view of the recent elections in Great Britain and France, this should just be
American) political culture--the basic point was surely never in dispute.
Such reservations about the novelty of Kramer's conclusions can be extended to the work of as a
whole. Undoubtedly it repays reading not just for its interest and importance as an experiment in
method and genre, but also for the ready supply of incidental insights and sidelights on both
period and its central figure. Yet in neither area do these, I think, quite add up to the "new
readings" promised at the outset. Indeed, to confine discussion to the man rather than his times,
it is surprising that the picture of Lafayette which emerges from Kramer's "cubist" treatment is
not more complex and varied. Certainly the accounts of both his dealings with his friends and his

involvement in a host of "minority" political movements suggest a more sympathetic and to some
extent adaptable individual than is often allowed. Small wonder that someone who lavished such
attention and hospitality on his friends and their friends, and was always ready to "rendre
service," was so appreciated by them. Equally his readiness to take on new radical causes--often
indirectly, as in the case of Fanny Wright's anti-slavery farm project, through the support of his
activist friends--should free him from his unfortunate association with nineteenth-century
liberalism of the stern, unbending sort. Overall, though, what comes across most strikingly is the
sheer consistency, almost predictability, of his aspirations and actions through the ups and downs
of his long career. In addition to Lafayette's celebrated love of liberty and liberal causes, Kramer
finds another unifying theme in the story of his life: within and between the various overlapping
worlds in which he moved, he continually assumed the role of "cross-cultural mediator."
P.N. Furbank has argued persuasively and entertainingly in the pages of the New York Review of
Books (11 July 1996, pp. 50-52) that the fundamental problem with Kramer's book derives from
the unpromising nature of his subject: quite simply, Lafayette had no hidden depths for the
historian--post- modern or otherwise--to reveal. No doubt there is much in this view, but it is not
a conclusion we can reach on the basis of Kramer's work since it offers no explicit exploration of
its subject's inner life. Ironically, in discarding the study of motive and intention presumably as
unwanted baggage of old-style biography, he has left this field of interpretation in the possession
of the debunkers. More positively, there are other ways in which Kramer's strategic choices both
in terms of methodology and subject matter may have inadvertently worked to the detriment of
his subject. All come back ultimately to his decision to work with Lafayette's own narrative of his
life rather than challenge or problematise it. Two of the most intriguing and obscure episodes of
his career--his flirtation with Caesarism in 1791 and with the insurrectionism of the Carbonari-which might possibly have subverted the smooth flow of this linear narrative are simply bypassed. Equally, if Kramer's epistemological stance makes it impossible for him to confront
Lafayette's text of his life with the historical reality behind it, surely his literary critical approach
should allow and enable him to offer alternative readings of it. Yet his decision to base his work
principally on Lafayette's correspondence with friends and admirers has deprived him of one
obvious source for such a reading. As a result, by way of a final irony, a work which is conceived
as a radical break with traditional biography exhibits to some degree one of its notorious failings:
namely, a tendency to take its subject at his or her own estimation.
Copyright (c) 1997 by H-Net, all rights reserved. This work may be copied for non-profit
educational use if proper credit is given to the author and the list. For other permission, please
contact H-Net@H-Net.MSU.EDU.

1991

16.Lafayette and the liberal ideal, 1814-1824 : politics and conspiracy in


an age of reaction / Sylvia Neely. Carbondale : Southern Illinois
University Press, c1991. viii, 390 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
ISBN 0809317338
Sylvia Neely is associate professor of history at Indiana University-Purdue
University at Fort Wayne.

(Link ?)
Publisher Description :
Sylvia Neely provides both the first scholarly study of Lafayettes life after the French
Revolution and a detailed analysis of French politics during the early Restoration.

Lafayette, advocating a liberalism based on the American example, used both legal and illegal
means to overturn a conservative government. The personification of liberalism for many of his
contemporaries, he and his friends Benjamin Constant, Voyer dArgenson, and Charles Goyet
saw themselves as fighters in an international struggle that set liberalism against the forces of
reaction and obscurantism. Although he ultimately failed, Lafayette was convinced that the
liberal ideals derived from the Enlightenment and from his personal mentor, George Washington,
would prevail.

Neely makes Lafayettes actions clear by considering seriously the principles that guided his life
and by describing the political climate of the early nineteenth century. She discloses previously
overlooked features of the revolutions of the 1820s which account for the divisions among the
revolutionary groups. She also examines relationships between Lafayette and the prominent
writers and thinkers of the period, among them Augustin Thierry, Jeremy Bentham, Lady
Morgan, and Frances Wright

1990
17.Lafayette, hero of two nations / by Keith Brandt ; illustrated by Scott
Snow Mahwah, N.J. : Troll Associates, c1990.. 48 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN 0816717710

For children 9 to 12
The "Easy Biographies" series focuses on the childhood and young-adult years of
famous men and women who overcame obstacles to achieve greatness.
Inspirational and informative reading for students with big dreams.

1989

18.Lafayette, hero of two worlds : the art and pageantry of his farewell
tour of America, 1824-1825 : essays / by Stanley J. Idzerda, Anne C.
Loveland, Marc H. Miller. Flushing, N.Y. : Queens Museum ; Hanover,
N.H. : Distributed by University Press of New England, c1989. x, 201 p. :
ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.
ISBN 0874514894

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly

Produced to accompany an exhibition commemorating General Gilbert du Motier Lafayette's


triumphal visit to America nearly 50 years after the outbreak of the American Revolution--in
which his participation proved indispensable--this felicitous mesh of history and art presents
such curiosities as a coach that carried Lafayette from Albany to Buffalo and a breast pin con
taining locks of Lafayette's and George Washington's hair. Idzerda (co-editor of Lafayette in
the Age of the American Revolution ) contributes a biographical essay. Loveland ( Emblem of
Liberty: The Image of Lafayette in the American Mind ) captures the reactions of the
populace to this hero of two revolutions and defines the manner in which his visit acted as "a
crucial impetus to American nationalism." Miller, curator of the Queens (N.Y.) Museum,
distinguishes the styles of portraits and busts of the period, examines Lafayette's influence
on the restoration of Revolutionary War sites and traces the shapes of monuments to their
classical origins.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal


The Bicentennial of the French Revolution has sparked many publications examining the
historical relationship between France and the United States. This paperback exhibition
catalog surveys the life of Gen. Gilbert du Motier Lafayette (1757-1834), his contribution to
the American Cause during the Revolutionary War, his triumphant return to America 50
years later, and the fine and decorative arts created to commemorate his visit. Beloved by
Americans, the gracious and energetic elder statesman traveled through all existing states.
The highly exciting event promoted American nationalism and fostered artistic expression,
as the nearly 200 illustrations in this book attest. Fascinating reading; for American history
and art collections.
- Kathleen Eagen Johnson, Historic Hudson Valley, Tarrytown, N.Y.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

http://www.amazon.com/Lafayette-Hero-Two-Worlds-Pageantry/dp/0874514894

1983

19.Lafayette, hero of two worlds / Olivier Bernier. New York : E.P. Dutton,
c1983. xvii, 356 p., [22] p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN 0525241817

Book Review
Timid, tongue-tied, earnest to a fault, Gilbert de La Fayette did not seem bound for glory. He
embarrassed himself on horseback, stumbled on the dance floor. But he had a fine old name, and
after his father died when Gilbert was two years old and his mother when he was twelve, Gilbert
came into a handsome fortune. Hating court life in the Versailles of Louis XV, the marquis went
into the army. At 19, with only the briefest of military training, he set off to become a hero of the
American Revolution.
Lafayette's gallant service to the young nation helped contribute to the special affection that still
binds the two countries. Yet as Olivier Bernier, an American author born of French parents,
points out in this stirring biography, the French did not always have special affection for
Lafayette.
Lafayette first shocked his countrymen by stealing off to America against the King's wishes. But
he quickly won the friendship of George Washington, spent $3 million of his own funds on the
colonial cause and performed bravely at Brandywine and Yorktown. When word of his exploits
reached home, he became a drawing-room sensation. Beautiful women pursued him upon his
return, and Louis XVI was even moved to authorize French aid for the Americans. Lafayette had
convinced his countrymen, as he wrote in 1777, that "America's happiness is intimately linked to
that of mankind."
Throughout his New World adventure, however, Lafayette remained curiously immune to the
principles he was fighting for. "It had not yet occurred to him that democracy was for export,"
writes Bernier. The soldier returned to France an enthusiastic supporter of the ancien rgime. Yet
as the toast of Paris salons, he met some of the new egalitarian thinkers of the day and became a

genuine convert to the cause of democracy. His new ideals and his ever growing popularity drew
him into the French Revolution, and at 31 he became vice president of the new National
Assembly the day before the Bastille was stormed. By trying to give the monarchy a republican
patina, however, he earned the enmity of both commoners and nobility. As the Revolution turned
bloody, he fled across Austrian lines toward Belgium but was imprisoned. Austria and Prussia
considered him a dangerous insurrectionary influence.
Lafayette here becomes a tale of high heroism, not by the marquis but by his quiet, self-effacing
wife Adrienne. As relatives were falling to the guillotine all around her and the family's assets
were confiscated, she responded with Fayettesque valor. Briefly imprisoned, Adrienne found
food and housing for her family, began caring for destitute friendsincluding her husband's
mistressand waged a vigorous letter-writing campaign to win his freedom.

Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921471,00.html#ixzz0nvAM6mpH

1982
20.Crossing the Delaware ; Lafayette and the French alliance/ written by
Orson Scott Card. Eitwanda [i.e. Etiwanda], CA : Living History
Productions, p1982. 1 sound cassette.
(Type of material : music Sound Recording )
Dramatic work and accompanying music.

1979
21.The letters of Lafayette and Jefferson / with an introd. and notes by
Gilbert Chinard. New York : Arno Press, 1979, c1929. xiv, 443 p., [1] leaf
of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN 0405105932

First published in 1929


Table of contents :
Chapter I : The governor and the Major-General (February-June,1781)
Chapter II : Lafayette and Jefferson in France (1785-1789)
Chapter III : The French Revolution. Lafayettes captivity and Exile (1789-1800)
Chapter IV : the Consulate and the Empire (1800-1815)
Chapter V : The Twilight of Life (1815-1826)

1978

22.An evening at Monticello : an essay in reflection / by Edwin M. Gill ;


pref. by Archie K. Davis. Chapel Hill : North Caroliniana Society, 1978.
viii, 43 p. ; 23 cm.
Subjects : Madison, James, 1751-1836 ; Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Roch Yves

Gilbert de Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834 ; Monroe, James, 1758-1831 ; Imaginary


conversations ; United States -- Civilization

23.Lafayette in Brooklyn / by Walt Whitman ; with an introd. by John


Burroughs. Norwood, Pa. : Norwood Editions, 1978 [c1905]. [35] p. : ill. ;
23 cm.
ISBN 0848230175
First published in 1905
The story of an incident of Whitmans childhood which occurred
in 1824 when
Lafayette was visiting the country, as a guest of
the Nation.
The little boy had the opportunity of being taken up by Lafayette in his arms

1977
24.Lafayette in the age of the American Revolution : selected letters
and and papers, 1776-1790 / Stanley J. Idzerda, editor, Roger E.
Smith, associate editor, Linda J. Pike and Mary Anne Quinn, assistant
editors. Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1977-<1983 >
ISBN 0801410312 (v. 1)
The first volume inaugurates a series composed of five volumes published from
1977to 1983, that forms a rich documentary chronicle of The Marquis de
Lafayettes role in the American Revolution.
An indefatigable letter writer, Lafayette carried on a correspondence with an
extraordinary range of people involved with the fate of revolutionary America.
Volume I provides a fascinating account , from source materials, of his arrival in
America. It covers Lafayettes activities from December 7, 1776, to March 30,
1778, including his landing in Charleston, his 900 mile trip to Philadelphia and his
chilly reception by the Congress. It also chronicles his services in Washingtons

army, his participation in the battle of Brandywine and the winter encampment of
the troops at Valley Forge, and his abortive expedition to Canada in 1778.
Much of the basic material for this seriesis drawn from Lafayettes own
collection of manuscripts. Certain to lead to the revision of many historical
judgments, the series will give an unparalleled picture of thee times and help us
understand why Lafayette has remained a central figure in the American history.
Complementing Lafayettes personal memoirs are extensive exchanges of letters
with family and with such prominent figures as G. Washington, R. Morris, J.
Adams, J. Hancock and P. Henry. The documents and letters written in English are
published as they appear in the manuscripts; those written in French appear both in
the original and in translation.

1977
25.Lafayette : a biography / by Peter Buckman. New York : Paddington Press
: distributed by Grosset & Dunlap, c1977. 288 p. : port. ; 24 cm.
ISBN 0448220601
New York : Atheneum, 1977. 214 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.1975

26.Lafayette, man in the middle / Sabra Holbrook. New York : Atheneum,


1977. 214 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

1976
27.Statue in search of a pedestal : a biography of the Marquis de
Lafayette / Noel B. Gerson. New York : Dodd, Mead, c1976. ix, 244 p. ;
22 cm.
ISBN 0396073417

28.The fire and the glory : Lafayette and America's fight for freedom /
Virginia Oakley Beahrs. Philadelphia : Westminster Press, c1976. 191 p. :
ill. ; 21 cm.

ISBN 0664325920

29.The letters of Lafayette to Washington, 1777-1799 / edited by Louis


Gottschalk. 2d printing / edited and revised by Louis Gottschalk and
Shirley A. Bill. Philadelphia : American Philosophical Society, 1976. xlii,
433 p. ; 24 cm.
ISBN 0871691159

30.Lafayette in America during and after the Revolutionary War and other
essays on Franco-American relations / by Hamilton Fish. New York
: Vantage Press, c1976. 250 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
ISBN 0533023149

1975
31.Lafayette in America, 1777-1783 / by Louis Gottschalk. 1st Bicentennial
ed. Arveyres, France : LEsprit de Lafayette Society, c1975. 184, 364, 458
p., [6] fold. leaves of plates : maps ; 24 cm.

32.Lafayette : a guide to the letters, documents, and manuscripts in the


United States / edited by Louis Gottschalk, Phyllis S. Pestieau, Linda J.
Pike. Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1975. 296 p. ; 27 cm.
ISBN 0801409535

33.The return of Lafayette, 1824-1825/ Marianne Klamkin. New York,


Scribner [1975] viii, 212 p. illus. 24 cm.
ISBN 0684138875

34.Harvard honors Lafayette / the catalogue has been prepared by Agnes


Mongan, with the assistance of Louise Todd Ambler ... [et al.]. New York :
Garland Pub., [1977?] c1975. 159 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
ISBN 0824019628

S-ar putea să vă placă și