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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Tony
Cuba, US
★★★★★ 5
Soft, velvety and very pretty.
Happy with this blanket. A bit thin, but I use it for layering so it is perfect for that. The color is a deep, rich purple. Which can be hard to find. Does not shed at all and feels very comfortable against the skin.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2026
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KayEl
Fort Morgan, US
★★★★★ 3
Fuzzies
I've waited to write this review to see if the fuzzies would go away. I've washed these blankets 4 times, twice when I first got them. The shedding was really bad on the first two washes, and each time I launder them, I hope they're gone, but no, I have to spend time picking them off, and I continue to do this, because the blankets came at a great price, they're a perfect weight, soft and cozy. Just beware if this would irritate you.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2026
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Greg
Whiting, US
★★★★★ 4
Comfortable
PROS: 1. Warm 2. Lightweight 3. Velvet soft CONS: 1. Not extra wide but sufficient.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2025
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Alena Cooper
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 5
Another Berkshire Favorite!
So soft and silky and warm and, oh the butterscotch color is such a perfect fall color! No static either! It does come rolled and sealed with plastic in a box, which I appreciate because you know you’re not getting something someone used and returned; all the Berkshire products I’ve bought come this way and while things being squished and sealed in plastic normally irritate me I approve of it here because Amazon is notorious for sending out used dirty crap and no one wants that in a blanket. Luckily with Berkshire I feel assured I’m always getting something new. Maybe that’s because the products are so high quality no one wants to return them (I know I don’t)! Or maybe they don’t allow returns, I don’t know. Sorry random tangent! But anyway, buy this for you, your friends, your pets, a stranger on the street! I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure the soft cozy feeling of this blanket could ensure world peace if everyone has one because everyone would be cozy and comfy and happy. Well maybe not everyone there’s always someone who has to complain. But not this girl. Because I’m cozy, comfy, and happy under my awesome blanket while I write this review!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2025
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Kat
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 5
Great!
It was great and soft! Very warm so maybe not a summertime blanket if it gets really warm by you! It’s really pretty and looks just like the pictures!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2026

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