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BOOK REVIEW Adopted Son: Washington, Lafayette, and the Friendship that Saved the Revolution by David A. Clary Bantam - January 2007
Reviewed by Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty This new century of ours has been blessed in these early years with a sudden deluge of excellent books dealing with America's founding years and with the characters involved in creating what can only be described as the "world's greatest and -- so far -- most successful experiment in Constitutional Democratic Republicanism." A few come readily to mind: Stacy Schieff's impressive A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America; Darren Staloff's very illuminating Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and The American Founding; Walter Isaacson's intimate portrayal of probably the most fascinating founding father, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and, of course, David McCullough's recent study of George Washington and the early revolutionary-war days in his stirring 1776. Now we can add to this list of excellent works another one: David A. Clary's new book, Adopted Son: Washington, Lafayette, and the Friendship That Saved the Revolution. Clary documents (and, does he ever document!) the surprisingly intimate relationship between the "father" of our country, the commanding general of the Revolutionary War, with a heritage firmly in the English tradition, and the very young Marquis de Lafayette, a nineteen-year-old wealthy French aristocrat who comes to America, becomes a major general in the Continental Army, and a national hero in both America and in France. Washington had no sons and Lafayette was an orphan; the confluence of these two situations led to a bond between the two men unheard of in the annals of the American Revolution. Furthermore, this bond of friendship, although frequently interrupted by periods when they were apart in both space and time, continued throughout their lives. The story is essentially a biography of two heroes set within the context of a country's struggle for political independence against the background of a long, exhausting, and almost lost war which was both unconventional and unique. Thanks to the author's narrative style, the story is never dull and is, in my opinion, as close to a "thriller" as any work of nonfiction can become. One of the engaging features of Clary's book is the publication of many of the personal letters exchanged between Washington and Lafayette, as well as correspondence and conversations between some of the other characters who played an important part in this American drama, such as John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton. Some of the language of these letters will likely raise the eyebrows of the contemporary reader. For instance: Laurens, Hamilton, and Lafayette, says the author, "wrote gushy letters to each other. Hamilton routinely addressed Laurens as 'my dear' and vowed his 'love'." Then Clary goes on to explain: "Such language was usual in their time, the age of 'Sentiment.' Letter writing was almost a sport and flowery talk was the norm, especially for young fellows burning with passions for war and politics." Much of the correspondence between Washington and Lafayette also expresses this type of language. Moreover, Clary evidently feels compelled to explain this phenomenon further. In footnote 46, he states this regarding the "flowery" language of the various correspondents: "Taking such language out of context, modern minds think it homosexual, a term coined in the 1890s. It was not a burning issue in the eighteenth century, as it is today, and it is a fallacy to apply the attitudes of the present to the context of the past." Clary is quite correct about this. I don't know whether the concern here, however, is the fact that our spoken and written language has become increasingly banal and less colorful, or whether it is an emotional problem associated with our current concepts regarding "manliness" and "proper" male behavior. Feminists, though, might take note that it apparently wasn't impossible for "manly" heroes in the 18th century to express their innermost feelings toward their male comrades and do so in "flowery" language. Maybe there's a message here or, in the long run, maybe it doesn't matter at all. There is no question that General George Washington was exactly the right man in the right place for a task that many thought impossible. I suggest that the teenage Marquis de Lafayette was exactly the right youth in the right place for the right leader fighting for America's independence from England. According to ordinary standards, I suspect, they may be judged unlikely friends and comrades; which may tell us something about how our ordinary standards so often fail us. But now the tale of these two historical personalities and the intimate relationship between them has finally been told. The psychological interplay between the two men, the trust they had in each other, the experiences they shared together, this is the stuff that makes great biography. And Clary pulls it off handily. Not a dull moment in the telling. This is not a book to merely read and enjoy. It is also a valuable research tool for the student of American history. Clary is to be commended for providing a wide variety of resources outside of the main text, which itself includes a Prologue, fifteen chapters, an "Envoi" and an Afterward. There are fifty-seven illustrations, seven maps, a "Cast of Characters" (running six pages, each entry having a short description regarding his or her significance within the story), sixty-five pages of extremely helpful notes, a "Chronology of Washington and Lafayette" (eleven pages) which runs from 1732 to 1834, a bibliography (nineteen pages) which includes archival and museum collections, published original sources, books and reports, periodicals, and dissertations and, finally, a comprehensive index of both major topics, sub-topics and details. What more could the student researcher ask for? I now submit that David Clary's Adopted Son is "must-reading" for those interested in American history, which should, of course, include all American citizens; but I am, alas, a realist and acknowledge the minority status of this position. That being said, I highly recommend this book to all readers, even those who don't think they're interested in reading American history. This is the book that may change any reader's mind. 
Read an Excerpt from this Book Order at Amazon.com Adopted Son: Washington, Lafayette, and the Friendship that Saved the Revolution, by David A. Clary Order at Powell's Books Adopted Son: Washington, Lafayette, and the Friendship that Saved the Revolution, by David A. Clary |
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Enrich your life with a book about politics and current events... Enrich your political & social life with a politics or news magazine... |
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