Unlikely Allies: How a Merchant, a Playwright, and a Spy Saved the American Revolution [Hardcover]

Joel Richard Paul (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2009

The gripping true story of how three men used espionage, betrayal, and sexual deception to help win the American Revolution.

Unlikely Allies is the story of three remarkable historical figures. Silas Deane was a Connecticut merchant and delegate to the Continental Congress as the American colonies struggled to break with England. Caron de Beaumarchais was a successful playwright who wrote The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro. And the flamboyant and mysterious Chevalier d'Eon -officer, diplomat, and sometime spy-was the talk of London and Paris. Is the Chevalier a man or a woman?

When Deane is sent to France to convince the French government to support the revolutionary cause, he enlists the help of Beaumarchais. Together, they successfully smuggle weapons, ammunition, and supplies to New England just in time for the crucial Battle of Saratoga, which turned the tide of the American Revolution. And the catalyst for Louis XVI's support of the Americans against England was the Chevalier d'Eon, whose decision to declare herself a woman helped to lead to the Franco-American alliance. These three people spin a fascinating web of political intrigue and international politics that stretches across oceans as they ricochet from Versailles to Georgian London to the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. Each man has his own reasons for wanting to see America triumph over the British, and each contends daily with the certainty that no one is what they seem. The line between friends and enemies is blurred, spies lurk in every corner, and the only way to survive is to trust no one.

An edge-of-your-seat story full of fascinating characters and lavish with period detail and sense of place, Unlikely Allies is Revolutionary history in all of its juicy, lurid glory.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this debut, lawyer and academic Paul examines three critical but forgotten characters of the American Revolution. The merchant is American Silas Deane, a Connecticut man sent to France by Congress to broker an alliance and arms treaty for the Continental Army. The playwright is a Frenchman named Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, author of The Barber of Seville, who saw the Revolution as an opportunity for profit. The spy is the colorful Chevalier d'Eon, who worked for Louis XV, and threatened to provoke war with England after Louis XVI came to power, using old letters that outlined a plan to invade London. Beaumarchais was tasked with retrieving those letters from the Chevalier before Louis XVI would provide funds to arm the Americans. Once secured, Beaumarchais worked with Deane to import arms, and other trade goods, without raising the suspicions of the British. Paul's 18th century is highly detailed, but most striking is how little war profiteering has changed in 200-plus years, complete with Congressional infighting among honest lawmakers and those using the system for personal gain. Examining the Revolutionary War through three disparate figures, Paul reveals just how close the wealthiest colonists came to replacing one oppressive aristocracy with another.
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Review

"Rollicking and surprising, this is history as it really happened - as it was made by all-too-human actors. Unlikely Allies is a lively read and an important counterpoint to Founder hagiography."
-Evan Thomas, bestselling author of John Paul Jones

"An engaging and entertaining account of three of the most colorful characters involved in the American Revolution. It is hard to believe that their story is true, but it is."
-Gordon S. Wood, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Radicalism of the American Revolution

"Unlikely Allies is an amazing story compellingly told. I kept turning the pages in eagerness to find out what would happen next. Conspiracies abounded, and hardly anyone was what he or she seemed. If the eighteenth century in Europe was an era of Enlightenment, it was also an Age of Deception. Yet thanks to Joel Paul's sympathetic portrayal, Silas Deane emerges as an unsung hero of the American Revolution."
-Robert A. Gross, Bancroft Prize-winning author of The Minutemen and Their World

"Ever tire of worshipful accounts of the Founding Fathers' wisdom and fortitude? Then try this wonderful book about how an American businessman and two Frenchmen, a dramatist and a spy, came to their aid. A rollicking romp as well as a serious history, it reminds us of the role of duplicity, hypocrisy and corruption, and of human frailty and chance, in safeguarding the American revolution."
-William Taubman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Khrushchev: The Man and His Era

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover (October 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594488835
• ISBN-13: 978-1594488832
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #818,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Enlightening for the Lay Historian, December 12, 2009

By 

James B. Creighton "Lover of all things Italian" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Unlikely Allies: How a Merchant, a Playwright, and a Spy Saved the American Revolution (Hardcover)

I, too, thoroughly enjoyned "Unlikely Allies," by Professor Joel Paul. I agree with some of the other reviewers in that this book DOES read like a thriller yet the careful reader can confirm, by the Professor's endnotes, that this book is vigorously well-researched. Moreover, Professor Paul begins his book in a way that I truly appreciate: he devotes a beginning chapter to each of these three "unlikely allies,": the merchant, Silas Dean, the playwright, Caron de Beaumarchais, and the cross-dressing Frenchman/Frenchwoman, the Chevalier d'Eon, a captain of the dragoons. I found this technique very helpful in that it provides the reader with a backdrop against which to (begin to) understand the motivations, passions, expectancies, and internal conflicts that each of these important personages faced during his/her respective lives, especially during the ever so critical years of our country's infancy. Professor Paul's writing is crisp and to the point. Yet, at the same time, in each chapter he manages to provide the reader with the flavor, indeed a bona fide SENSATION, of the particular moment in our history that is being covered.

It is true that much of our (typically taught) American History is framed by the righteousness and virtue of our "founding fathers." I had always been taught that men like Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin were superior beings, almost godlike in their perfection. However, Professor Paul's book adds some perspective and depth to those history lessons that were spoon-fed to us so long ago. Professor Paul, while paying much respect to these and other important players in our commonly taught history reveals that these men were, indeed, quite human, and were just as imperfect as we all are. None of us is above reproach, nor were our founding fathers. With the possible exception of Silas Deane, none of us gives unconditionally of our time, resources, and energy. We all want or need something for ourselves in return for our efforts, even our efforts on behalf of our country or on behalf of the "greater good." I am thankful to Professor Paul for introducing me to Silas Dean, to Beaumarchais, and to the Chevalier d'Eon. His well-written account will, I believe, withstand the examinations of time, and continue to delight students of American History in the years to come. Overall, a very good read!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read and a rich perspective., December 1, 2009

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Paul (Charlottesville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Unlikely Allies: How a Merchant, a Playwright, and a Spy Saved the American Revolution (Kindle Edition)

Joel Paul's Unlikely Allies is a fascinating account of a crucial episode during the Revolutionary War. It focuses on the intersection of the lives of Silas Deane, America's emissary to the French before Benjamin Franklin, Caron de Beaumarchais, better know to opera lovers than to historians, and the Cavalier d'Eon, a fascinating French aristocrat who was a cross-dressing diplomat, spy and blackmailer. It emphatically makes the point that the success of the Revolution was no sure thing, that the motives of the revolutionaries were mixed, that the politics of the day were every bit as inglorious as our own, and that the American-French connection has deep and complex roots. All this might be known already to a serious student of the American revolution, but for this lay reader the story was enlightening as well as a great entertainment. Law professors as a whole are not known for their vivid writing (I speak as a law professor as well as a friend of Joel's) but this book manages to be great fun and wonderfully written without compromising its intellectual integrity.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History comes alive, December 6, 2009

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Jacob Wackernagel (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Unlikely Allies: How a Merchant, a Playwright, and a Spy Saved the American Revolution (Hardcover)

Erudite, crisply written and almost impossible to put down, this is a delightful book that grips the reader from the first paragraphs. Paul tells a great story and tells it well. At the same time that he sweeps the reader into the narrative, he is careful to note when he goes beyond the evidence to speculation. Although I've read many histories that sink under the writer's efforts to be as true to the facts as possible, Paul manages it all beautifully.