Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright Who Saved the American Revolution

Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright Who Saved the American Revolution - Paperback

$29.95
$29.95
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Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright Who Saved the American Revolution
  • Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright Who Saved the American Revolution
Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright Who Saved the American Revolution - Paperback

Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright Who Saved the American Revolution - Paperback

by Harlow Giles Unger
$29.95
$29.95
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Hardcover $34.51 Paperback $29.95

Book Overview

The compelling story of a little-known figure in the American Revolution, now available in paperback for the first time, with a new foreword by Iris de Rode.

In 1776, the playwright and inventor Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-99) conceived an audacious plan to send aid to the American rebels. What's more, he convinced King Louis XVI to bankroll the project and single-handedly carried it out. By war's end, he had supplied Washington's army with most of its weapons and powder, though he was never paid or acknowledged by the United States. To some, he was a dashing hero, a towering intellect who saved the American Revolution. To others, he was a pure rogue, a double-dealing adventurer who stopped at nothing to advance his fame and fortune. In fact, he was both, and more: an advisor to kings, an arms dealer, and an author of some of the most enduring works of the stage, including The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville. Now in paperback, Improbable Patriot introduces readers to an unrecognized power player in the Revolutionary War.
ISBN9781684583164
Author Harlow Giles Unger
PublisherBrandeis University Press
GenreBiography and History
FormatPaperback
PublishedApril 2026
LanguageENG- English
Pages252
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Biography & Autobiography History Nonfiction

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About Harlow Giles Unger

Acclaimed historian Harlow Giles Unger is a former Distinguished Visiting Fellow at George Washington's Mount Vernon. He is the author of twenty-six previous books, including twelve biographies of America's Founding Fathers and three histories of the early Republic. He lives in New York City.

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