Improbable Patriot: The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright Who Saved the American Revolution (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781684583164)

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.

Author: Harlow Giles Unger
ISBN-10: 1684583160
ISBN-13: 9781684583164
Publisher: Brandeis University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/06/2026
Pages: 252
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.77lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.58d