U.S. REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY
            How to Write It---And How Not to 
                                              By J. Charles
        artssf.com, the independent observer of Northern California books
                                                                 Week of Sept. 3-10, 2010 
                                                                 Vol. 13, No. 5
          Unlikely Allies by Joel Richard Paul (a professor at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law) explores a little-known aspect of American Revolutionary history.  The story of Silas Deane, who was sent to France by the Continental Congress in hope of obtaining military help for the colonies, should be a gripping read.  Unfortunately it falls flat.
             London. Paris. The high seas.  A humble hero.  An arrogant villain.  A French Captain of Dragoons who might, or might not, be a woman in disguise.  Agents.  Secret agents.  Double agents.  Potential triple agents.  Benjamin Franklin.  Beaumarchais. Plots, counter-plots, and dastardly treachery.  What else could one want in a popular history book?  Well, tighter editing for a start.  And a clearer thesis.  And more focus on the central character.
             Paul bases his meticulously-researched story on the papers of a Continental Congress deligate, Silas Deane.  And a complex tale it is.  Deane, a merchant who had never traveled further than Philadelphia, was sent to Paris in 1776 by the Continental Congress.  His job was to obtain supplies and convince the French to support the colonies in their war against Britain.  The colonists were hopelessly unprepared to carry out the fight they had begun against a major world power.  They had little money and less materiel.  They couldn't feed their army, let alone clothe and arm it.  The army itself was primarily made up of poorly trained volunteers: farmers, backwoodsmen and city-dwellers who were long on patriotism but very short on discipline.  The Congress needed everything; they needed it fast, and France was their only hope.
              In Paris, Deane met the playwright Beaumarchais who undertook to plead his case at the French court and help procure supplies for the colonists.  Beaumarchais was a busy man.  He had already  written "The Barber of Seville," married and buried two wealthy wives, and gone through a considerable fortune.  His current project had to do with convincing the Chevalier d'Eon to come out of the closet, confess that he/she was  a woman, and stop blackmailing the King of France.  (I told you this was complicated.)  Beaumarchias and Deane clicked, and shiploads of supplies, along with some French officers, were sent to America.  
             Deane also had to contend with a fellow-envoy who was more interested in undermining him than in helping the colonists.  Meanwhile his every move was being monitored by a British double agent whom he trusted entirely.  Even Benjamin Franklin could not keep him from finally falling into disgrace and being called back to America.  
             This much material would intimidate any historian, and, unfortunately, it overwhelms author Paul. Even though his prose is lucid, it is hard to pull a thesis out of the multiple strands of the narrative.  There are so many trees that the forest disappears. 
             Paul is at his best when describing the course of the war and the dilemma of the colonists.  The first battle of Ticonderoga turns into a gripping tale.  His account of the end of the war is equally exciting.  When he is doing straight-forward historical writing, Paul shines.  But when he moves to the twisting alleys of European diplomatic history, he seems swamped.  
             To some extent Paul is a victim of the task he has undertaken.  Diplomatic history is fiendishly difficult to understand and to write.  But he could have helped himself  by turning two of his plots into subplots and pruning them severely.  Instead he gives in to the temptation to tell, in detail, every good story he comes across.  And the stories really are good.  Who knew that Beaumarchais was so hopeless at running his own life and so skilful at helping the American revolutionary cause?  Who wouldn't want to explore the story of d'Eon, a French aristocrat, bearer of the Croix de Saint-Louis, who had a good line in blackmail and  might be a woman in disguise?  The problem is that Paul won't establish a hierarchy among these stories, and three plots are two too many.  Deane is most important in this history, Beaumarchais less so, and d'Eon hardly at all.  But we don't learn that from Paul, Instead, one wades through story after story, tempted to make for oneself a time-line and a diagram of interrelationships. 
             Paul had material to burn, and the skill to write a good story.  What he needed was a lot of self-control, or failing that, a very firm editor who would explain to him the writer's duty to cut .  So, if you read this book, try devising a strategy.  Choose your favorite character.   Then follow his story (the excellent index is helpful).  Skim the rest.  If that skimming brings up something of interest, save it for later.  You shouldn't have to do Paul's organizing task for him, but there really is much to learn in this book.  Good luck. 
         "Unlikely Allies.  How a Merchant, a Playwright, and a Spy Saved the American Revolution"  by Joel Richard Paul. Riverhead Books; 405 pps.; $25.95
            ©J. Charles 2010
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        J. Charles is a book-review contributor to www.artssf.com.
   These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly)focus on book reviews (by authors of the region), plus theater, dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into recordings by local artists as well.
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