Preview
  • Improbable Patriot

  • The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright Who Saved the American Revolution
  • By: Harlow Giles Unger
  • Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
  • Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (19 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Improbable Patriot

By: Harlow Giles Unger
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was an 18th-century French inventor, famed playwright, and upstart near-aristocrat in the court of King Louis XVI. In 1776, he conceived an audacious plan to send aid to the American rebels. What's more, he convinced the king to bankroll the project, and singlehandedly 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 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 author of some of the most enduring works of the stage, including The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville.

©2011 Harlow Giles Unger (P)2018 Tantor
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"This delightful rogue of many talents set up a company to front for the French and Spanish regimes secretly supplying weapons, munitions, clothing and food to the struggling rebels." (American History)

What listeners say about Improbable Patriot

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Concise Portrayal of the Beaumarchais

Until this book I was completely unaware of the man behind "Figaro" and "The Barber of Seville." Unger does an excellent job creating a familiarity with a Frenchman who should find himself standing with other great French supporters and Patriots during the American Revolution.

If you appreciate even the most remote aspects of the American founding, this book is well worth the listen/read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing man! Life is better than Fiction

If this wasn't proven it would be so hard to believe actually happened to one man. Truely a Polymath! The American Revolutionary Government not only owes him a debt of gratitude but literally a debt they never paid him on. it's a shame, he is a true hero of the Revolution and deserves way more than the US has ever given him credit for.
Unbelievable story and maybe the most amazing thing is he escaped Paris with his live while living through "The Terror."
fascinating read, amazing man!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

How have I never heard of this before?!?

What an amazing life! This man had the kind of genius, luck, adventures, boldness, and cheek that is found maybe once in a hundred years. Throughout this book I kept thinking it would make for a great movie, but no one would find it believable. My only regret is that I wasn't reading a physical copy so I didn't get the foot notes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Total unexpected gem!

I first encountered the name Beaumarchais in a biography of Benjamin Franklin. I was intrigued because the film Amadeus talks about the court wanting to censor/suppress Mozart creating The Marriage of Figaro, but they never really explain why Figaro was controversial.

When I see two stories intersecting in my blind spot, I want to know more. So I found this book (to my good fortune free through subscription) and finished in a couple of days.

It is remarkable! This man is amazing and every part of this story defies belief (yet is clearly true by court records). It's an absolute roller coaster.

I learned a great deal and would highly recommend this work.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

It's not Unger's fault

It's all so improbable. Eighteenth century upper class madness. Kind of: Who cares? If you like gossip, this book is probably OK for you. Unger, though, is a fine researcher and writer. Just an icky choice of subject. And the narrator was certainly tolerable when played at 1.25x speed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful