In exploring the links between the American Revolution and the French Revolution, Lion Feuchtwanger’s twelfth novel
Waffen für Amerika[
Weapons for America, 1947/48] pays tribute to the two countries which offered the Jewish author sanctuary after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933. Feuchtwanger’s interest in this subject began with a draft outline written in the 1920s, but it was not until 1944 that he completed the play of the same name and then began work on the novel which he finished two years later. It is a novel of epic proportions, covering over 800 pages and providing the reader with rich, warts-and-all portrayals of such fascinating historical personalities as Beaumarchais, Franklin, Voltaire, Lafayette, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. However, the narrative focuses sharply…
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Citation: Wallace, Ian. "Waffen für Amerika". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 December 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16873, accessed 21 November 2024.]