Described by the magazine American Heritage as the "Most Underrated French Hero of the American Revolution," Caron de Beaumarchais--the French watchmaker who rose to fame and fortune as a dramatist, polemist, and Enlightenment free-thinker--became the most famous arms dealer of the American Revolutionary War. Based on archival research in Europe and the U.S., this authoritative study tells the fascinating story of Beaumarchais's role as an...