Unlikely Allies is the gripping true story of how three remarkable people used espionage, betrayal, and deception to help win the American Revolution. Silas Deane was a successful Connecticut merchant and a member of the Continental Congress who in 1776 was sent to France to persuade the king to support the colonists in their struggle with Britain. Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was a successful playwright who had access to the arms, ammunition, and other supplies that Deane and the Continental Army desperately needed. And the Chevalier d'Eon was a diplomat and sometime spy for the French king who became an unwitting catalyst to a crisis that persuaded the French to arm the Americans. These three were at the heart of a monumental power struggle between Britain and France, with the outcome of the War of American Independence hanging in the balance. All three had their own reasons for wanting to see America triumph over the British, and all three contended with the certainty that they could trust no one. Their stories spin a fascinating web of political intrigue that stretches across oceans, from Versailles to London to Independence Hall in Philadelphia. - Jacket flap.