The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution

Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish-Lithuanian born in 1746, was one of the most important figures of the modern world. He came to America one month after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, literally showing up on Benjamin Franklin's doorstep with little more than a revolutionary spirit and a genius for engineering. Entering the fray as a volunteer in the war effort, he quickly proved his capabilities and became the most talented engineer of the Continental Army. Kosciuszko went on to construct the fortifications for Philadelphia, devise battle plans that were integral to the American victory at the pivotal Battle of Saratoga, and designed the plans for Fortress West Point—the same plans that were stolen by Benedict Arnold. Seeking new challenges, Kosciuszko then asked for a transfer to the Southern Army, where he oversaw a ring of African-American spies.

Following the end of the war, Kosciuszko returned to Poland and was a leading figure in that nation's Constitutional movement. He became commander in chief of the Polish Army and valiantly led what was dubbed the Kosciuszko Uprising in 1794. Thomas Jefferson, with whom Kosciuszko had an ongoing correspondence on the immorality of slaveholding, called him “as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known.” This definitive biography fills a long-standing gap in historical literature with its account of a dashing and inspiring revolutionary figure.

“With The Peasant Prince, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Alex Storozynski has filled the void. And what a tale he has to tell.” —The Wall Street Journal