The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution

The true story of the Polish hero who helped America win the Revolutionary War

Thaddeus Kosciuszko was one of the most remarkable and important figures of the modern world. Fleeing a death sentence in his homeland of Poland-Lithuania after daring to court a woman above his station, Kosciuszko arrived in Philadelphia just weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence―showing up on Benjamin Franklin's doorstep with a revolutionary spirit and a genius for military engineering.

Volunteering for the Continental Army, Kosciuszko quickly became its most talented engineer. He fortified Philadelphia, devised the battle plans crucial to victory at Saratoga, and designed the defenses at West Point―the very plans Benedict Arnold later attempted to betray to the British. Seeking new challenges, he transferred to the Southern Army, where he oversaw a vital intelligence ring of African-American spies.

Beyond his military brilliance, Kosciuszko was a visionary advocate for human rights. Long ahead of his time, he championed tolerance and equal rights for enslaved people, Native Americans, women, serfs, and Jews. Returning to Europe, he led the defense of Poland's constitutional movement and spearheaded the legendary 1794 Kosciuszko Uprising against Russian occupation.

Close friends with Thomas Jefferson―who hailed him as "as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known"―Kosciuszko lived his final years as a celebrated global icon for freedom. Exhaustively researched and compellingly written, this definitive biography captures a dashing, romantic, and deeply inspiring revolutionary hero.