Book Rec - The Peasant Prince

It's a shame how many people routinely travel over this bridge on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway:



...that have no idea who this *Kosciuszko* guy is that it was named for.

It turns out that he was a truly remarkable man. Among many other things, he was the guy who fortified West Point in the Revolutionary War; it was his plans that traitor Benedict Arnold tried to sell to the British.

But far more importantly, Kosciuszko was a powerful crusader for global liberty. He not only deprecated feudalism and despotism, he risked his life to fight against them.

Wikipedia does an okay job summarizing his achievements....but even better:

I just got around to reading his story in this great book - The Peasant Prince - that my brother gave me for Christmas last year.



Publishers Weekly writes:

Prize-winning journalist Storozynski pulls military strategist and engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko (1746–1817) back from the brink of obscurity by including almost every documented detail to create the first comprehensive look at a man who once famously symbolized rebellion. His were the plans sold to the British by Benedict Arnold. And Kosciuszko's years of devotion to the American cause framed his efforts to transform Poland into a self-governing republic freed from the oversight of Russia's interests. He antagonized Catherine the Great and, later, Napoleon. Kosciuszko rallied the first Jewish military force since biblical times to fight for Polish independence, and consistently supported equality and education for peasants, Jews, Muslim Tatars and American slaves—which earned him the devotion of the masses and lectures by the upper classes. Readers of military and American history should take note: the minute details will enthrall devotees. Casual readers will benefit from Storozynski's expert crafting of a readable and fact-filled story that pulls readers into the immediacy of the revolutionary era's partisan and financial troubles.

I was going to write a long synopsis of this biography but decided against it. Read the book for yourselves. Amazon.com's readers have rated it five stars - what else do you need to know?

One trivial tidbit:

Kosciuscko never collected the money Congress paid him for his heroic efforts in the Revolutionary War. He left the money to, upon his death, be used to buy freedom and education for his friend Thomas Jefferson's slaves.

But when he did die, TJ wussed out; he claimed due to his *old age* that he wasn't able to execute the will. Sure, Tom. Tell me again why Jefferson should be revered so much?

And a couple of excerpts:

Kosciuszko turned down something he had always lacked - a comfortable living with a hefty salary as a lieutenant general, and status as a member of the aristocracy. He joked that he would rather work as a gardener of the sprawling Czartoryski Palace. He also declined a gift from a rich widow who wanted to present him with a plantation where the serfs raked in substantial farm revenues. His refusal to accept the offers only enhanced his reputation.

Even when Kosciouszko was in charge of West Point, or leading the entire Polish Army against Catherine the Great, he wore *peasant* rags and subsisted on soldier gruel. His story, if nothing else, is one of profound humility. Of course many throughout the ages have championed the poor but I doubt a scarce few walked the walk on par with Kosciouszko.

Domestic life with the Zeltners allowed Kosciuszko to remain out of the spotlight. Everyone knew that he refused to sit for paintings, but the officers of the Polish legions wanted a likeness of the Pole for posterity's sake. Zeltner came up with a sneaky plan.

The general loved music so Zeltner bought a theater box so he could attend concerts anonymously. But Kosciouszko didn't know that his Swiss friend also purchased the adjoining box, so that a sculptor named Eggenschwiler could sit next to him to surreptitiously observe and sketch the occupant in the neighboring booth.

The sculptor was commissioned to create a statue of Kosciouszko and chiseled three marble busts of the commander in a toga. Kosciouszko was a connoisseur of the arts, and when learning that a promising sculptor was working nearby, he asked Zeltner to take him to the studio. They walked in as Eggenschwiler was chipping away, and the general was shocked when he recognized his own likeness in stone. He exploded in anger and whacked two of the busts with his cane, sending the sculptures to the floor where they shattered. When he lifted his walking stick in the air and was about to bring it down on the third, the artist shielded his work and pleaded that it be spared.

See also my lengthy review of A Question of Honor.