Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution

great biography !

What a great biography! That was a real unexpected catch on Saturday shopping.
Aside from finding out a lot of unknown information about Kosciuszko I learned great deal about the society and customs of the XVIII and XIX centuries in Europe and America.
Some very spicy details! Great writing too!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Buy This Book!

I usually read mostly contemporary biographies, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this story. The writing just flows and keeps you captive from the first chapter until the very end. There's great detail and it's all interesting. I'm sorry that I didn't have this book around when I studied the American Revolution in History - it would have made the course a lot more exciting!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

History comes alive and takes you by the hand...

I was amazed at the thorough research conducted by Alex Storozynski, and enjoyed reading the entire work. In the intro Storozynski mentioned that he wanted the true person of Kosciuszko to be portrayed, and not just a eulogized image, and that purpose was most definitely fulfilled. You meet a real a man with a real human nature, someone you can identify with, and also greatly admire because of his nobleness of purpose and his perseverance to his ideals of equality for all humanity, and the freedom he desired for his homeland, Poland. My only problem with the book, was there were a few times that I wanted to know 'more' and I can easily see how the book could be twice its length! I don't know how long Storozynski spent conducting research and writing, but his depth of knowledge of Kosciuszko and Polish history is evident. I also really enjoyed Storozynski's 'word-smithing' that was evident throughout the book, from the chapter titled 'Napoleon comes up short' (gotta love that one!) to "It would be sixty years before the healing powers of the fountains of Lourdes would first mystify southern France, yet when Kosciuszko's ship docked nearby at the port of Bayonne on June 28, 1798, he cast aside his crutches and stood up on his own." Being much more than just a list of facts in chronological order, Storozynski's book brings you face to face with real people. He not only brought the person of Kosciuszko alive to me, but I also enjoyed meeting others. I didn't realize that Niemcewicz was such a blabber mouth and tried to ride Kosciuszko's coat tails. And Chief Little Turtle's advice on having an affair with Catherine was priceless. Jefferson came alive, as did others, like Ludwika his first love. I had no idea that Kosciuszko's will (the purpose of which was to free and educate African slaves in America) never materialized after his death. I also had not realized the Washington/Lafayette vs the Jefferson/Kosciuszko connection and found that thought-provoking as well.
And I really enjoyed reading about the last part of his life. In my own studies on Kosciuszko, I had not come across any more than 'he spent the last years of his life in Switzerland with the Zeltner family.' I love the prayer that he wrote during his last years. there was just so much that I enjoyed reading and discovering about Kosciuszko that my own copy of Storoznski's book The Peasant Prince has many 'dog-eared' pages so I could easily find this or that fact that fascinated me about this great man's life. This book will captivate anyone who wants to read the life story of a true hero; his trials, triumphs and temptations: and be inspired!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Why have we never heard of this hero?

Kosciuszko was an amazing man, mostly known in America as the military engineer who was key to our defenses during the American Revolution, he is truly much more than that. Alex Storozynski brings this man to life through his research and writing. Like Kosciuszko's life, the writing is non-stop action and allows the reader to look into the eyes of Kosciuszko and discover the man: his visions for freedom and liberty for all on both sides of the Atlantic, his passions, his frustrations... from his heroic character to his frail human attempts - Alex brings this man to life. And this man, Tadeusz Kosciuszko is a man whose life and ideals must continue to be told and never forgotten - a true life hero.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A fascinating man and story

I recently saw the author do a book reading on C-SPANs Book TV and was so impressed that I immediately went out and purchased the book. When I got home I realized that I had actually purchased a signed copy. How lucky can you get? I finished the book while on vacation in 4 days.



I live in Troy, NY and have traveled many, many times over the Thaddeus Kosciuszko bridge. I knew very little of the man but one of the engineers who built the bridge was a friend of my father's so for most of my life it was Mr. White's bridge.



The opportunity to find out about the man who had a bridge named for him intrigued me. I have read other books on the American Revolution but never learned so much as I did when I read this book. As the book closed on the American Revolution, I had to admit that I wasn't sure the rest of his story would hold my attention.

I was wrong. Never before had the story of Poland and Europe been explained in such a way. My history teachers did a poor job of relating such interesting facts and people. I don't think the story of Thaddeus Kosciuszko was ever taught.

How could he be left out of any story of the world's history at that time? What a noble and fascinating human being.



I often wonder where our great thinkers and leaders are now. We seem overwhelmed with public figures who are all about greed and self promotion. Are our schools presenting history with the attention it should be given in the classroom? Are we presenting the facts and human drama that shaped the course of the world in a way that our young people can make the link between the past, the present and the future?



I'm not so sure but I do my part by trying to educate myself and pass on what I learn. This book has done a lot to help me with my very minor effort to enlighten whoever will indulge me as I relate the stories I read. The story of Thaddeus Kosciuszko has given me a lot to talk about as I sit with my children and try to "turn the light on".

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A "Peasant" prince for all times...

If Kosciuszko were alive today, he might well be nominated for "Time" magazine's Man of the Year or even the Nobel Peace Prize. Despite the fact that he fought for US independence and the resurrection of his native Poland, Kosciuszko was a true disciple of the Age of Englightenment; he championed freedom and equality for all ---men, women, African-Americans, Jews, Moslems. Equally at ease with royalty (Tsar Paul I, the Polish king Stanislaw Poniatowski), peasants, slaves and native Americans, he was far ahead of his times in that respect. And throughout his long life he never wavered from his commitment to democracy and freedom.

Alex Storozynski has written a well documented history which took ten years to research. Mr. Storozynski included sources from such varied places as Stockbridge and Worcester, Massachusetts to West Point, New York, to Philadelphia, to Warsaw, to Switzerland and other locales. The scholarly research, however, is not dry, boring reading. Instead the book reads like a historical novel, which one can't put down. There are vivid descriptions of battles, especially the Battle of Raclawice in which Kosciuszko and his army of peasants killed approximatelly 800 Russians in the fight to regain Poland's independence in 1794. Mr. Storoznynski's descriptions could easily be pictured as an epic movie comparable to "Ben Hur" or "Gone with the Wind."

In addition to being lively and entertaining, the book is also objective in its treatment of Polish history, which is not often the case with some historians. Mr. Storozynski details how the Polish land owners and magnates, as well as some aristocrats helped to subvert the cause of Polish independence with their petty jealous squabbles arising from their fear of democracy and equality. If Kosciuszko appears larger than life in the book, it is based on historical facts on both sides of the Atlantic.

"The Peasant Prince" is truly a book for all times. I believe Kosciuszko would be equally at home with President Obama as well as other world leaders today, whether they be Christian, Muslem, Jew, or atheists, of any race or ethnic persuasion.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Kosciuszko biography

Finally Polish-American hero has professionally written biography. Kosciuszko was one of those who change the World around him successfully. His visionary mind led him always where people were fighting for freedom. From Poland to France, from France to America than back to Europe and again to America. He was an adventurer what makes book not boring at all. It worth to reed it. Evan in Polish it is hard to find Kosciuszko's biography as good as this one.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Historical Storytelling At Its Best!

The Peasant Price is an absorbing tale of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish freedom fighter and one of the most fascinating figures on the world stage from late 18th and early 19th century. Alex Storozynski introduces us to a man of great character who came to the aide of the United States during the Revolutionary War and against incredible odds never gave up hope for freedom in his home country. This book is thoroughly researched, beautifully written and will leave you inspired and longing for more!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Peasant Prince

"The Peasant Prince" is one of the best books I've read on a subject of this nature. The quality of the research and readability of the work have few equals.

My impression is that the author has an even handed style, sense of culture and quality of research that recreated the General as a real human being in the context of his times as few others could have done.

The author does not hide from General Kosciuszko's human side. But he weaves the tapestry of the facts of his remarkable life into a well paced story that keeps the reader engaged differently than many biographies I've read. In my case, this is particularly true because the author brings into bold relief the profile of a thoroughgoing professional soldier who possessed an unswerving respect for the dignity and right to liberty of all men and women and tempered that love of his fellow man by an unquenchable love of country. Yet, the author makes clear that the General was imbued with an unusually advanced sense of systems and the possible tethered to reality--but not enough that he would not risk everything for what he believed in. As Mr. Storozynski documents, General Kosciuszko put himself at risk of his life more than once for these beliefs.

How Mr. Storozynski brings alive the many selfless aspects of the General's character, his philanthropy , especially toward those acts that he as a visionary sensed would advance the liberty, quality of life and creativeness of all men , is a facet of the man too many today may not know. Today's Pole and American do need to have this sense of him. His view of education alone was well beyond his times.

There are many beautifully crafted passages of the work that I am reviewing in my mind--but one as a person of Polish heritage that is so poignant it brought quite a personal reaction because it spoke to everything the man was, needs to be mentioned. The little vignette of Poles in a Russian regiment reaching the outskirts of Paris and foraging when confronted by the old peasant who addressed them in Polish admonishing them for taking from the helpless--the officers coming forward and asking who he thought he was to take such liberties and receiving the answer--"I am Kosciuszko." The reaction of the soldiers as the author describes it was to me the essence of the entire book and the man. Even in that humble guise--Kosciuszko would put himself at risk to stop a wrong to those who could not defend or protect themselves. But more to the point--by the immediate response of the soldiers some 21 years after he commanded the Polish Army of the uprising, clearly this man was the Polish nation in spirit. These young Polish soldiers paid instant homage to this selfless hero of Poland. And the French peasants so respected him as a friend and citzen that they would risk themselves to protect him.

The sense of Kosciuszko that Mr. Storozynski so beautifully creates in his work once again brings him to a living generation of Poles, Americans and the world in such way that we can appreciate a very brave, good and selfless champion of liberty who is relevant to our times.

The Peasant Prince

The Peasant Prince by Alex Storozynski is an extensively researched yet easy flowing novel which illuminates the life of an American revolutionary general, engineer and hero, Thaddeus Kosciuszko.

Ironically, what has long relegated this extremely important personality to the shadows of our colonial American chronicles is precisely what makes this book such a good read. We know our Revolutionary history largely through our various home-spun heroes-- George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, etc.-and, because of this, our historic understanding tends to be confined to home - that is, our original thirteen colonies.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko was not an American, but a Pole, a minor aristocrat in class-stratified society which, like most of Europe, was still trying to break out of the cocoon of feudalism. We see a young man who falls in requited love, but cannot consummate that love in marriage because of class boundaries and is driven from his love and his land by an aristocrat more powerful than himself.

This fate set this forlorn hero on a path to America, not to fight the British, but to fight for all the universal principles of liberty as enunciated in our Declaration of Independence. Unlike his American contemporaries, Kosciuszko did not stay in America to enjoy the fruits of victory, though he could have, but returned to Poland to fight for the liberty of his native country. Though the liberty of Poland was not to accomplished in his lifetime, it was a fight he never relinquished, just as he never gave up on his fight for American liberty, which he considered incomplete until slavery was eradicated. Through the life of this "Peasant Prince" as portrayed by Storozynski, I was left with a broader understanding that the American Revolution was merely an isolated part of a much broader Old World struggle for freedom in the eighteenth century.

For the commoner

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I read this book with little effort while it educated me on the historical facts surrounding our revolution and related events in Western AND Eastern Europe. Unexpectedly, the book gave me a good understanding of how history unfolding on both sides of the Atlantic was interconnected. While I was familiar with many of the historical events of Kosciuszko's time, after reading this book I now have a much better feel for their proper sequence and how certain facts or attitudes preceded, prompted or provided inspiration for specific developments occurring elsewhere.
The book makes Kosciuszko widely appealing, in that it brings out his experiences which in many ways mirror the experiences of the common people who are frustrated by those who are more powerful, more politically connected, more greedy, cynical, arrogant, and less deserving of merit, position or rewards. By telling the story of Kosciuszko, Storozynski reinforces the notion that kindness, moral courage and hard work do not always bring success and comfort, but yet are values that generate respect, love, gratitude, and admiration, thereby revealing, and re-justifying, to present day Americans, the reason so many of their streets, towns and bridges are named after some guy called Kosciuszko.

A Great Book About A Truly Great Man

An exhilarating read and, at the same time, a very humbling account of a truly remarkable gentleman. He was well ahead of his generation in his views concerning the rights of all men.

Outstanding!

A must book for infussion into high school curriculum.

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