Lafayette: His Extraordinary Life and Legacy

by Donald Miller

Overview

Lafayette was a charming French soldier who became like a son to George Washington and rose to lead troops in Virginia during the American Revolution. But what happened to him upon his return to France?

Donald Miller presents the most complete biography in English of an aristocrat who was “the hero of two worlds”—fighting to free England’s colonies and then returning home to reject tyranny in France.

Lafayette inherited massive wealth and rode with princes, but he renounced his title to champion citizens’ rights and offered reforms to end Louis XVI’s absolute rule. His Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed rights given to men by nature—not God.

As creator of the Paris National Guard, Lafayette designed its uniform and a French flag with the colors of Paris and the United States. He led a great fete marking the French Revolution’s first year in the Champ de Mars, later scene of many deaths for which he was unfairly blamed.

When Lafayette returned to the United States forty-one years after its independence, he was celebrated as a hero. The ideals that made him one of history’s most celebrated and intriguing figures remain just as relevant today as when he was alive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781491759974
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/31/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	444
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

In 2005 Donald Miller started The Mentoring Project, an organization that helps churches start mentoring programs and pairs mentors with boys in need. Don's work with the fatherless led the Obama administration to invite him onto the president's task force on fatherlessness and mentoring. Donald is the director of The Burnside Writers Collective, an online magazine. He is a frequent speaker, appearing at events such as the Women of Faith Conference, The Democratic National Convention, and Harvard University. He still lives in Portland, Oregon with his dog Lucy

Editorial Reviews

2015-10-13
An in-depth profile of Lafayette, "hero of two worlds." Many Americans, if they've heard of Lafayette at all, may recall a brief mention in history class of the young Frenchman who ably assisted George Washington during the Revolutionary War. In this engrossing work, Miller (Creatures of the Spirit, 2002, etc.) seeks to rectify that situation by providing a fuller account of the personal, political, and military intrigues surrounding Lafayette's pivotal role in early American history. Notably, Lafayette maintained friendly relationships with the first eight American presidents. He considered Washington a paternal figure and also developed a close rapport with Jefferson, who, in a letter excerpted here, sent heartfelt condolences when Lafayette's wife died. Miller's concise style captures the essence of these amicable interactions: "Lafayette could chide his friend over slavery and the president could remind him that he might have prevented Burr's treachery." Furthermore, Miller skillfully reconstructs the turmoil in France that subsequently consumed Lafayette's energies. At the heart of this work is an assessment of Lafayette's leadership capabilities here and abroad: "Too often in this turbulent time he asked advice of others and found it difficult to make decisions, a fatal flaw when a leader must always be his own best counsel. Even though Lafayette seemed an ideal leader," Miller says, "his record in France, unlike that in America, shows he was not. This explains why in France he does not hold the same esteem of his countrymen that he does in the United States." Miller devotes a large portion of the text to the hero's welcome Lafayette received in 1825 as he toured America in advance of the 50th anniversary celebration of Bunker Hill. In fact, some readers may feel overwhelmed by the great detail with which Miller describes the tour. However, as the author notes, Lafayette, then 67, impressively covered over 5,000 miles in under four months using the transportation modes of the era, and the emotional impact of the beloved general embracing former soldiers (or their children if they had since passed) along the route is undeniable. Remarkably detailed portrait of a now-lesser-known icon.

Kirkus Reviews