This is the true story of one of the best friends our country ever had. Young, wealthy, and high in the French aristocracy, the Marquis de Lafayette abandoned his life of ease in France to cross the Atlantic and join George Washington's struggling little army. He was wounded at the Brandywine, shared the bitter winter at Valley Forge and our final victory over the British at Yorktown. America will never cease to be grateful.
Lafayette was precocious. He was married at seventeen to his beloved Adrienne, not yet fifteen. At the age of nineteen he was a Major General in the American Army. On this side of the Atlantic he was affectionately known as "The Boy," but he was a boy who did a man's work.
In this book we follow Lafayette from his childhood at the Castle Chavaniac in the French province of Auvergne, through his years in school, with his regiment, and at court, to his great decision—to risk the displeasure of his King and his country by joining the American army. We then follow him to our own shores, through many battles of the Revolution in which he fought bravely, and back to his native France, now a hero.
Half a century later Lafayette, no longer a boy, returned to the United States to be welcomed with such a reception as our country has seldom accorded any friend from abroad. What he did for our young and greatly endangered nation will be long remembered.
—from the dust jacket
When khaki-clad American troops came to the rescue of France in 1917, their Commander, General John J. Pershing, said quietly:
"Lafayette, we are here!"
One hundred and forty years later had intervened since Lafayette had crossed the Atlantic to aid Washington and his ragged little army in their unequal struggle against the British. But America had never forgotten that assistance, and here was an excellent opportunity to repay Lafayette and his country for the help they gave us during the American Revolution.
It would be difficult to find a more qualified author than André Maurois for a book on Lafayette. He knows our language, our literature and our political ideals. And he has always been a bridge between his own beloved France and the English-speaking world. Like Lafayette himself, he has helped to forge stronger links between sister republics. A new book by André Maurois is always a literary event. We are proud to welcome him to our distinguished North Star historians.
Sterling North
General Editor
—from the book
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