Beyond Kosciuszko Park

In Milwaukee, Kosciuszko is the name of a South Side park, and the subject of an equestrian statue. The city acknowledged the Revolutionary War officer in order to honor the contribution of Poland to America and, by extension, the contributions of Polish-Americans to Milwaukee. But even students of the American Revolution know little about Thaddeus Kosciuszko's role as a freedom fighter in his homeland and less of his fervent advocacy for abolishing slavery. His position went well beyond that of his American friend, Thomas Jefferson.

The Peasant Prince (published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press) is probably the first biography to fully appraise Kosciuszko's lives in America and Poland. The author, Alex Storozynski, is president of the Kosciuszko Foundation and can find little fault with the hero of his book except a wandering eye for women and a stubborn insistence on principal. Writing like a pundit in pursuit of an exciting story, the Pullitzer Prize winner nevertheless researched The Peasant Prince with an historian's care for primary sources. His account is entirely plausible. Kosciuszko, an aristocratic cavalry officer trained in engineering, and imbued with a belief in democracy and contempt for social injustice, placed himself at the disposal of moderate revolutionaries in the Old World and the New while keeping his distance from the violent excesses of the French Revolution.

Along the way, Storozynski illuminates little explored aspects of American as well as Polish history. Who knew that John Paul Jones, the American naval hero in the fight against Britain, later sold his services to Russia? Or that 18th century Poland was an advanced society whose elected monarchy elicited the admiration of Thomas Jefferson?