The Peasant Prince by Alex Storozynski

(For high school students, teachers, and adults) Kosciuszko came to America one month after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, with little more than a revolutionary spirit and a genius for engineering. He quickly proved his capabilities and became the most talented engineer of the Continental Army. Kosciuszko constructed fortifications for Philadelphia, devised battle plans that were key to the victory at Saratoga, and designed the plans for Fortress West Point, which were the same plans stolen by Benedict Arnold. A lifelong champion of the common man and woman, he was ahead of his time in advocating tolerance and standing up for the rights of slaves, Native Americans, women, serfs, and Jews. Following the end of the war, Kosciuszko returned to Poland and was a leading figure in that nation’s Constitutional movement.