As Fayetteville prepares for the Bicentennial Celebration of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour in March of 2025, we can all enjoy some reading about the Marquis de Lafayette. I don’t mean heavy, stodgy, textbooks. I’m suggesting some delightful fiction and non-fiction books that can give a wealth of information about Fayetteville’s namesake.
Lafayette was born on Sept. 6, 1757, in south-central France, and we recognize his birthday every year on the weekend after Labor Day. This year, it will be Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6-7. At about the same time, the year-long celebration of the Farewell Tour kicked off in New York. The “rolling celebration” comes to Fayetteville on March 4-5, 2025, the exact same dates when Lafayette honored our city with a visit in 1825. Not only are we the first city named for Lafayette (1783), we are also the only namesake city he visited, even though he visited over 250 cities and towns on his Farewell Tour.
Here are some fascinating books about Lafayette for all ages and interests. All continue to be popular books available at City Center Gallery & Books.
- Lafayette by Harlow Giles Unger
Considered one of the best and most readable books on Lafayette, this gripping biography shares an intimate portrait of the heroic French nobleman who left his life of luxury in France at 19 to sail to America to fight for American liberty. Even at his youthful age, he was named a major general in the Continental Army and earned the love and respect of his fellow soldiers.
When Lafayette left America after victory was secure, he tried to introduce democratic principles in his home country. After the French Revolution got out of control, he was imprisoned for five years in Austria, but his hope for a French democracy was eventually realized.
- Hero of Two Worlds by Mike Duncan
Published in 2021, this book by popular history blogger Mike Duncan became an instant bestseller. Written in a very readable style, we learn about Lafayette’s 50 years at the center of the Age of Revolution. With this book, we can be inspired by Lafayette’s story and reflect on how we can defend his ideals of justice and equality today.
- Lafayette in Two Worlds: Public Cultures and Personal Identities in an Age of Revolutions by Lloyd Kramer
Professor Lloyd Kramer from UNC-Chapel Hill, Lafayette expert, and former chair of the UNC History Department, has visited Fayetteville many times to share stories about Lafayette that focus on his ideals of liberty, freedom, and equality. From his service in the American Revolution to his sacrifices in the French Revolution and his support of the Greek and Polish Uprisings, Lafayette stood for the values that we cherish. Lloyd also talks about Lafayette’s literary and philosophical salons, his promotion of numerous prominent writers (many of them women), and his outspoken support for the abolition of slavery.
- A Spy Called James: The True Story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War Double Agent by Anne Rockwell (author) and Floyd Cooper (illustrator). Grades 2-5
This picture book tells the story of James Armistead, an enslaved man who spied for the Americans. Serving under General Lafayette at Yorktown, James was asked to be a double agent. He convinced General Cornwallis that he had escaped from his master and was willing to join the British Army. Cornwallis then asked him to spy on the Americans. James gave the British officers false information while bringing accurate information to Lafayette. After the war, thanks to Lafayette’s support, Armistead received legislative emancipation and changed his name to James Lafayette.
- Lafayette: Hero of Two Worlds A Comic Book for All Ages
Illustrations by graphic art students at Fayetteville State University, along with historically accurate text, make this graphic novel an ideal and fun way to learn about Lafayette. Although suitable for readers as young as 10, high school students will fully appreciate the fact-filled text by David Reid, director of the Museum of the Cape Fear. Adults will enjoy it too as a quick way to become a Lafayette expert.
- Lafayette! (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #8): A Revolutionary War Tale by Nathan Hale. Grades 3-7
This graphic novel will give kids the story of young Marquis de Lafayette, who came from nobility but was also looking for an adventure. The cartoons show how he became one of Washington’s most trusted generals and brought French troops and ships to help America win. His support for freedom, liberty, justice, and abolition are enduring values for young people to learn.
- The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray
Three women, three eras, one castle.
This book follows three generations of women who lived in Lafayette’s chateau in Chavaniac, France, where he was born and raised. During the French Revolution, his wife Adrienne stayed there in defiance of the radical Jacobins.
During World War I, New York socialite Beatrice Astor Chanler was looking for a cause. Her marriage was crumbling, so she goes to France where she uses the family fortune to restore Lafayette’s crumbling chateau to create a safe place for sick and orphaned children.
Then, in the 1940s, Marthe Simone, who grew up as an orphan in the chateau, works as a teacher as the Nazi forces occupy France. Marthe was able to use her talent as an artist to create false documents to protect the Jewish children in the chateau.
Weaving these three stories together, Stephanie Dray creates a worthy historical novel based on true events.
- A Destiny of Undying Greatness: Kiffin Rockwell and the Boys Who Remembered Lafayette by Mark Trapp
During the first two years of World War I, prior to America’s involvement, many of our young men wanted to join the fight. Mark Trapp shares the story of one of them, Kiffin Rockwell, from North Carolina. These brave men, inspired by the ideals of Lafayette and his role in our fight for independence, went to France and formed “an all-American squadron of the world’s first fighter pilots,” according to the Amazon book blurb — the Lafayette Escadrille.
Author Mark from Chicago will be in Fayetteville at FTCC on Friday, Sept. 6, to talk about his book as part of the Lafayette Society’s birthday celebration. Go on their website lafayettesociety.org for details on the lecture and other birthday events. While there, read about the Farewell Tour Bicentennial under its tab.
With special thanks to my in-house Lafayette expert and editor Hank Parfitt
Read CityView Magazine’s “Fall in Fayetteville” September 2024 e-edition here.
