"This biography of French liberator Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), reveals not only how the nineteen-year-old bravely ventured to the infant United States to serve in its War of Independence, but also the iconoclast's enormous contributions to the causes of social and economic justice in France, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Poland. The Marquise (1759-1807), born Adrienne de Noailles, shared the same controversial beliefs as her husband, supporting and defending him wholeheartedly despite ongoing political persecution - including the Marquis's exile in an Austrian dungeon and her own imprisonment (and near-execution) by French radicals." "General and Madame de Lafayette reassesses the Marquis's life and career and illustrates his indispensable role at the center of the greatest movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: the liberal revolution. Although the Lafayettes did not succeed in obtaining for France all the republican institutions they were seeking, their efforts provided an indelible foundation for the eventual triumph of liberty in all of Europe."--BOOK JACKET.