LAFAYETTE is Released

He made civil disobedience cool before Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. did. Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, French aristocrat and military officer, fought for the United States in the American Revolutionary War and influenced America's founding fathers on items like slavery and capital punishment, yet is seemingly absent in American history books.

Veteran journalist and self-proclaimed Lafayette historian Donald Miller recently published his seventh book, "Lafayette: His Extraordinary Life and Legacy" in the hopes of educating readers on who he thinks is one of the most influential men in French and American history.

"Back in France, Lafayette was regarded as the 'hero of two worlds' and lent his fame to help convince royal ministers to send French troops and money to defeat the British in America," Miller said. "I'm trying to bring back Lafayette as a champion of personal liberty everywhere since many I've polled have no idea who he was."

An advocate for all religions, races and walks of life, Lafayette played a major part in restoring legal rights for Protestants and Jews in France who had been outlawed by Louis XIV. He also owned a farm in French Guiana where black laborers could go to earn their freedom.

"Lafayette: His Extraordinary Life and Legacy" also covers his impressive military career and his strong relationship with American leaders, even naming his son after George Washington. Miller said, "His adoptive father, Commander George Washington, made him the leader of the Continental troops in Virginia where he and his men trapped British General Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, leading to his defeat. Lafayette is best known for his military action in the American Revolution, but my book covers so much more about his life along with startling new material."

Lafayette: His Extraordinary Life and Legacy
By: Donald Miller
ISBN: 978-1-49175-998-1 (hardcover)
978-1-49175-847-2 (softcover)
978-1-49175-997-4 (e-book)
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iUniverse

About the author
Donald Miller, a Pittsburgh native, earned his bachelors and masters degrees in art history at the University of Pittsburgh. He wrote for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 43 years, retiring as a senior editor. He currently writes for the Naples Daily News and freelances for other publications. This is his seventh published book. He lives in Naples, Florida, with his wife, artist Bette W. Miller.

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