L'Esprit de Lafayette Society's leather edition of Louis Gottschalk's "Lafayette in America: Book I, 1777-1783: Lafayette Comes to America, Book II: Lafayette Joins the American Army, and Book III: Lafayette and the Close of the American Revolution," personally SIGNED by Louis Gottschalk, published in 1975. Bound in genuine camel tan BUFFALO leather, the book has red Siamese moire silk end leaves, silk book marker, gold gilding on top edge only---in near FINE condition. Lafayette, a French aristocrat and military officer who fought for the United States in the American Revolutionary War, was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. Born in south central FRANCE, Lafayette came from a wealthy landowning family and followed its martial tradition, being commissioned an officer at age 13. He became convinced that the American cause in its revolutionary war was noble, and traveled to the New World seeking glory in it. There, he was made a major general, though initially the 19-year-old was not given troops to command. Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, he still managed to organize an orderly retreat. He served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of the war, he returned home to lobby for an increase in French support. He again sailed to America in 1780, and was given senior positions in the Continental Army. In 1781, troops in Virginia under his command blocked forces led by CORNWALLIS until other American and French forces could position themselves for the decisive Siege of Yorktown.  In August 1792, the radical factions ordered his arrest, and he spent more than five years in prison. Lafayette returned to France after NAPOLEON BONAPARTE secured his release in 1797. In 1824, President JAMES MONROE invited Lafayette to the United States as the nation's guest; during the trip, he visited all twenty-four states in the union, meeting a rapturous reception. Lafayette died in 1834, and is buried in in Paris. For his accomplishments in the service of both France and the United States, he is sometimes known as "The Hero of the Two Worlds." 1040 pages. I offer Combined shipping.