The Last Adieu - by Ryan Cole (Hardcover)

About the Book

A Hero Returns to a Young Country in Turmoil. A story about the promise in the Declaration of Independence, about revolution, in America and elsewhere, about journeys up and down great rivers, and through wilds. It is a story of memory and union. Above all else it is a story of the American people.

Book Synopsis

INDIANA'S 2026 GREAT READ SELECTION FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL

"Memories of the Revolution have come back to life..."

In the summer of 1824, the aging Marquis de Lafayette, defeated politically and distraught over the fate of liberty in Europe, set sail one last time from France for America after an absence of forty years.

Across the sea waited a nation transformed: Thirteen colonies were now twenty-four states, stretching from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi River. The number of Americans had more than tripled; their industry and creativity had ushered in a new era of individual prosperity and civic improvements. But progress brought worries. Shocks--an economic collapse, a crisis over the westward creep of slavery--foreshadowed a new political age, increasingly democratic and impassioned. The presidential election of 1824 was a precursor to this era. It was fought among four men, and was so bitter and divisive some observers wondered if it heralded the end of the Union. All while the Declaration of Independence neared its fiftieth anniversary and the first generation of Americans passed on, leaving a second to lead their great experiment in liberty into the uncertain future and stirring tender nostalgia for the Revolution and its quickly vanishing stars. Chief among them was Lafayette, the last living major general of the Continental Army.

When he arrived at last in August 1824, the old hero met once more with the young republic. One of the greatest celebrations in American history followed. Citizens put aside their differences and rallied together around the spirit of their Revolution, rejoicing over the return of the "Nation's Guest," as Lafayette was called. For thirteen months, Lafayette traveled thousands of miles, reaching every state in the Union and met with parades and delirious crowds. The nation was spellbound by their benefactor. And Lafayette was overjoyed and stunned by the nation's growth and advances, all made possible by the freedom he had fought for long ago.

The Last Adieu narrates Lafayette's farewell tour, capturing both its spectacular pageantry and emotional impact--not only from Lafayette's perspective, but through eyewitness accounts and recollections of the everyday Americans who participated in the great celebration. Co-starring the swarm of fascinating characters Lafayette encountered across the American landscape--elderly founding fathers, populist politicians, idealistic reformers--this is not simply the record of an incredible journey, but a panorama of a rising America and a chronicle of a time when, as Lafayette wrote, memories of its Revolution came back to life, and its citizens were united in gratitude to the men who had won it.

Review Quotes

'History writing at its absolute best. Deep and diligent work in all the relevant archives, accompanied by a fine written style, allows Ryan L. Cole to transport us back to the young American republic of 1824. The ecstatic way that Americans welcomed their revolutionary hero the Marquis de Lafayette, nearly half a century after his first arrival to their shores, tells us a great deal about him, them, and their ambition to live up to their country's founding ideals.'--Andrew Roberts, author of The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III

'Ryan L. Cole's book is a beautiful fresco of the months during which Lafayette traveled the vast expanse of the United States despite his age. Forty years after his last trip, Lafayette observes the changes that have taken place in the young nation. Drawing on archive sources and accounts, Cole brings to life a journey that resonated not only in America but also in France, reviving the memory of the American War of Independence and one of its heroes on both sides of the Atlantic.'--Vincent Bouat-Ferlier, general curator and managing director of the Jose´e and Rene´e de Chambrun Foundation

'Ryan L. Cole's The Last Adieu offers a poignantly inspiring chronicle of Lafayette's farewell tour of the United States, a time when the country remembered old friends and heroes; took stock of fifty years of progress; and looked forward to an uncertain future.'--Edward G. Lengel, author of General George Washington: A Military Life