IF anyone might have wondered why the highest mountain in Australia was named Mount Kosciuszko by Paul Strzelecki, this book provides a highly illuminating answer. Alex Storozynski’s work presents Kosciuszko as a person who through his profound commitment to the pursuit of human freedom and equality not only became a national hero of Poland and of the United States of America but transcended countries’ boundaries in his unshakeable belief in, and commitment to, the natural rights of all people in the world.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko was born in the mid- 18th century (12 February, 1746) in the family of land-owning gentry (Polish szlachta) and was educated in a Catholic College. He became particularly attracted to Greek and Roman classics, and to the work of the British philosopher John Locke, drawing from these studies the values of liberty and equality. Later, he studied at the Military Academy in Warsaw and then he went to France where he studied civil engineering, acquiring special knowledge in the art of military fortifications. It was this knowledge that he subsequently brought to his valuable contribution to the American War of Independence as an Officer of the American Continental Army fighting the British Colonial Forces. His defensive fortifications, especially those at West Point (now the top location of US Military College) became a model for study and application in other places.

Kosciuszko sailed to America after he learned of the 1776 American Declaration of Independence which claimed that political power belonged to the people themselves, not to kings or aristocracy, or to any person or group not voluntarily elected by the people. This was the first time and place where the Divine Power of Kings was effectively challenged and abolished in a country of a Western world. Even there, Kosciuszko questioned the Americans’ claim of liberty and equality while their economic system was based on slave labour, with black people being bought and sold like chattels.

After the end of the American war of Independence Kosciuszko returned to Poland and found it in total disarray, with large areas of the country occupied by the neighbouring powers, Russia, Prussia and Austria. People saw him a potential saviour the country, and after much of pressure he agreed to take up this challenge. He mobilised an army and was at first successful in defeating a Russian forces in the battle of Raclawice, which came into history history mainly for the successful attack by volunteered Polish farmers on Russian artillery, thus contributing significantly to the outcome of the battle.

Having demonstrated the ability of defeating superior invader’s forces in as battle, Kosciuszko endeavoured to build wider support throughout the country. However, the destruction of the independence of Poland had gone too far for the restoration of the country’s independence. The three neighbouring powers brought increasing armies, and Kosciuszko was defeated in another battle (against Prussian and Russian forces) at Maciejowice. He was taken prisoner and was incarcerated in St Petersburg. Subsequently, he was pardoned by the Russian Czar and settled in France and Switzerland where he died on October 15, 1817. His body was later brought to Poland and placed in the Wawel Cathedral vault, next to the bodies of Polish Kings.

Storozynski’s book is not only a biography of Kosciuszko and of his unrelenting pursuit of liberty and equality but also a historical overview of the dramatic events that occurred in Europe and in America during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The author’s impressive commitment to details, drawing on an impressive range of sources – public documents, private letters, newspaper articles, recorded discussions in private encounters of national leaders – gives the reader a feeling of being a direct witness of encounters and events that occurred over those years.

The contemporary relevance of Storozynski’s work lies in that he demonstrates clearly how Kosciuszko’s legacy – the value of liberty and equality – transcends national and ethnic boundaries. Kosciuszko was a citizen of two countries and fought for freedom and equality in both, but his concern extended to any country where he found those virtues absent. These issues are certainly directly relevant to the contemporary multicultural Australia.

Adam Jamrozik, PhD, AM