In a narrative both panoramic and intimate, Chaffin captures the four-decade friendship of Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette. Thomas Jefferson first met the Marquis de Lafayette in 1781, when the young French-born general was dispatched to Virginia to assist Jefferson, then the state's governor, in fighting off the British. The two could not have seemed more different. When Jefferson moved to Paris three years later as a diplomat, speaking little French and in need of a partner, their friendship began in earnest. Chaffin shows how their friendship endured through the making of two revolutions-- and two nations, to a powerful and emotional reunion at Monticello in 1824. -- adapted from jacket

The road rises, 1743- -- La Victoire -- "My heart was enlisted" -- "Beyond the reach of pursuers" -- The pursuit of happiness -- To Philadelphia -- City Tavern -- Converging paths, 1778- -- "To learn, and not to Teach" -- Renown -- Soldier's Friend -- Stargazer -- "No One Better Situated" -- À Hunting with the King -- Burdens Wrong to Decline -- Blast Like an Earthquake -- In Common Cause, 1781- -- The Latitude of His plans -- Flattered by the command -- A Rumors gone abroad -- The Enemy at Monticello -- A Good School for Me -- To Do Some Very Good Things -- Yorktown -- Taps -- Parisiens, 1782- -- More Mortification Than Any of My Life -- Your Name Here Is Held in Veneration -- Paris autumn -- All the gratitude which this country can render -- Diplomats -- Te deum -- The Patriarch of Passy -- Holy Roman Empire -- Hôtel de Langeac -- England -- Historical scenes -- No rose without its thorn.