Synopses & Reviews
In this age of globalization, the eighteenth-century priest and abolitionist Henri Grand#233;goire has often been called a man ahead of his time. An icon of antiracism, a hero to people from Ho Chi Minh to French Jews, Grand#233;goire has been particularly celebrated since 1989, when the French government placed him in the Pantheon as a model of ideals of universalism and human rights. In this beautifully written biography, based on newly discovered and previously overlooked material, we gain access for the first time to the full complexity of Grand#233;goire's intellectual and political universe as well as the compelling nature of his persona. His life offers an extraordinary vantage from which to view large issues in European and world history in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and provides provocative insights into many of the prevailing tensions, ideals, and paradoxes of the twenty-first century. Focusing on Grand#233;goire's idea of "regeneration," that people could literally be made anew, Sepinwall argues that revolutionary universalism was more complicated than it appeared. Tracing the Revolution's long-term legacy, she suggests that while it spread concepts of equality and liberation throughout the world, its ideals also helped to justify colonialism and conquest.
About the Author
Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall is Associate Professor of History at California State University, San Marcos.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Prologue. Regenerating Biography, or In Search of Universalism
PART ONE. GRand#201;GOIREand#8217;S EARLY YEARS: ENLIGHTENMENT AND RELIGION IN FRANCE, 1750and#150;1789
1. From Tailorand#8217;s Son to Enlightened Abband#233;: A Provincial Journey
2. The and#147;Bon Curand#233;and#8221; of Embermand#233;nil
3. A Physical, Moral, and Political Regeneration of the Jews
PART TWO. GRand#201;GOIRE IN PARIS: REVOLUTION AND REGENERATION, 1789and#150;1801
4. Creating a French Nation
5. A Religious Revolution? Regeneration Transformed
6. Overcoming the Terror, Rebuilding the Empire
PART THREE. KEEPING THE FAITH: GRand#201;GOIRE, REGENERATION, AND THE REVOLUTIONand#8217;S GLOBAL LEGACY, 1801and#150;1831
7. The Joys and Frustrations of the Atlantic Republican Network: Grand#233;goire and the Americas
8. Exporting the Revolution: The Colonial Laboratory in Haiti
9. Christian Apologetics and the Universal Human Family
Epilogue. Icon Of Universalism: Grand#233;goireand#8217;s Life after Death
Acknowledgments
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index