Synopses & Reviews
In 1791, Saint Domingue was both the richest and cruelest colony in the Western Hemisphere; more than a third of African slaves died within a few years of their arrival there. Thirteen years later, Haitian rebels declared independence from France after the first and only successful slave revolution in history. Much of the success of this uprising can be credited to one man, Toussaint Louverture a figure about whom surprisingly little is known.
In this fascinating biography, the first about Toussaint to appear in English in more than fifty years, Madison Smartt Bell combines a novelist's passion for his subject with a deep knowledge of the historical milieu that produced the man. Toussaint has been known either as a martyr of the revolution or as the instigator of one of history's most savagely violent events. Bell shatters this binary perception, producing a clear-eyed picture of a complicated figure.
Toussaint, born a slave, became a slaveholder himself, with associates among the white planter class. Bell demonstrates how his privileged position served as both an asset and a liability, enabling him to gain the love of blacks and mulattoes as "Papa Toussaint" but also sowing mistrust in their minds.
Another of Bell's brilliant achievements is demonstrating how Toussaint's often surprising actions, such as his support for the king of France even as the French Revolution promised an end to slavery and his betrayal of a planned slave revolt in Jamaica, can be explained by his desire to achieve liberation for the blacks of Saint Domingue.
This masterly biography is a revelation of one of the most fascinating and important figures in New World history.
Review
"Bell uses Toussaint's written record and a handful of eyewitness accounts to deliver a thoughtful historical analysis of this manwho was larger in death than in life. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"Bell highlights the many parallels between the careers and capabilities of Napoleon and Toussaint; he shows how foreign military involvement can result in tragedy for all; he comments intelligently on the relationships between Voodoo and Catholicism." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[An] excellent introduction to one of the great, if elusive, personalities of history, one who was central to the epoch-making events of the Haitian Revolution." Boston Globe
Review
"[T]he best biography of Toussaint yet, in large part because Bell does not shy away from the man's contradictions." New York Times
Review
"Despite its imperfections...the biography serves as a well-researched and timely reminder that Haiti's political travails are no recent phenomenon, and that human beings, however symbolic they may become, are creatures of complex motivation, not easily summed up by the empty sloganeering that has characterized much of the recent debate on Louverture's tormented homeland." Miami Herald
Review
"Bell's very readable and scholarly biography unpacks the complexities of the man and his milieu, tracing his rise to power among his people, his efforts to forge an independent nation by playing the European powers against each other, and his final imprisonment on Napoleon's orders." Providence Journal
Synopsis
The critically acclaimed author of All Souls' Rising presents a masterful biography of Toussaint Louverture that captures the frequently contradictory and complex life of the leader of the late-eighteenth-century Haitian Revolution that became the only successful slave revolt in history. 20,000 first printing.
Synopsis
The author of 12 novels and three collections of stories pens the first major biography in more than 50 years of the leader of the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1803 the only successful slave revolt in history.
About the Author
Madison Smartt Bell is the author of twelve novels and two collections of stories. All Souls' Rising was a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. A professor of English and the director of the Kratz Center for Creative Writing at Goucher College, Bell lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his family.