I think to truly grasp everything in here, I would need to read it at least two more times, maybe more. I only recognized one name in this book before I read it – Napoleon, and he only shows up in the last 50 pages or so. I have some trouble following detailed military histories, especially when I don’t have the basics already in mind. He was a slave until 1776, then fought in multiple battles until undertaking, with others, a fight inspire by the French revolution.
The main focus is on Toussaint Louverture, who led most of the revolution, though eventually he was taken to France and died in jail. The story told by this book begins 229 years ago this week (21 August 1791), and follows the complexities of race, class, slavery, and revolution. This fascinating book tells the story of how those who were enslaved in what is now Haiti revolted across over a dozen years to eventually claim victory by ensuring an end to slavery, expelling the French colonial government, and declaring independence. It’s almost as though the history I was taught was incomplete in some very specific ways. You will be shocked to learn that I, a white woman raised and educated in the US, knew nothing about how Haiti came to be. I received this as a birthday gift this year. “The cruelties of property and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression.” Those interested in the history of enslaved people who successfully fought back.Įnslaved people revolt against the British, Spanish, and French over twelve years, eventually creating Haiti.
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