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A Biography
Pantheon
January 2007
On Sale: January 16, 2007
352 pages
ISBN: 0375423370
EAN: 9780375423376
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography
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.
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