Monsieur de Saint-George: Virtuoso, Swordsman, Revolutionary: A Legendary Life Rediscovered

by Alain Guédé and Alain Guede

Book Overview

His life is the stuff of legend: born in 1739 of a slave mother and a French noble father, he became the finest swordsman of his age, an insider at the court of The Sun King, and, most of all, an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312309279
• ISBN13: 9780312309275
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Great Book,

This book is a extremely well written biography of one of history's most talented, yet obscured persons. Saint-George was a man of immense talents, but could not overcome the stigma of belonging to two seperate worlds, one of acceptance, and one of color. The story is poignant in it's telling but tragic in it's ending. It is my strong desire to turn this story into a screenplay so that all the world can come to know the story of this tragic figure. A worthwhile read!

Great info

I've seen this book priced for much more and in much worse shape than I've received. It's a great historical source on the Black french slave trade. The book itself was practically brand new and arrived very quickly.

a forgotten Renaissance man...

This was an excellent bio of a remarkable polymath. Thank you Alain Guede for your fine curriculum vitae on Monsieur Saint-George. For those of us who enjoys a insightful,entertaining and yes even inspiring non-fiction read. Here is a Man whose story truly deserves to be widely read. NOT TO BE MISSED!

The Man with the Midas Touch

Joseph Bologne, also known as Monsieur de Saint-George, could do it all. This brother was a master of fencing, connoisseur of women, hunting, riding, and dancing, political activist and patriot, a renowned violinist, and a prolific composer affectionately dubbed the "black Mozart." Saint-George was at home among kings and queens and became the first black colonel in the French army. His regiment consisted of a thousand men of color and became known as the Legion of Saint-George. Saint-George became so popular in his lifetime that he was mentioned in the letters and memoirs of other great men of that era, including John Adams and Alexandre Dumas. Alain Guédé, a French journalist and one of the foremost experts on Saint-George, has accumulated two decades of research on the popular chevalier (knight) and produced a biography replete with minute details of this gifted man's life. At times, the book reads like a Hedda Hopper gossip column as Guédé shares tidbits that are undoubtedly fact, but so sensational that they border on the incredible. Guédé used his extensive research to share the story of Saint-George from his semi-privileged beginnings as the son of a slave and a French nobleman on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe to his place at the height of Parisian society. This minutiae makes for many shifts in the timeline and becomes rather confusing, necessitating frequent re-reads to regain proper perspective. Although keeping up with the generations of aristocratic families and their various political and social machinations that affect Saint-George's fortunes becomes overwhelming and dry at times, the attention to detail is to be commended in re-introducing the world to a true renaissance man. (RAW Rating: 3.5) Reviewed by Kim Anderson Ray of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

An enthralling life story

Monsieur De Saint-George: Virtuoso, Swordsman, Revolutionary is the amazing biography of Joseph Boulogne de Saint-George, the son of a slave mother and a gentleman father and the trail he blazed through eighteenth-century aristocratic circles to become one of the greatest of the French composers. Also known for his talented violin playing, his superb swordsmanship, and his passionate hope for a future that would promote equal rights for human beings regardless of color. An enthralling life story which was definitely researched and superbly written by biographer Alain Guede, Monsieur De Saint-George is a quite significant contribution to Black Studies and Music History collections.