Toussaint Louverture: A Biography

by Madison Smartt Bell and Foster-Harris

Book Overview

At the end of the 1700s, French Saint Domingue was the richest and most brutal colony in the Western Hemisphere. A mere twelve years later, however, Haitian rebels had defeated the Spanish, British,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375423370
• ISBN13: 9780375423376
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Pantheon Books
• Length: 333 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent review!

Well written. Very detailed account but readable. Gave me insight into the personality and drive of this incredible man. I agree with prior reviewr that maps and character lists would be helpful.

An important and interesting read

Toussaint Louverture who lived from roughly 1744 to 1803 was the preeminent leader of Haitian independence, a model of a rebel, and a paradox of a person. He was a self educated slave who was freed shortly before his uprising in 1791. In 1793 he allied himself with the Spanish against the French but later changed sides and fought alongside revolutionary France, whose Jacobins had freed the slaves in 1793, to help expel the English who Toussaint noted had not freed the slaves of their colonies. By 1799 he was master of the island and was forced to put down a rebellion by mixed-blood freedmen (known variously as `mullatto' or `coloured'). By 1801 he was in charge of the whole island but the next year Napoleon sent an army to wrest it back to France. Toussaint was kidnapped and whisked away to die in France while his former slaves fought on and eventually gained independence in 1804, only the second independent country in the New World and one of only a few independent black countries in the world. This book is a very readable masterpiece of writing drawing mostly on secondary sources to flesh out the fascinating life of the former slave and rebel leader. The story pays close attention to the class and ethnic destinctions on the island, showing the great degree of animosity between the French, the creoles, the free Gens De Colouer (coloreds) and runaway slaves. This is a fascinating portrait of the New World, the Carribean, a French colony and slave life and rebellion. Toussaint was an ardent Catholic and persecuted Voodou. The last chapter is a lively discussion of the problems Haiti has faced since the time of Toussaint, a story that can also be found in `Why the Cocks fight'. A riveting and important book. Seth J. Frantzman

The Master of the Crossroads

Well known for his trilogy of historical novels chronicling Haiti's struggle for independence from France (ALL SOUL'S RISING, MASTER Of The CROSSROADS, and THE STONE THAT The BUILDER REFUSED), author Madison Smartt Bell is familiar with the primary and academic sources on the people and events that led that country through its chaotic and bloody triumph to becoming the first black state in the Western Hemisphere. Of those men, the most important of all was Toussaint Louverture. Madison Smartt Bell's TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE: A BIOGRAPHY is a necessary addition to a subject only few have dared to take on. As a biography it provides a sober and ubiased account of the former slave and self-taught veterinarian who, at age 50, would also prove himself a brilliant leader and military genius. Unlike most others who've written about the man, Bell provides much detail on Louverture's early life and ambitions. He presents a Louverture who was shrewd (the man ably manipulated the interests of both the British and the Spaniards) and level-headed, but who was also just and often disgusted by the bloody excesses of the slaves' rebellion. What makes this such an excellent work is in the way Madison Smartt Bell fleshes out Louverture's world with an indepth look into the various social classes and ethnic groups of Saint Domingue, the role religion and spiritualism played in the daily lives of the slaves and the strong influence of Voudoun on the rebellion--something that, depending on the situation, Louverture would either persecute or encourage. By highlighting the social and ethnic groupings of upper-class white landowners ("grand blancs"), lower-class white laborers and merchants ("petit blancs"), those of mixed race ("gens de coleur"), freed blacks, and the slaves, Bell shows how each one was antogonistic towards all the others and makes a strong point of presenting Haiti's war of independence as something much more complex than a slave uprising. Highly recommended.

Avenger of the New World

After finishing another great work from Bell, I felt like there could never be enough written about this overlooked and distingushed figurehead named Toussaint. Bell chooses a subject which is quite frankly haitian, but who is more importantly american and borne of the spirit of enlightenment. This book unveils the complexities that surround this great leader who was free, propertied, owned slaves and was a devout catholic who was belived to also practice voodoo by the time the revolution started. A worthy read for those not only interested in haiti but also how leaders emerge...

strong Book

Madison Smarrt Bell writes a incredible Book on a True Leader who was bold and Revolutionary in how he commanded. this Book on this Man is long voerdue. Toussaint Louverture lead the Greatest slave Revolt. Toussaint is a Towering Figure in the History of Defending yourself and this Book is a Must read for all generations now and in the future.