Toussaint Louverture: A Biography

Bell, Madison Smartt

ISBN 10: 0375423370 / ISBN 13: 9780375423376

Published by Pantheon Books, New York,, 2007

About this Item

First edition stated 2007, first printing, numbers line starts with 1. Published by Pantheon Books. Hardcover with DJ. Condition new, square, tight and crisp book, no edgewear, corners not bumped, no markings of any kind, no names, no underlinings, no highlights, no bent page corners. Not a reminder . DJ new, no edgewear, no tears, no chips. Price not clipped. 8vo, XI + 335 pages.

Seller Inventory # 008497

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Toussaint Louverture: A Biography
• Publisher: Pantheon Books, New York,
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375423370
• ISBN 13: 9780375423376
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Biography
  • History
  • 1st

About this title

Synopsis

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.

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.