Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution

by Laurent Dubois

Book Overview

The first and only successful slave revolution in the Americas began in 1791 when thousands of brutally exploited slaves rose up against their masters on Saint-Domingue, the most profitable colony in the eighteenth-century Atlantic world. Within a few years, the slave insurgents forced the French administrators of the colony to emancipate them, a decision ratified by revolutionary Paris in 1794. This victory was a stunning challenge to the order...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674018265
• ISBN13: 9780674018266
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Haitian Revolution

I had to buy this for my class I am studying, so it was what I needed. I don't read much and it seemed like a pretty easy read for me. He jumped around a lot with different years. He would talk about something in the future and then in the past and then back and forth. That was a big confusing, but then again, I'm a crappy reader.

An excellent read

This book definitely deserves the prestigious prize it won. It masterfully blends detailed research with a superb writing style that made it a pleasure to read. I would recommend it both to someone who wanted to learn about the Haitian Revolution for the first time and to experts who wanted to compare different historiographical interpretations.

Excellent

Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution By Laurent Dubois The book for me was very informative and the writing style makes it an easy read for the masses. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and I am encouraged to learn even more about Haiti and the Revolution and how it sent shock waves throughout the western world. I am beginning to understand why the west has a policy of pretending that Haiti doesn't exist. Their feelings are still hurt that a bunch of African slaves defeated the most powerful army at that time - Napoleon's army. Not only that, Haiti's defeat of the French army encourage and gave hope to the slaves of North America. Can anyone say Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey and Gabriel Prosser?! During Denmark Vesey's trail, there was testimony from his co-conspirators that he had connections with Haiti, and after burning down Charleston, the Haitians were ready to receive them. After Napoleon's defeat, he had to sell his US territory for a song. Y'all may know it as the Lousiana Purchase. The English purchased the land and double the size of the US. Of course, their intention was to expand slavery in North America. I give this book a five star and highly recommend it for an easy read and introduction of the Haitian Revolution.

Great: Detailed, but goes down easy

This book was a true pleasure to read. DuBois is the kind of historian who deserves to be teaching high school students (I mean this as a compliment) because while makes sure to include all relevant details about the Haitain revolution, he makes this book read like a fascinating story. This is a wonderful and well developed book, suitable for both laymen and scholars. I am pleased that DuBois kept his editorializing to a minimum and described the events of the Haitian revolution in a very much nuanced manner. I recommend this this book to anyone looking for a detailed, but surprisingly easy to read discussion of that famous "first successful slave rebellion."

The Right Book for Such an Important Historical Event

It was about time that a book like this would appear. In this book Dubois masterfully walked a fine line between several traditional approaches to the Haitian Revolution. While avoiding the extremes of old racists' historians that have blamed slaves for bringing chaos to the island of Hispaniola, he also avoids the hero-making excess of CLR James. Dubois also appropriated lots from Carolyn E. Fick's valuable approach of the revolution from below while still on the sobering side of David P. Geggus. With the exception of James', there is no work on the Haitian Revolution that is more readable and engaging than this book. Dubois' prose is crisp and vivid-the perfect writing for such a colorful story. The book is not short. But each chapter is full with interesting stories that you can hardly notice you are reading a scholarly history book. However, there are three issues you should be aware of while reading it. Probably due to the large amount of information and the inclusion of many little stories, the reader can easily lose track of the chronology. So, having besides you a chronology of the events can help you follow each one without problems. Also, because of the scholarly practice of the use of evidence, Dubois habit of story-telling, and his efforts to avoid being judgmental, at first impression the reader may feel that the author is siding with evil. But Dubois evaluation is subtle, and yet very powerful and accurate. And finally, a few typos, responsibilities of the publishing house and not of the author, should not affect the reader's enjoyment of a good and important reading.