The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo - Tom Reiss
The Black Count: Glory, revolution, betrayal and the real Count of Monte Cristo
Non-Fiction
Pages: 432
This is the kind of story you couldn't make up. The novelist Alexandra Dumas is of course well-known to all, author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo among others and, one may argue, the father of modern adventure and thriller stories. But his own father's life was every bit as enthralling and exciting as his novels, and may have served as inspiration for the saga of betrayal, revenge and adventure told in the pages of The Count of Monte Cristo.
His father, Alexandra Dumas, was mixed-race, born the son of a minor French aristocrat and a Saint-Domingue (Haiti) slave, simultaneously born into both nobility and slavery. His career could only have happened in the brief interlude of racial tolerance and equality that flourished in the years after the Revolution and before the rise of Napoleon. To this day, he is still the highest-ranking person of colour in European military history, rising rapidly from a mere private to become general-in-chief of the French Army of Italy. He was a renowned horseman and swordsman, a tall handsome commanding figure, who inspired devotion in his troops and admiration in his comrades. He was fearless, often taking on overwhelming odds single-handed. He played a pivotal role in the French Revolutionary Wars, winning victories that enabled the French conquest of Italy and war against Austria, and accompanying Napoleon in the invasion of Egypt.
Egypt proved to be his downfall, running afoul of Napoleon in his vocal criticisms of the conduct of the invasion, his health undermined by the climate, he departed for France and after being shipwrecked off the coast of Naples, was thrown in prison for two years. During his imprisonment the world of the Revolution changed with Napoleon's coup and many of the advances in equal rights was rolled back. Dumas emerged from prison with his health wrecked, into a world where he could no longer hold rank in the army, where his marriage to a white woman was not recognised, where no compensation or pension for his years of service and imprisonment would be granted. To this day, Dumas is the only Revolutionary general without a Legion d'Honneur, or even a statute commemorating his role and achievements.
This is a biography that really does justice to its subject, shining light on a shamefully neglected player in the French Revolution. Reiss' own tale of his research and quest weaves throughout this book, and he serves a lively and engaging guide. I had never heard of Dumas before, and after having read this book I cannot understand why he is not fêted and admired, unless the taint of racism that destroyed his career lingers on to this day.
Non-Fiction
Pages: 432
This is the kind of story you couldn't make up. The novelist Alexandra Dumas is of course well-known to all, author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo among others and, one may argue, the father of modern adventure and thriller stories. But his own father's life was every bit as enthralling and exciting as his novels, and may have served as inspiration for the saga of betrayal, revenge and adventure told in the pages of The Count of Monte Cristo.
His father, Alexandra Dumas, was mixed-race, born the son of a minor French aristocrat and a Saint-Domingue (Haiti) slave, simultaneously born into both nobility and slavery. His career could only have happened in the brief interlude of racial tolerance and equality that flourished in the years after the Revolution and before the rise of Napoleon. To this day, he is still the highest-ranking person of colour in European military history, rising rapidly from a mere private to become general-in-chief of the French Army of Italy. He was a renowned horseman and swordsman, a tall handsome commanding figure, who inspired devotion in his troops and admiration in his comrades. He was fearless, often taking on overwhelming odds single-handed. He played a pivotal role in the French Revolutionary Wars, winning victories that enabled the French conquest of Italy and war against Austria, and accompanying Napoleon in the invasion of Egypt.
Egypt proved to be his downfall, running afoul of Napoleon in his vocal criticisms of the conduct of the invasion, his health undermined by the climate, he departed for France and after being shipwrecked off the coast of Naples, was thrown in prison for two years. During his imprisonment the world of the Revolution changed with Napoleon's coup and many of the advances in equal rights was rolled back. Dumas emerged from prison with his health wrecked, into a world where he could no longer hold rank in the army, where his marriage to a white woman was not recognised, where no compensation or pension for his years of service and imprisonment would be granted. To this day, Dumas is the only Revolutionary general without a Legion d'Honneur, or even a statute commemorating his role and achievements.
This is a biography that really does justice to its subject, shining light on a shamefully neglected player in the French Revolution. Reiss' own tale of his research and quest weaves throughout this book, and he serves a lively and engaging guide. I had never heard of Dumas before, and after having read this book I cannot understand why he is not fêted and admired, unless the taint of racism that destroyed his career lingers on to this day.