Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution (Paperback)

by Laurent Dubois (Author)
Key Phrases: colonial ministry, Abbé Grégoire, slave insurgents, National Assembly, Northern Province, Santo Domingo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
What Laurent Dubois has achieved is a synthesis of the most current research in a strikingly accessible and appealing presentation, be it to experts or to general readers unfamiliar with the subject. Avengers of the New World is more than likely to become the new standard work in English on one of the most under-reported events in the history of the Western Hemisphere.
--Madison Smartt Bell, author of All Souls Rising and Master of the Crossroads (20040418)

The course of the Haitian Revolution was as checkered as the storyline of an Italian opera. Laurent Dubois wisely and eloquently reduces that complexity to understandable proportions. He shows how the revolutionary leadership evolved over time, both defining its own objectives and winning its battles along the way. With care and good judgment, Dubois builds for us a compelling picture of the emergent consciousness of the slaves. His distinctive contribution is to bring to life one of the most significant events in modern political history, an event that has been deliberately misrepresented for the past two centuries.
--Sidney Mintz, author of Caribbean Transformations and Sweetness and Power (20040323)

By abolishing slavery and granting citizenship to all men, the Haitian Revolution fulfilled the ideals of the Age of Democratic Revolution in a way that France, the United States and other nations were not yet ready to accept. Dubois demonstrates the revolutionary determination of enslaved Caribbean- and African-born people and captures the voices of key actors including Toussaint Louverture, individual slaves, free people of color, rival black generals, and white women. This is a story that needs to be told in the engaging yet scholarly voice that Dubois achieves.
--John Garrigus, Professor of History, Jacksonville University (20040611)

Avengers of the New World is a luminous model for the history of revolution, for a 'people's' history of freedom, and, not least, for a history that is truly Atlantic in scope. At once original, deeply learned, and gracefully written, Dubois' achievement is worthy of its great lineage: that of C.L.R. James and Aime Cesaire."
--James C. Scott, author of Domination and the Arts of Resistance and Weapons of the Weak (20041004)

[A] sinuous and stirring account of 'the largest slave revolt in the history of the world, and the only one that succeeded.'
--John Leonard (Harper's 20041101)

In this exhaustively researched and valuable account, Laurent Dubois, a history professor at Michigan State, looks back to the founding of Haiti...Dubois, writing in an accessible style and with a wide-ranging focus, has done an impressive job depicting the tumultuous founding of Haiti. Readers wanting to place the Caribbean nation's current struggles in a larger historical context will find Dubois an eminently worthwhile resource.
--Chuck Leddy (Christian Science Monitor )

A stern and brilliant new book...The Haitian Revolution, in all its ugliness and brutality, was the response of the oppressed, indentured and enslaved to their unjust condition. And it is this whirling and chaotic world that Dubois so vividly brings to life in Avengers of the New World and so accurately deconstructs...Dubois starts this book about war with chapters about love, death, books and graveyards. His discussions of interracial love affairs and the attitudes of slaves both toward death among slaves and toward death among masters are riveting and eloquent. Indeed, Dubois' literary sensibility informs the book from start to finish, so that at its beginning as well as its end, the reader feels as if the story must be fiction, yet it is not...Dubois calls Haiti a nation 'founded on ashes,' and he has written splendidly about the fires, both political and cultural, that lit up the land during the days of revolution and that are still, in a sense, burning today.
--Amy Wilentz (Los Angeles Times Book Review )

Avengers of the New World weaves the experiences and stories of slaves, free Blacks, wealthy whites, and French administrators into an unforgettable tale of insurrection, war, heroism, and victory. Laurent Dubois examines the actions of the famous leaders of the revolt such as Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, but also of lesser-known men and women caught up in the violent and tumultuous events. Dubois establishes the Haitian Revolution, which is often misunderstood or forgotten, as a foundational moment in the history of democracy and of human rights...Avengers of the New World can help us put the current situation in Haiti in context, explain the reasons behind the violence, and give us an idea of what the future might hold. (Caribbean Life )

Laurent Dubois's patient study offers a valuable glimpse into the complexities of the creation of modern Haiti that supplants the usual commonplaces on this 'first black republic.'
--Nick Caistor (Times Literary Supplement )

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of books about the Haitian Revolution, but only a handful are indispensable. Avengers of the New World joins that select company. A powerful narrative informed by the latest research, it digs beneath ready-made notions--whether of purely heroic rebels or of implacable caste hatreds--to bring to light the forging of new identities and new ideals.
--Robin Blackburn (The Nation )

Brilliantly conceived, beautifully rendered, Laurent Dubois's narrative places the Haitian Revolution at the center of the Age of Revolutions-one of three that shook the world--challenging in the process the stubborn academic myopia that divides the history of Europe from its colonies, and whites from blacks.
--Thomas Holt, author of The Problem of Race in the 21st Century

This wonderfully readable account is a timely reminder of the perils and scarifices that marked Haiti's revolutionary path, resulting in only the second independent nation of this hemisphere. Dubois rightfully emphasizes the impact of French revolutionary principles (i.e., the Rights of Man) on the Haitian rebel slaves, as well as the inextricable influence of French politics on the fate of its Caribbean colony, highlighted by the power struggles between Napoleon and Louverture. The author's insights about the nature of solidarity, trust, and leadership among the slaves, as well as the organization of insurgents across the colony, are well worth recalling, especially in this fateful year.
--R. M. Delson (Choice )

For those who wish to recall the dramatic events that led to the creation of the world's first black republic and the Western Hemisphere's second independent nation, I would strongly recommend Laurent Dubois's Avenger's of the New World...The story of Haitian independence is well known and has been told many times before, but Dubois's vigorous text brings the story to vibrant new life. The battles, personalities, and complex sociopolitical turmoil brought about in Haiti and elsewhere in the world, especially the slave-owning American South, are recalled with a depth and passion that makes this an invigorating work of historical writing.
--Phil Hall (New York Resident )

Readers unfamiliar with the history of Haiti will find this thoughtful, gracefully written book an eye-opening account of the complexities of the Haitian revolution.
--Milton Berman (SalemPressOnline )

How well Dubois wears the mantle of this exciting area of study. His engaging analysis of the social forces at play in Saint Domingue (now Haiti) at the turn of the nineteenth century reveals this conflict to be of wider significance than we may previously have thought...Dubois's masterful grasp of the "contorted human relationships" that define the period renders his study infinitely relevant to our global society...With his help, we may yet come to understand the far-reaching impact of this amazing revolution and the true meaning of Haiti's beloved motto: L'Union fait la force.
--Patti M. Marxsen (French Review )

In Avengers of the New World, Laurent Dubois has crafted a nuanced yet highly readable narrative of the Haitian Revolution...It is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the revolutionary Atlantic World. Readers new to the Haitian Revolution will especially benefit from Dubois's lucid explanation of an enormously complex period.
--Yvonne Fabella (New West Indian Guide )

Review
What Laurent Dubois has achieved is a synthesis of the most current research in a strikingly accessible and appealing presentation, be it to experts or to general readers unfamiliar with the subject. Avengers of the New World is more than likely to become the new standard work in English on one of the most under-reported events in the history of the Western Hemisphere.
--Madison Smartt Bell, author of All Souls Rising and Master of the Crossroads (20040418) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (October 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674018265
• ISBN-13: 978-0674018266
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #79,993 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #6 in	Books > History > Americas > Caribbean & West Indies > Haiti
  #31 in	Books > History > World > Slavery & Emancipation
  #45 in	Books > History > Historical Study > Revolutionary

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Right Book for Such an Important Historical Event, May 17, 2005

By	Dennis R. Hidalgo "Working for a Better World" (Garden City, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution (Hardcover)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent , January 30, 2008

By	Big Sistah Patty (USA) - See all my reviews

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read, May 22, 2009

By	John L. Hennessey - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.