Black Spartacus

August 15, 2020
A thorough reconsideration of the legendary Haitian leader, whose deployment of republican ideals of racial equality were radical and transformative--and still resonate today. As Hazareesingh shows, Toussaint L'Ouverture (1743-1803) possessed remarkable military and leadership skills, which allowed him to effect a "just war for national liberation which foreshadowed the anti-colonial struggles of the modern era." He was raised by African-born slaves in what was still the French colony of Saint-Domingue, and his impressive character was evident from an early age. Intelligent, educated, and valued for his facility with horses, he served as a coachman on the estate, which was inculcated with both Vodou and Catholic practices as well as the French revolutionary ideals that sparked the initial slave uprising in 1791. The author, who has written multiple books about French cultural history, closely examines the many contradictory accounts of Toussaint's dealings before and after this key date, as he served as a mediating force between the slaves and the White masters. Hazareesingh emphasizes that it was in his "ability to take existing social and political forms, absorb them full and then redeploy them to his own ends that Toussaint's genius lay." He was a leader behind the scenes, a brilliant writer of revolutionary tracts, and an effective military strategist. He could also be an opportunist, writes the author, and eager not to alienate the French and Napoleon in pushing too hard for independence--though he never wavered on his stance for emancipation of the slaves. "Toussaint," writes the author, "embodied the many facets of Saint-Domingue's revolution by confronting the dominant forces of his age--slavery, settler colonialism, imperial domination, racial hierarchy and European cultural supremacy--and bending them to his will." Though not entirely accessible to general readers, the book is evenhanded in its treatment of Toussaint and will be a useful addition to library collections. A knowledgeable biography that carefully considers the nuances of Toussaint's character and the legends that surround him.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2020
Mauritian British historian Hazareesingh presents a deeply researched, energetic, and comprehensively reenvisioned study of the extraordinary life and still-growing influence of Haiti's liberator and founding father. Placing Toussaint's remarkable rise from his beginnings as an enslaved African child on a plantation in the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue within the context of the age of revolution and the Enlightenment, Hazareesingh traces the ever-shifting conflicts on the island among whites, Blacks, and people of mixed race, and Spain, France, and England, each seeking control of this profitable holding. Toussaint played a key role in the 1791 slave insurrection, and progressed steadily as a military, then civic, leader of the slowly coalescing, severely besieged from without and within, independent, Black-ruled nation. As conversant as Hazareesingh is in the dramatic and snarled political and military history at play in this treacherous and righteous war for liberty, it is Toussaint's character and abilities, gleaned from overlooked archival sources, including Toussaint's own writings, that shine here: Toussaint's prodigious stamina and will power; erudition, swagger, and wit; religious faith, discipline, secrecy, strategic genius, impatience, and absolute dedication to freedom. From daring military maneuvers to innovations in governing, dignity in his tragic fall, and galvanizing impact as the first Black superhero of the modern age, here, vividly and invaluably, is Toussaint Louverture in full.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 1, 2020

The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) epitomized much of the sweeping series of late 18th-century transformations that radically changed the Atlantic world, explains Hazareesingh (politics, Balliol Coll., Oxford; From Subject to Citizen). His flowing narrative of momentous social and political upheaval centers on emancipated Black slave Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803), who embodied the massive revolt that led to the abolition of slavery in the French Caribbean colony of San Domingue. Even more, Louverture represented the growing challenges to monarchical and imperial rule and the emergence of the principle of popular sovereignty that put Haiti alongside France and the United States in the forefront of republics born in that Age of Revolution. Louverture was an expositor of natural rights and enlightenment culture. With unbending will, he confronted the dominant forces of his age: European cultural supremacy, imperial domination, racial hierarchy, settler colonialism, and slavery. Louverture stands in Hazareesingh's view as a continuing inspiration for hope as well as equality of human dignity in the struggle against global injustices. VERDICT Tracing the growth of Louverture from revolutionary leader to mythic figure, this engrossing read reveals and recovers the historic place both he and the country of Haiti deserve to occupy in the story of the Atlantic world's creation and re-creation. A must-read.--Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.