FREE THE BLACK COUNT: GLORY, REVOLUTION, BETRAYAL AND THE REAL COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO PDF

Tom Reiss | 432 pages | 02 May 2013 | Vintage Publishing | 9780099575139 | English | London, United Kingdom The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. The real-life protagonist of The Black CountBetrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo Alex Dumas, is a man almost unknown today yet with a story that is strikingly familiar, because his son, the novelist , used The Black Count: Glory to create some of the best loved heroes of literature. Yet, hidden behind these swashbuckling adventures was an even more incredible secret: the real hero was the son of a black slave -- who rose higher in the white world than any man of his race would before our own The Black Count: Glory. Born in Saint-Domingue now HaitiAlex Dumas was briefly sold into bondage but made his way to Paris where he was schooled as a Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo member of the French aristocracy. Enlisting as a private, he rose to command armies at the height of the Revolution in an audacious campaign across Europe and the Middle East — until he met an implacable enemy he could not defeat. But it is also a heartbreaking story of Revolution enduring bonds of love between a father and son. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Black Countplease sign up. Charlie Johnson If you listen to the audiobook it doesn't feel as long; even so, I was thoroughly engrossed from beginning to end. See 1 question about The Black Count…. Lists with This Revolution. Community Reviews. Showing Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Sep 19, Lisa Harmonybites rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Everyone. Shelves: ebooksbiographyaround-the-worldhistorynon-fiction. I'm sure a lot of people are The Black Count: Glory to think the same thing reading this biography: "How in the world did I not know about Revolution man? I haven't read his books, but I've watched several adaptations and homages to them, everything from toons to allusions on Star Trek. I knew that this 19th century author was both French and black--yet nevertheless celebrated even in his lifetime. I knew of his son, who wrote the play I'm sure a lot of people are going to think the same thing reading this biography: "How in the world did I not know about this man? I knew of his son, who wrote the play that was the basis for Camille and Verdi's La Traviata. But I didn't know about his father Alex Dumas. General Alex Dumas. Son of a marquis and a slave, born in , who his own father pawned into , then redeemed and brought to Paris. He enlisted as a common soldier and when the French Revolution briefly swept away race as a bar, he rose to the rank of what would be considered today a four star general--commanding at one Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo over 50, troops--and was a genuine hero. That's not all to his story either. So many of the events in this biography sound like out and out adventure fiction. Yet Reiss obviously researched this meticulously--he doesn't just go by his son's memoir, but sought out confirmations and contradictions and complications in the story. There are plenty of quotes from letters of General Dumas that bring his personality to life. The book also deals with the Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo of his life: the sugar plantations of Haiti and the creole culture, Paris of the ancien regime and the French Revolution and rise of . I'd been reading biographies and other books dealing with the American Revolution lately, and it struck me in those books how deeply the American and French revolutions were intertwined, so it was interesting seeing it from the Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo side. The French helped us win our revolution, and it bankrupted them helping touch off their own; The Marquis de Lafayette fought in both; Thomas Jefferson, who wrote our Declaration of Independencehelped draft The Black Count: Glory Declaration of the Rights of Man. Whenever I'd read of the French Revolution, the Reign Revolution Terrorthe dysfunction of its government and its totalitarian aspects were what was emphasized. Reiss highlights by the nature of this biography what was hopeful and inspiring in it. Reiss claims the revolutionary government was the "first in history to abolish slavery. Blacks not only rose high Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo the military of revolutionary , they were part of the legislature and in that period made strides socially and politically: until Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo. The glimpses we get of him here are not pretty. Reiss refers to Napoleon's "maddeningly contradictory legacy" as both "dictator" and "liberator"-- his reign marked the resumption of racial discrimination and even slavery--what then was done to Dumas' native Haiti was a tragedy. Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo both as the biography of a neglected historical figure and a window into his times this succeeds wonderfully. A great read. View all 11 comments. Jan 12, Brina rated it really liked it Shelves: historypulitzer-winnerrace-relationsnonfictionfrance. Reiss grew up in a household where the tales written by Alexandre Dumas The Black Count: Glory family favorites and each tale a treasured treat. Years later Reiss became a historian, starting with the Orientalist that gained international acclaim. His thoughts and research turned back to Dumas and his heroine Edouard Dantes and the stories he grew up reading. Determined to learn the identity of the real life Count, Reiss spent ten years researching the his identity and the result was an award winning tale of racial identity and political intrigue in early republican France. During the second half of eighteenth century while racial politics were not widely discussed, , as blacks were known on French soil, enjoyed more rights in France and her territories than in most other places in the Western Hemisphere. Yet, the family was destitute, having survived poor sugar harvests and business decisions on Sante-Domingue. When Alexandre Dumas arrived in France at age fourteen, he took the surname of his mother, denouncing his The Black Count: Glory family now in turmoil. Despite some laws racial prejudicial laws existing in France, Dumas was free and spent his teenage years prior to the revolution in The Black Count: Glory, where he was influenced by French culture and attempted to school himself in the ways of a young Count, making up for lost time. Yet, what interested the young Dumas the most was swordsmanship. On the dawn of the revolution, he had become an accomplished fencer and horseback rider, and at six feet tall and swarthy, presented himself as quite a contrast to the majority of Frenchmen of his age. During the revolution, Alexandre Dumas entered the French army but not as an officer befitting of a marquis but as an unranked officer. Early 19th century Europe was still governed by the Holy Roman Empire and the Hapsburg and Ottoman dynasties, and the new French Republic had an eye on conquering the entire continent. He lead campaigns in the Alps into Italy as France designed to win the peninsula. ByNapoleon already believed that he was destined for greatness and perhaps feared Dumas as a rival for power and glory. The General was quick to put Dumas in his place, resulting in the rise of the Napoleonic age and Dumas nearly becoming a historical footnote. Dumas was well regarded by the majority of those he encountered in the army. Perhaps Napoleon reinstated race laws in France after a half century of freedoms with his old rival in mind. As a result, Dumas never received accolades in his lifetime. Prior to Reiss unearthing two hundred year old documents what the public knows about Alexandre Dumas comes from memoirs written by his famous son of the same name, the novelist Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo Dumas. The younger Dumas bases his protagonist Edouard Dantes on his father, who was imprisoned in an Italian fortress from Unfortunately, even after the publication of The Count Of Monte Cristo, few Frenchmen remembered the elder Alexandre Dumas and his battlefield heroics; Edouard Dantes was a memorable hero but few Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo him with war hero Alex Dumas. What I find remarkable is that Alex Dumas achieved glory in the late 18th century at a time when most people of African descent were chained as slaves. That he nearly became the top general in the entire French army speaks to his character and that the French were race blind. And perhaps if Napoleon did not have a Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, history would have turned out different for both Dumas and for France. The Black Count: Glory never read the Count Of Monte Cristo and now feel that I must read this classic novel, Tom Reiss does an impeccable The Black Count: Glory of bringing the real life tale to life for me. I have not read much on European history since high school so I was reminded of an age of revolution as the average person asserted themselves in the face of monarchy and aristocracy. I look forward to reading his other history of middle eastern politics. View all 16 comments. Sep 23, Jason Koivu rated it really liked it Shelves: historybiographynon-fictionwar. Nothing can live up to the exciting, over-the-top adventures Alexandre Dumas concocted, except maybe the real life exploits of his father. He was the basis for the tragic, wronged, swashbuckling heroes of The Count of Monte Cristothe Three Musketeers tales, and more. Tom Reiss' biography tries to bring back the memory of a Nothing can live up to the exciting, over-the-top adventures Alexandre Dumas concocted, except maybe the real life exploits of his father. Tom Reiss' biography tries to bring back the memory of an unfortunately forgotten hero of the French Revolutionary Republic. General Dumas rose up from a common soldier to lead thousands during France's Revolutionary Wars. Reiss portrays a man passionate about the cause and willing to risk his life in the most daring of ways for the ideal of equality for all. The Black Count marches linearly ahead at an admirable pace, mixing the history of father and son and even grandfather as it applies to his future generationstantalizing and revealing at just the right moments. A high quality history text that, regardless of Revolution rightly upon human atrocities, can't help but entertain considering its adventuresome subject matter. Reiss certainly seems biased towards his subject and even tries to put General Dumas on a pedestal However, if you can forgive him his slant, I think you'll find this a highly enjoyable read! The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo |

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. The son of a black slave in Saint-Domingue now Haiti and a French aristocrat, Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie followed his father back to France his father had sold him into slavery to pay for his passage to France, then Revolution his freedom backhe joined the French Revolutionary Army, and quickly became the stuff of legend, moving eventually to the role of general. Imprisoned when attempting to return to France from Egypt, he lived 4 more years before dying of stomach cancer. Son Alexandre was just shy of 4 when his father died, but the General's story influenced his writings, especially The Count of Monte Cristo, with its tale of an unjust imprisonment. The book won the , and is quite well written. If I were to judge it on general interest, I would give it 5 stars. What I will take away, however, was the curious fact that during the period of the French Revolution, discrimination against blacks was forbidden and then under Napoleon was resurrectedwhich allowed General Dumas to advance so quickly. The Revolution itself comes across as much more complex that I had thought, with wonderful enlightenment and horrible carnage. A very interesting read. I'm slowly working through books I started in and actually finishing them! Anyway, this was fascinating and heartwrenching all at once. Undoubtedly that was what he expected and hoped to The Black Count: Glory especially since it would have made for a more interesting story. But it wasn't what he found. To his credit he sticks to the evidence he unearthed but also doesn't retract his initial suspicions. JoeHamilton Jul 21, This is a fascinating biography of an almost unknown hero of Revolution-era France. Who would have guessed that the black son of a slave could have Revolution to be one of France's greatest generals? For a brief--all too brief--flowering, the French Revolution really did live up to the principles of Revolution, Egalite, Fraternite even while the Terror consumed most of it's leading lights. Four stars rather than five because Reiss's animosity to Napoleon seems to skew an important strand of the narrative. I have been familiar with the novels of Alexandre Dumas for years, but had given very little thought to where he would have turned for inspiration and ideas. This excellently researched biography and history about General Alex Dumas the novelist's father provides a window into that world. Drawing from letters and memoirs and records of the Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, Reiss pulls together a fascinating narrative honoring this incredible man. I received an advance reader copy of this book, and I really wish I read it far, far sooner than I did. I am planning on purchasing a finalized copy of the book, as the ARC does not include the index, and the end notes, while present, lack page numbers. Sign up to get a pre-publication copy in exchange for a review. Home Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo Talk More Zeitgeist. I Agree This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo not signed in for advertising. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms. Recommend the 20 best books you've read in the last five years Top Five Books of Books Read in Non-Fiction Worth Reading Rainbow Books: Colors in the Title KayStJ's to-read list 1, All topics Hot topics All discussions Join to start using. From the title and opening chapter I got the impression that the author was really going to blow the lid off a long- neglected case of racial injustice. JoeHamilton Jul 21, This is a fascinating biography of an almost unknown hero of Revolution-era France. TimStretton Mar 19, This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Status Tom Reiss — primary author all editions calculated Christian Rugstad Translator secondary author all editions confirmed. You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data. Napoleon Bonaparte. Charles Anne Edouard Davy de la Pailleterie. Chevalier The Black Count: Glory Saint-Georges aka Joseph Boulogne. Claude Laboret. General Jean-Baptiste Manscourt. Saint-Domingue now Haiti. Paris, France. Mantua, Lombardy, Italy as Mantua, Milan. Alexandria, Egypt. Cairo, Egypt. Kingdom of Naples. French Revolution Napoleonic Wars Battle of the Pyramids Battle of the Nile Battle of Alexandria Time Magazine's Best Books Revolution the Year Pulitzer Prize Cundill International Prize in History Longlist It was nearly midnight on the night of February 26,and Alexandre Dumas, the future author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeerswas asleep at his uncle's house. He was not yet four years old. There is still no monument in France commemorating the life of General Alexandre Dumas. Millard, Candice. Bradley, James. Foreman, Amanda. Meacham, Jon. Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. The Black Count: Glory, Laurence. Gordon-Reed, Annette. Dubois, Laurent. Widmer, Ted. McMahon, The Black Count: Glory M. Strauss, Darin. Sante, Luc. Lewis-Kraus, Gideon. Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Burleigh, Nina. Snyder, Timothy. Weatherford, Jack. Dietrich, William. References to this work on external resources. Explores the The Black Count: Glory and career of Thomas Alexandre Dumas, a man Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo unknown today, but whose swashbuckling Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo appear in The three musketeers and whose trials and triumphs inspired The count of Monte Cristo. No library descriptions found. Book description. Haiku summary. Add to Your books. Add to wishlist. Quick Links . Amazon Kindle 0 editions. Audible 0 editions. CD Audiobook 0 editions. Project Gutenberg 0 editions. Google Books — Loading Local Book Search. Swap 99 want. Rating Average: 4. Is this you? Become a LibraryThing Author. The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo - Wikipedia

M ore a literary gumshoe detective than a conventional biographer, Tom Reiss has written the last of a trilogy of enthralling biographies. As a Jewish outsider, Reiss was well-placed to tell this story, as he was for his next book The Orientalistthe fascinating tale of Lev Nussimbaumaka , a Jewish Azeri writer and wheeler-dealer who assumed the identity of a Muslim in Hitler's reich and Mussolini's Italy. Now he tells a long-hidden story that sheds light on racism and the damage it does. And, although this time his research was conducted chiefly in rural France, it had its share of thrills. Reiss persuaded a French small-town official to The Black Count: Glory open a municipal library's safe when the librarian — the only person knowing the combination — suddenly died. Reiss's subject is the first Alexandre Dumas, who proves to have had a stranger life than many portrayed in his son's and grandson's fictions. It was not an auspicious start. Dumas was a " batarde " - the product of a relationship between his aristocratic French father, Marquis Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, and a freed The Black Count: Glory, Marie-Cesette Dumas. Her surname, meaning "of the farm", was bestowed on her because managing a sugar plantation was her occupation as a freewoman. Reiss is excellent on the colonial attitudes to race exemplified by Alex's father, who, after Marie-Cesette died when the boy was 12, though proud of his strapping son, sold him into slavery to pay for his passage back to Normandy. After six Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo of Alex's servitude, The Black Count: Glory marquis purchased his freedom and duly shipped him to France, to commence an education befitting a gentleman. Alex proved adept at the skills expected of a young French aristocrat: especially fencing and horsemanship. His father remarried, however, and, possibly ashamed of his mulatto son, cut Alex off without a centime. Undaunted, the young man joined the army. During the French revolution he fought alongside other black men in a unit called the African Legion. Dumas's military abilities were quickly recognised and he Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo through the ranks from corporal to general in a little over two years, commanding a division of 53, soldiers when he was just He fought in the many wars waged against Revolution France and captured a key fortress in the Alps from the Austrians, who dubbed him Der schwarze Teufel the "Black Devil" after he scaled an ice-covered rock wall in boots he had fitted with crampons. By the time Napoleon Bonaparte had emerged as the strong man from the chaos of revolution, Dumas was a dangerous rival. Napoleon took Dumas on his disastrous Egyptian campaign as his cavalry commander, where the two generals fell out and Dumas quit his command. Reiss suggests that it was deliberate foot-dragging by a spiteful and jealous Napoleon that delayed his rival's release. The France to which Dumas returned was utterly changed. Napoleon's military autocracy had extinguished the last sparks of revolutionary zeal. Reiss has written a swashbuckling tale of his own. Biography books. The first Alexandre Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, in a painting by Olivier Pichat. Nigel Jones. Topics Biography books reviews Reuse this content.