gabesteller's review against another edition
5.0
Finally got around to reading this Classique, which was maybe the most commonly requested book out of the reserve stacks when i worked at Mudd.
While you might have to be a history or politics person to be fully all in, I found it real propulsive and even epic, with these little breaks where James will editorialize or rattle off a bit of biting sarcasm. Some of these are kinda like “bad ass” fodder for dorm room socialists but i feel like coming out of an actual 30’s caribbean radical they have a lot more weight.anyway we got stuff like:
“The cruelties of propter and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression” and “The rich are only defeated when they are running for their lives”
Correct statements!
James does a really excellent job with the set up though so you really understand what an insnane goddamn powerderkeg the island was, (the ratio of slaves to mixed/free black to whites to rich white boggles the mind) and the way every faction is just barely balanced, each one carrying a simultaneous advantage and disadvantage (The Mixed race people can travel to france and be educated while the poor whites are indentured, but the mixed people are still barred from certain positions and places etc). all leading to a ton of scheming a double crossing.
unfortunately that does include betrayals by the formerly enslaved generals against their own people, which are extremely disheartening and even more painful to read about than the the many massacres and tortures committed by all sides over the course of the book. Mostly it just solidifies the impression of San Domingo as a hell on earth from which everyone was deathly desperate to escape.
The more macro level facts (only completely successful slave revolt in history et al) remain pretty inspirational however and James does a good job of conveying how radically the world was turned upside down and how “ordinary people” proved themselves in incredible situations. The passage describing the Haitian Delegates appeal to the French parliament for the abolishment of slavery, which is then abolished in a unanimous vote is very moving.
My only real issue is some stuff thats clearly really dated, like the occasional weird and sus hagiography of Toussaint saying he and his wife lived forever in perfect harmony, and that there was always music and flowers in his room, like i guess ill take ur word for it on that stuff. worse he has a habit of referring to the enslaved Haitians as ignorant and backward and half savage, and like i get that they didn't get an education and they were severely traumatized but their not like wild animal jeezus. anywaaaaay overall still pretty great! 4.5 stars but lets be generous and give him the whole 5!
Thanks CLR!
While you might have to be a history or politics person to be fully all in, I found it real propulsive and even epic, with these little breaks where James will editorialize or rattle off a bit of biting sarcasm. Some of these are kinda like “bad ass” fodder for dorm room socialists but i feel like coming out of an actual 30’s caribbean radical they have a lot more weight.anyway we got stuff like:
“The cruelties of propter and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression” and “The rich are only defeated when they are running for their lives”
Correct statements!
James does a really excellent job with the set up though so you really understand what an insnane goddamn powerderkeg the island was, (the ratio of slaves to mixed/free black to whites to rich white boggles the mind) and the way every faction is just barely balanced, each one carrying a simultaneous advantage and disadvantage (The Mixed race people can travel to france and be educated while the poor whites are indentured, but the mixed people are still barred from certain positions and places etc). all leading to a ton of scheming a double crossing.
unfortunately that does include betrayals by the formerly enslaved generals against their own people, which are extremely disheartening and even more painful to read about than the the many massacres and tortures committed by all sides over the course of the book. Mostly it just solidifies the impression of San Domingo as a hell on earth from which everyone was deathly desperate to escape.
The more macro level facts (only completely successful slave revolt in history et al) remain pretty inspirational however and James does a good job of conveying how radically the world was turned upside down and how “ordinary people” proved themselves in incredible situations. The passage describing the Haitian Delegates appeal to the French parliament for the abolishment of slavery, which is then abolished in a unanimous vote is very moving.
My only real issue is some stuff thats clearly really dated, like the occasional weird and sus hagiography of Toussaint saying he and his wife lived forever in perfect harmony, and that there was always music and flowers in his room, like i guess ill take ur word for it on that stuff. worse he has a habit of referring to the enslaved Haitians as ignorant and backward and half savage, and like i get that they didn't get an education and they were severely traumatized but their not like wild animal jeezus. anywaaaaay overall still pretty great! 4.5 stars but lets be generous and give him the whole 5!
Thanks CLR!
mothmans_mum's review
5.0
It is impossible to comprehend how good this book is until you read it. Every communist and their dog had recommended it to me, yet I was still blown away by both the events related, and the manner in which they were told. Politically incisive, riveting, filling you with both red-hot anger at injustice and unrelenting hope that injustice can be overcome. A must-read.
andrewreadsbooks's review
5.0
This is both a great history and a riveting narrative. Written in an extremely captivating way, this is one of the most digestible histories I have read in a while. I have nothing but praise for this book, and can say that reading it not only helps you better understand the events of the Haitian revolution, it helps you better understand and analyze all revolutions. I especially loved the section analyzing Touissant’s mistakes near the end of taking the people’s support for granted, which not only shows the mistakes that a leader can make, but also brings the people’s consciousness into clarity by juxtaposing it against a leader who has fallen behind the people.
brannigan's review against another edition
3.0
This is vital history, and my hitherto ignorance of Caribbean formative history is in hindsight slightly shameful. But then, Caribbean history for whatever reason, just isn't very mainstream or accessible here.
Anyway, the importance of the subject matter is summed up by James himself: "West Indians first became aware of themselves as a people in the Haitian revolution" (p. 305). The revolution was the birth of an entirely new culture, mixing African, American and European elements but somehow at the same time more than the sum of its parts. Not to mention the Haitian revolution was the first successful slave revolt in history.
It also deals with a fascinating place and time. Another quotation is necessary: "This was the San Domingo of 1789, the most profitable colony the world had ever known; to the casual eye the most flourishing and prosperous possession on the face of the globe; to the analyst a society torn by inner and outer contradictions which in four years would split that structure into so many pieces that they could never be put together again" (P. 46).
James writes with clear passion and demonstrates first-rate scholarship. The book also contains some of the finest anti-racist rhetoric from James but also from Toussaint and other characters such as the Mulatto Rigaud (see p. 187), and even whites such as Sonthonax. Toussaint is an inspiring guy, a latter-day Caesar (especially given his famed humility toward those he conquered). James also has an intriguing Marxist methodology, treating the conflict first and foremost as a class war, not a race war.
However, despite all this book has going for it, I can only give it three stars - primarily because, if I am brutally honest, there were parts that just dragged. It's partly my fault: I'm not a fan of military history and understandably there are huge chunks that recount campaigns and battles all over the island. I don't know, it just turns me completely off and my eyes glaze over as I can't really keep track of who is on which side and what part of the island belonged to whom (it doesn't help that all the names are French - a dramatis personae would have been appreciated). Additionally, the whole narrative is very much intertwined with the events of the French revolution, of which James assumes the reader has prior knowledge.
In all, this work is probably showing its age, and whole chapters are a bit dry. However, it's still worth reading and I'm glad I made it to the end.
Anyway, the importance of the subject matter is summed up by James himself: "West Indians first became aware of themselves as a people in the Haitian revolution" (p. 305). The revolution was the birth of an entirely new culture, mixing African, American and European elements but somehow at the same time more than the sum of its parts. Not to mention the Haitian revolution was the first successful slave revolt in history.
It also deals with a fascinating place and time. Another quotation is necessary: "This was the San Domingo of 1789, the most profitable colony the world had ever known; to the casual eye the most flourishing and prosperous possession on the face of the globe; to the analyst a society torn by inner and outer contradictions which in four years would split that structure into so many pieces that they could never be put together again" (P. 46).
James writes with clear passion and demonstrates first-rate scholarship. The book also contains some of the finest anti-racist rhetoric from James but also from Toussaint and other characters such as the Mulatto Rigaud (see p. 187), and even whites such as Sonthonax. Toussaint is an inspiring guy, a latter-day Caesar (especially given his famed humility toward those he conquered). James also has an intriguing Marxist methodology, treating the conflict first and foremost as a class war, not a race war.
However, despite all this book has going for it, I can only give it three stars - primarily because, if I am brutally honest, there were parts that just dragged. It's partly my fault: I'm not a fan of military history and understandably there are huge chunks that recount campaigns and battles all over the island. I don't know, it just turns me completely off and my eyes glaze over as I can't really keep track of who is on which side and what part of the island belonged to whom (it doesn't help that all the names are French - a dramatis personae would have been appreciated). Additionally, the whole narrative is very much intertwined with the events of the French revolution, of which James assumes the reader has prior knowledge.
In all, this work is probably showing its age, and whole chapters are a bit dry. However, it's still worth reading and I'm glad I made it to the end.