Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture

by Sudhir Hazareesingh

Overview

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize | Finalist for the PEN / Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
Named a best book of the year by the The Economist | Times Literary Supplement | New Statesman

“Black Spartacus is a tour de force: by far the most complete, authoritative and persuasive biography of Toussaint that we are likely to have for a long time . . . An extraordinarily gripping read.” —David A. Bell, The Guardian

A new interpretation of the life of the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture

Among the defining figures of the Age of Revolution, Toussaint Louverture is the most enigmatic. Though the Haitian revolutionary’s image has multiplied across the globe—appearing on banknotes and in bronze, on T-shirts and in film—the only definitive portrait executed in his lifetime has been lost. Well versed in the work of everyone from Machiavelli to Rousseau, he was nonetheless dismissed by Thomas Jefferson as a “cannibal.” A Caribbean acolyte of the European Enlightenment, Toussaint nurtured a class of black Catholic clergymen who became one of the pillars of his rule, while his supporters also believed he communicated with vodou spirits. And for a leader who once summed up his modus operandi with the phrase “Say little but do as much as possible,” he was a prolific and indefatigable correspondent, famous for exhausting the five secretaries he maintained, simultaneously, at the height of his power in the 1790s.

Employing groundbreaking archival research and a keen interpretive lens, Sudhir Hazareesingh restores Toussaint to his full complexity in Black Spartacus. At a time when his subject has, variously, been reduced to little more than a one-dimensional icon of liberation or criticized for his personal failings—his white mistresses, his early ownership of slaves, his authoritarianism —Hazareesingh proposes a new conception of Toussaint’s understanding of himself and his role in the Atlantic world of the late eighteenth century. Black Spartacus is a work of both biography and intellectual history, rich with insights into Toussaint’s fundamental hybridity—his ability to unite European, African, and Caribbean traditions in the service of his revolutionary aims. Hazareesingh offers a new and resonant interpretation of Toussaint’s racial politics, showing how he used Enlightenment ideas to argue for the equal dignity of all human beings while simultaneously insisting on his own world-historical importance and the universal pertinence of blackness—a message which chimed particularly powerfully among African Americans.

Ultimately, Black Spartacus offers a vigorous argument in favor of “getting back to Toussaint”—a call to take Haiti’s founding father seriously on his own terms, and to honor his role in shaping the postcolonial world to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374112660
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	48,604
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Sudhir Hazareesingh was born in Mauritius. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and has been a Fellow and Tutor in Politics at Balliol College, Oxford, since 1990. He has written extensively about French intellectual and cultural history, and among his books are The Legend of Napoleon, In the Shadow of the General and How the French Think. He won the Prix du Mémorial d'Ajaccio and the Prix de la Fondation Napoléon for the first of these, a Prix d'Histoire du Sénat for the second, and the Grand Prix du Livre d'Idées for the third.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgements xv

Chronology xix

Glossary xxv

Maps xxvii

Introduction: The Originality of Toussaint Louverture 1

Part 1 A Revolutionary is Born

1 The Soul of a Free Man 19

2 The Gates of Destiny 41

3 Brave Republican Warriors 68

Part 2 The Making of the Louverturian Order

4 A Single Family of Friends and Brothers 99

5 The Agent is Unwell 117

6 Virtuous Citizens 155

Part 3 Toussaint in Power

7 Great Latitude 185

8 No Time to Lose 212

9 In the Region of Eagles 237

Part 4 The Leader and his Myth

10 Rapid and Uncertain Movements 267

11 The Tree of Black Liberty 296

12 A Universal Hero 327

Conclusion: An Inspiration for Our Times 359

Notes 371

Index 413

Editorial Reviews

Black Spartacus is a tour de force: by far the most complete, authoritative and persuasive biography of Toussaint that we are likely to have for a long time . . . An extraordinarily gripping read.” —David A. Bell, The Guardian

"[A] superbly researched book . . . This reconstruction gives [Toussaint's] political, military and intellectual accomplishments their due." —The Economist

"[Hazareesingh's] way into the story is through Toussaint’s military adventures and, more importantly, through his catlike politics . . . Lustrous pearls . . . , scattered throughout Black Spartacus, turn this detailed, blow-by-blow account of Toussaint’s military exploits into a dazzling, complicated narrative. They add romance and family intrigue to a plot that is also dotted with Toussaint’s own writing, which will be appreciated by those who have never heard his worldly, arrogant and eloquent voice." —Amy Wilentz, Spectator

"Remarkable . . . [Sudhir Hazareesingh] deftly tells the byzantine and fragmented history to paint perhaps the sharpest portrait yet of Louverture . . . The book also provides new and important insights into seminal events such as the initial insurrection of 1791 . . . Black Spartacus is a triumph. It takes a nearly impossibly complex history and weaves it into a compelling and accurate narrative that reads like fiction." —Ben Horowitz, Financial Times

"A mesmerizing biography . . . Hazareesingh writes beautifully about why Toussaint fought for three different sides: rebellious slaves Jean-François and Biassou; the Spanish; and then the French . . . As Haitian poet Jeudinema writes, ochan pou laverite ki pa gen klaksonn, which translates to: “Praise be to truth that has no honk.” Ochan for Sudhir Hazareesingh’s Black Spartacus." —Adolf Alzuphar, Los Angeles Review of Books

"Sudhir Hazareesingh’s engrossing [Black Spartacus] tells the story of how the enigmatic, deeply religious boy from Bréda came to be one of the most celebrated, feared and consequential political leaders of his generation . . . Hazareesingh brings to the task a voracious appetite for original sources and a discerning ear for those which have the ring of truth. He also has a gift for tracing those threads that reveal a previously unrecognized pattern in the fabric of a life." —Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, The Wall Street Journal

"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 . . . 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." —Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)

"With Black Spartacus, Sudhir Hazareesingh has produced the fourth – and best – biography of Toussaint Louverture since the bicentenary of Haitian independence … The book deftly tackles the early stages of the slave uprising and gives one of the most convincing accounts yet of Toussaint’s likely role in its opening moves. The use of non-traditional archives is particularly refreshing and allows Hazareesingh to frequently foreground the importance of Vodou to the revolutionaries." —Paul Clammer, History Today

"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." —Thomas J. Davis, Library Journal (starred review)

“An ideas-rich biography shows why Toussaint Louverture matters more than ever . . . an outstanding biography that breaks fresh ground and scrapes the crust of folklore, and cliché, from the Toussaint story . . . Hazareesingh smartly balances a twisty narrative with wider analysis of the forces and ideas at work. His scrupulous and absorbing biography not only portrays Toussaint the swashbuckling hero. It celebrates the philosopher . . . After the summer of 2020, there could hardly be a more urgent and valuable book.” —Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk

"If anyone lived an epic life, it is [Louverture], and Hazareesingh captures it perfectly in his new book . . . This book is for absolutely anyone that loves history . . . Louverture’s story will move you and make you think differently at the same time." —Jason Park, Medium

"A thorough reconsideration of the legendary Haitian leader, whose deployment of republican ideals of racial equality were radical and transformative—and still resonate today . . . [Black Spartacus] closely examines the many contradictory accounts of Toussaint’s dealings before and after [the start of the Haitian Revolution] . . . A knowledgeable biography that carefully considers the nuances of Toussaint’s character and the legends that surround him." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

★ 09/01/2020

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

Library Journal

2020-07-23
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.

Kirkus Reviews

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