A fun and informative book

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Sunday, January 13. 2013

A fun and informative book

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, was a black guy. His Dad was a famous French general, born in Haiti (then Saint Domingue - Santo Domingo).

Dad served in the French army through the hideous French Revolution and became a General under Napoleon in Italy and Egypt: The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo.

Alexandre's novel was based, in part, on his Dad who also had a grueling imprisonment after being captured by the Neapolitans in Taranto after being shipwrecked.

Tom Reiss researched this book for almost ten years.

Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 12:23 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

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I just finished this book. I found it ok - but not great.

It is neither fish nor fowl. It's not really a biography, as true details of Dumas life and exploits are few. It appeared to me that the author just couldn't find enough credible information on his subject to give a complete picture.

The main subject becomes race relations in 18th century France, which would be a facinating subject for a book. This book, however, is sort of muddled by pretending to be a biography.

I may have been expecting too much - having finished
Unbroken by Hillenbrand just before I started this. That is a great read.

An interesting book about 18th and 19th century France is:

Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era by Moorehead.

This is a really interestig book about a woman who knew seemingly everyone of import in the era. I highly recomend it - The Black Count - interestin but not a must read

JG

#1 jg on 2013-01-14 09:56 (Reply)

A am 2/3 through this book presently, and loving it. True that much of the historical "fact" for this book comes from the younger Dumas' novels, and for that it is a great swashbuckling read. But the book is interesting enough when you consider how successfully French history books seem to have written off Dumas Sr. and his apparent military contributions.

#2 Pajak on 2013-01-14 16:52 (Reply)

Dumas was black the way Obama is black - they are both mulattos. Dumas' father was black; his mother was white.

#3 tmgr on 2013-01-14 23:30 (Reply)

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Sunday, January 13. 2013

A fun and informative book