The Black Count

I first heard about this book from a coworker of mine. He read it several years ago and had nothing but good things to say about it. I've had it on the backburner ever since, fully intending to get to it at some point but just never managing to. This month, however, a group of fellow book friends decided to give it a shot, and I tagged along. I'm....mostly satisfied with my experience with this book! Going into it, I had previously read [b:The Count of Monte Cristo|7126|The Count of Monte Cristo|Alexandre Dumas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1611834134l/7126.SY75.jpg|391568] last year and I knew very little of French history.

The entire Dumas family was super interesting to read about, with the whole take on slave ownership being turned on its head for large parts of the book. They had some progressive ideas in the beginning, even if they didn't always follow through on them. Alex Dumas was an accomplished military man, no question about it, and his dedication to a country that didn't always have his back was commendable.

I'm not huge on military history, I'll just address that now. I honestly had to force myself through large parts of the middle of the book about military logistics and who was sending letters to whom and where troops were going. Large parts of the book didn't even mention connections to Dumas-any Dumas-and while I thought the historical aspects were interesting, it felt disconnected and boring in places. The author clearly did the research though, and the footnotes and asides he throws in about random details were entertaining. Almost a third of the final part of the book is nothing but bibliography and end notes, though, which surprised me a bit when the book ended much earlier than I was expecting.

This was still an entertaining read, I just wish it were a bit more focused.

I am not a fan of biographies, I've read a few and always find them to be bogged down with dates and facts and references and quotes, I soon lose interest and throw the book at the dog. I needed to pick an award winner for a reading challenge and as I really enjoyed the Count of Monte Cristo I gave this one a go. Lucky break for me this is a bloody good read. Tom Reis comes across more of a detective than a biographer, as he tries to find info on the elusive General, sudden deaths of experts and strange fires makes his job that much harder. His writing style is more like a fiction writer, he takes you on a journey through the brief life of a Hercules.

One odd thing depressed me about this book, my education, my history lessons were given by a PE teacher (who I think got the job cos he owned his own tracksuit), he knew nothing at all about the subject and just read slowly from a text book each lesson. I was taught that the USA was where all the important stuff about abolishing slavery happened, I had no idea that the French did so much over a 100 years before hand...until that psychopath Napoleon came along and undid everything.

Reis really captures the atmosphere of the time when Alex Dumas was becoming a man, the birth of the guillotine and the rise of the French republic. Then it goes into the French conquest of southern Europe and the part the Dumas played it that. He comes across as being one scary dude to be up against, 6ft2, incredibly strong, agile and talented with any weapon, he seemed to have a supernatural ability to avoid getting hurt, no wonder so many surrendered before him. He rises up the ranks, something very rare for a black man, whilst always on the sidelines was that wee little man Napoleon waiting for his moment to unravel everything.

The inspiration for the Count of Monte Cristo is blatantly obvious throughout the book, the treachery, imprisonment and the dashing hero. Alexandre Dumas' love for his dad really comes out in the book for me now, I think I shall have to re-read it as I have all this extra info.

A cracking biography, well researched and brilliantly written. One of those rare moments where I can see why a book has won an award.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2019/09/10/the-black-count-glory-revolution-betrayal-and-the-real-count-of-monte-cristo-by-tom-reis/

Much more than I was expecting: the biography is beautiful but it’s the social context that really shook me. Reiss presents informative and powerful insights into the cultures of the time and their transformation over the course of Dumas’s lifetime: legal and ethical stances on slavery, “race”, and human rights that echo eerily in today’s world. He takes you into the insane convolutions of late-18th-century France, the bizarre legal arguments, the horrible mix of politics and business that destroyed the lives of humans based solely on their skin color. He also provides illuminating background on the conditions that led to the Terror and to Napoleon’s ascension, much of which rings depressingly true today.

As a person General Dumas seems larger than life: physically imposing, intelligent, strong, highly moral, deeply principled, courageous, kind. The sort of person, actually, we should know more about. It’s criminal that he’s been forgotten, and you owe it to yourself to read this book for that reason alone. Reiss uses historical sources everywhere it’s possible but his tone toward Dumas is warm and engaging. I came away with what I think will be a lasting impression of Dumas, one I’m grateful for.

And there’s the relationship between General Dumas and his son, the novelist we know. All we have left today are wisps but they’re poignant ones; Reiss weaves them through the book respectfully, never cloyingly.

Highly recommended. I feel incredibly lucky to have had a friend push me to read it.