The Black Count

Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo

By: Tom Reiss

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY • ONE OF ESQUIRE’S BEST BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL TIME

General Alex Dumas is a man almost unknown today, yet his story is strikingly familiar—because his son, the novelist Alexandre Dumas, used his larger-than-life feats as inspiration for such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.

But, hidden behind General Dumas's swashbuckling adventures was an even more incredible secret: he was the son of a black slave—who rose higher in the white world than any man of his race would before our own time. Born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), Alex Dumas made his way to Paris, where he rose to command armies at the height of the Revolution—until he met an implacable enemy he could not defeat.

The Black Count is simultaneously a riveting adventure story, a lushly textured evocation of 18th-century France, and a window into the modern world’s first multi-racial society. TIME magazine called The Black Count "one of those quintessentially human stories of strength and courage that sheds light on the historical moment that made it possible." But it is also a heartbreaking story of the enduring bonds of love between a father and son.

©2012 Tom Reiss (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"From pike-wielding mobs to prisoners locked in a fortress tower, The Black Count, a fascinating, detailed account of the life of Alexandre Dumas' father, is as action packed as The Count of Monte Cristo. Unlike Dumas' famous adventure novel, however, Reiss' incredible tale is true." (Candice Millard, New York Times best-selling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic)

2013, NAACP Image Award, Nominated

2012, National Book Critics Circle Awards, Finalist

2013, PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography, Short-listed

2013, Phillis Wheatley Book Award, Short-listed

2012, Plutarch Award, Finalist

2013, Pulitzer Prize, Winner

“Rousing and thought-provoking, The Black Count is an adventure like no other. I marveled at every twist and turn of this remarkable true story, brought to life with the charm and personal touch that has become the trademark of Tom Reiss.” (Laurence Bergreen, New York Times bestselling author of Columbus and Over the Edge of the World)

Enlightening

I was glad to have come across this book. I appreciate the historical super sleuths who seek to find truths that have been disregarded or hidden and bring them to light for the greater good. I enjoyed hearing historical facts about General Dumas.

Excellent story and fascinating history lesson

Where does The Black Count rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best historical audiobooks in my library. Really drew me in to the real-life details of the French revolutionary period and the début of Napoleon Bonaparte as well as the start of the Dumas family fame. Different in perspective from Dickens' Tale of Two Cities and from Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo, The Black Count speaks of the political and military roles in the revolution.

Inspiration behind the inspiration is inspiring!

If you could sum up The Black Count in three words, what would they be?

Fascinating historical gem.

What did you like best about this story?

I have always loved the tales woven by Alexandre Dumas. In this story I found that the father was the real life prototype for his famous son's best heroes. As a man and a father I found that to be very appealing.

Which character – as performed by Paul Michael – was your favorite?

Being a historical narrative rather than a novel, this question is not really relevant. The reader was adequate to the task neither making or breaking the value of the audiobook.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I didn't find "The Black Count" to be so compelling that I couldn't walk away from it for a while, but it certainly held my interest while I was able to listen. As a non-fiction recounting of a man's life and times it was better than most.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook really fleshed out for me a time in history (i.e. the French revolution) which has been somewhat lacking and it did it in a way which has caused me to search for other material pertaining to the life of slaves in the Caribbean, especially Haiti. I found "The Black Count" to be a very enjoyable and worthwhile investment in time and a book credit.

Amazing

I couldn't stop listening. This book was an eye opening view of the Revolution and how it both freed people and destroyed them.

A man too good for his times

Tom Reiss’s Pulitzer-Prize winning book is both a compelling biography of a forgotten hero and a concise, riveting account of a revolutionary decade in French and European history.

Alex Dumas, father of the author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, took advantage of a narrow window of opportunity for black and mixed-race people opened by the French Revolution. He rose to the military rank of general, loved by his troops and celebrated for his bravery, combat prowess and battlefield heroism. His famous son Alexandre used his father’s life – including Alex’s two years of captivity as a prisoner of war – as the inspiration for some of the most famous episodes in his novels.

Alex was born the son of a French aristocratic planter and a black slave mother in the French sugar colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). His father eventually took him to France (but temporarily sold him first to pay for his own passage) and gave him a gentleman’s education. Alex learned courtly manners as well as fencing and riding, excelling at all these arts. He enlisted in the military under his mother’s name of Dumas, and when the French overthrew their monarchy, quickly rose in the ranks of the revolutionary army.

Reiss used Alex’s life as a springboard to discuss the cruel French sugar trade and the efforts at black emancipation brought about by revolutionary ideals. In the French colonies, slaves did the back-breaking work of harvesting sugar cane, subject to all kinds of cruelties and indignities, while their white masters got rich. But sexual relationships between masters and slaves resulted in a class of affluent free blacks, who formed their own cultured society in Saint-Domingue. In the meantime, liberal attorneys back home worked to secure the rights of black and mixed-race people lucky enough to set foot on French soil. The monarchy attempted to thwart emancipation but was often defeated in French courts.

The French Revolution swept away distinctions of race and class – at least in theory. Enlisting just before the fall of the Bastile, Alex rose quickly in rank to command huge armies as the French attempted to spread their revolutionary zeal to neighboring countries. Before listening to this book, I had known nothing of the wars fought with foreign powers, even as the revolution turned bloody at home. Alex battled with Austrian monarchists in the French Alps, and later with Mamelukes in Egypt as part of Napoleon’s ill-fated expedition. He prided himself on riding first into battle in front of his men, but his brash outspokenness sometimes put him at odds with other generals, including despot-in-training Napoleon.

Throughout the book, Reiss painted an ultimately tragic picture of a man who was simply too good for his times. Idealistic and principled, Alex abhorred cruelty and would not allow his men to plunder conquered villages or to mistreat the inhabitants. He protected the weak and powerless, no matter which side they were on. His personality shines through in the many excerpts from his letters quoted by Reiss, including his sincere love for his wife and children. Alex’s humanity stood in sharp contrast to the atrocities committed by his countrymen during the Terror, and later, to the duplicitous backstabber Napoleon.

Alex’s butting of heads with the little Corsican dictator eventually proved his downfall. As First Counsel, Napoleon not only swept away black emancipation, but denied the general and his family the pension due him. After a nightmarish sea crossing, capture in Naples and long months in a cell, Alex died in France and was quickly forgotten, swept aside by the tide of history.

The book’s narrator, Paul Michael, was the sort of skillful reader who disappeared into the text. His reading was so pitch-perfect, I did not focus at all on his idiosyncrasies, but on the compelling story unfolding in my ears.

The highest praise I can give this book is it made me eager to learn much more about the French Revolution, the rise of Napoleon and the slave revolts that led to the founding of the modern nation of Haiti.

A stunner

A Biography of Gen Alex Dumas, father of the great writer. I am speechless. This is an amazing book not only detailing the life of an all but forgotten hero, but a time of the French Revolution and the beginnings of Napoleons domination. Truly unforgettable.

Fascinating story!!

This books reads like a novel itself! Absolutely loved it. Couldn't stop talking about it for months.

a curiosity stoking whirlwind through history

The Black Count was a fun, fascinating listen. As Reiss makes clear early, there's not exactly a surplus of historical source documentation on the titular general - much of what's new here comes from one furious visit to a single safe. But Reiss artfully combines these documents (letters, military communiques, etc.) with his son's (often subtly exaggerated) retellings of events and insightful summaries of relevant history. The result is that the reader/listener feels like they're taking part in an exciting investigation, criss-crossing the many worlds that Dumas inhabited -from his roots in brutal 18th century colonial Saint-Domengue to Enlightenment and Napoleonic France to the shadows of a Naples prison. I found it consistently engaging - it made me want to read up on a long list of subjects.

While it was certainly a five star listen for me, my only hesitation might be in recommending this would be to someone deeply familiar with French history. If you're well read on their colonies, the enlightenment and Revolution, there might be a bit too much survey of well-covered events. For me, though, this was a refreshing way to engage with historical subjects I haven't given enough attention to.

Two in one

The feature story on General Dumas is fascinating. The back story on the dynamics of the French empire is informative. Together it makes for a great book. The narrator is very good.

Simply brilliant read / listen.

This is a great counter balance to the biography of Napoleon. In that book he’s treated fairly sympathetically. In this book the story of the Black Count occurs on the backdrop of French colonialism in the Caribbean and elsewhere as well as the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon. It’s a ripping yarn as good as any fictional adventure. Napoleon does not come out as well. But Count Dumas is portrayed as a hero who unfortunately suffers a heroic / tragic life because of the time that was in it. Strongly recommended.