Black Spartacus by Sudhir Hazareesingh
7.5 out of 10This is a magnificent book for people who love freedom. Toussaint Louverture must be discussed in the pantheon of all-time great leaders. Born a slave in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, he would somehow become a freeman after adolescence. His intelligence and determination would lead him to success in business (he owned plantations and slaves), church, politics, and military matters. As a Haitian Revolutionary general in the 1790s, he had to navigate difficult political landscapes. The French were chopping off heads at home, the Spanish were tightening their grip on Caribbean territories, the British were amassing the world's largest navy, and the Americans worked hard to ignore abolitionist movements and any news of Haitian slave revolts. After alliances changed multiple times and then fell apart, race tensions boiled over resulting in slaughters on all sides. Ultimately, Napolean's army sent Louverture to a prison in France where he died one year before Haiti gained its independence.