Alexandre Dumas is famous for writing
The Count of Monte Cristo and
The Three Musketeers,
but his father’s life was in its way as epic as either of those books.
He was the son of a minor French nobleman and a Haitian woman, and he
became famous early on for his physical strength, good looks and
astounding courage under fire. In the relatively racially liberated
climate of the French Revolution, Dumas rose to the rank of Brigadier
General under Napoleon, only to be imprisoned by monarchists, which led
to his early death. Tom Reiss wrings plenty of drama and swashbuckling
action out of Dumas’ strange and nearly forgotten life, and more:
The Black Count
is one of those quintessentially human stories of strength and courage
that also sheds light on the flukey historical moment that made it
possible.
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