The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
Amazon Best Books of the Month, September 2012:Generations have been enthralled by Alexandre Dumas' characters, especially the wronged hero inThe Count of Monte Cristoand the daring swordsmen inThe Three Musketeers. Yet few realize that these memorable characters were inspired by Dumas' father, General Alex Dumas, the son of a French count and a black Haitian slave. Tom Reiss brings the elder Dumas alive with previously unpublished correspondence and meticulous research, providing the context necessary to understand how exceptional his life as a mulatto general in a slave-owning empire truly was. From single-handedly holding a bridge in the Alps against 20 enemies to spending years held captive in a fortress, Alex Dumas is a fascinating character that not even his son's vivid imagination could have dreamed up. --Malissa Kent