Who hasn’t been enthralled with the swashbuckling stories penned by French author, Alexandre Dumas? From The Count of Monte Cristo to The Three Musketeers, the man was a genius at storytelling. They seem too good to be true, there was actually some truth to his writing. Mr. Dumas used his father, who died when the author was just a boy, as the role model for the heroes of his wonderful books.
In The Black Count, Reiss relates a tale of a man born to a black slave and a nobleman; and his rise through the army of French Republic, ultimately creating the stuff of which legends are made. And like legends, sometimes they are dealt cruel twists of fate. His country abandons him, but the elder Dumas, a general and a gentleman, is still a hero in the eyes of his compatriots and in the eyes of his son, who will help to immortalize the man.
Written for a broad audience, The Black Count is not only a fascinating tale of a remarkable man, but also mesmerizes the reader with it’s detailed history of the French Revolution, the Napoleonic era, and the social impact of slavery and racism within France and it’s territories. Thanks go out to Crown Publishers for sending me an ARC of The Black Count! Great story, great history, great book!
4 1/2 stars (out of 5)
Published in 2012
391 pages
