Book Description
In Haiti, History, and the Gods, Joan Dayan charts the cultural imagination of Haiti not only by reconstructing the island's history but by highlighting ambiguities and complexities that have been ignored. She investigates the confrontational space in which Haiti is created and recreated in fiction and fact, text and ritual, discourse and practice. Dayan's ambitious project is a research tour de force that gives human dimensions to this eighteenth-century French colony and provides a template for understanding the Haiti of today.
In examining the complex social fabric of French Saint-Domingue, which in 1804 became Haiti, Dayan uncovers a silenced, submerged past. Instead of relying on familiar sources to reconstruct Haitian history, she uses a startling diversity of voices that have previously been unheard. Many of the materials recovered here--overlooked or repressed historical texts, legal documents, religious works, secret memoirs, letters, and literary fictions--have never been translated into English. Others, such as Marie Vieux Chauvet's radical novel of vodou, Fonds des Nègres, are seldom used as historical sources.
Dayan also argues provocatively for the consideration of both vodou rituals and narrative fiction as repositories of history. Her scholarship is enriched by the insights she has gleaned from conversations and experiences during her many trips to Haiti over the past twenty years. Taken together, the material presented in Haiti, History, and the Gods not only restores a lost chapter of Haitian history but suggests necessary revisions to the accepted histories of the New World. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Vociferous bias, but revealing about Haitian Society
Readers of this book should know that it is vociferously biased, not only because of the author's apparent preference for Stalinist Communism, but a violent antipathy towards the "Mulatto" caste of Haiti. The role of the US military in the 20th century history of Haiti is poorly known in the USA, of course, and it is overwhelmingly destructive; but Trouillot, while eager to vilify Americans in his narration, sheds no light on the details.So be advised that when he describes events in ways that seem willfully malicious, there is understandable grounds for resentment which he never explains adequately.

The other aspect of this book I found disturbing is his vilification of the "mulatre" (Mulatto) caste in Haiti, which we learn was the reviled "other" of the Noirist movement of post-WW2 Haiti.The mulatres are an insular group whom Trouillot regards as arrogant, aristocratic, commerce-minded, born to privilege, and ultimately anti-Haitian--or rather, hostile to his own dream of a hyper-regimented, Communist Haiti.Since the Duvaliers were inheritors of the Noirist movement against rule by mulatres, there is a tone in this book reminiscent of apologists for the Interhamawe/"Hutu Power" movement in Rwanda.

Trouillot is therefore vehemently defending the Haitians who favored Noirism; but he absolutely does not defend the Duvaliers, who co-opted the Noirist slogans and imposed a ferocious totalitarian kleptocracy.His analysis of how their regime flourished, and the damage it did, is actually quite excellent, although he could have done a much better job explaining exactly what role foreign powers really did have in Haiti and the actual divisions that were left BY the Duvaliers.

This book can be recommended for its superb description of life under totalitarian rule, of social relations in Haiti, and the breadth of Haitian history since Toissant l'Ouverture's death. It is also a good introduction to attitudes among camps of intelligencia, and of course Mr.Trouillot is entitled to wish that Haiti had become a regimented socialist society at independence.But Trouillot's resentment against class/caste enemies must be mentioned and it damages what is otherwise a very useful book. ... Read more

Book Description
Haiti's long and turbulent history is documented in this comprehensive reference volume, ideal for high school students, undergrads, and general readers. "Discovered" by Christopher Columbus on his journey across the Atlantic in 1492, Haiti has had a tumultuous past at best. Epidemics, revolutions, slavery, and poverty have plagued this small Latin American country for centuries, and even today its unstable government has prevented Haiti from becoming a popular Caribbean tourist destination. This volume of the Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations series explores Haiti's bloodied past, beginning with Spanish, French, Dutch, and British attempts at colonization up until today's coups and political uprisings. The History of Haiti is the perfect addition to any high school, public, or undergraduate library. The work includes a timeline of important events, biographies of important figures in Haiti's history, a glossary of terms, and a bibliographic essay. Chapters include: BLThe Pearl of the Antilles BLEarly Haiti (1492-1804) BLIndependence and Empire (1804-1843) BLThe Pre-Occupation Era (1843-1915) BLThe American Occupation of Haiti and Its Aftermath (1915-1957) BLPolitical Culture (1957-1986) BLSocial and Economic Reality (1986-2006) ... Read more

Book Description
From his steamer voyage from Jazz Age New York to Cap Haitien to his punishing trek through the island's interior jungle to his rapt, yet fearful, attendance at an authentic voodoo ceremony, Richard A. Loederer captures the sights, sounds, and sensations of this mysterious Caribbean republic.

Originally published in German in 1932, Loederer's eyewitness account of his adventures in Haiti has long been out of print. The author's own art-deco-style woodcuts add to the exotic appeal of this volume, which chronicles the vanishing African traditions of the island's people. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Why dont nonHaitians stay out of Haiti?
I figure it was Seabrook who began this fad of europeans going to Haiti and while looking around Haiti with racist eyes using terms like "primitive" etc but at the same time, trying to steal knowledge that europeans no absolutely nothing about..knowledge that the west isn't even ready for. Europeans say the things done in Haiti are impossible but there are dozens of destructive eurocentric pale people who traveled there (while maintaining their western mentality towards people of color, also known as relentless-racism) and run around chasing light-skinned Haitian women (like Wade davis and the rest) and learn less than 1% of what African spirituality really has to offer, then come back to amerikkka and write a book about their experiences with the "primitives"....Its funny because they all admit they went through things that are said to be impossible in the west....but yet they still call the Haitians and their ways "primitive". It disgusts me.
After going through the mental trauma that the African's in Haiti went through, caused by european slavetrading monsters, they have what is called "Post-traumatic slavery symdrome". Thats the only reason they allow european blood-suckers to come to that island of freedom, or as Seabring called it, "the Magic Island", and exploit African knowledge. Haiti is the true "Land of the Free". Haiti did a statistically impossible deed, the only successful slavery uprise in the course of written history. Haiti defeated the french, spanish and english and kept that little island for themselves. Haiti has had many corrupt governments, due to the mulatto's affect on the government and many other reasons and while they are trying to get it back together some troublemaking good-for-nothing colorless nonpigmented melaninless pale people walk their bony little bodies onto the "Magic Island" and try to steal African secrets while the brothers there are going through hell due to european influence,western politics and inner turmoil started by outsiders. If the europeans didnt have the evil inside them to start the slave trade the Haitians would still be in Dahomey ruling their own Kingdom, they'd steal be in Sierra Leonne counting their diamonds that flow like rivers there, the Haitians would still be Benin contributing to the oldest religion on the face of the planet, if the Haitians werent illegally kidnapped they'd still be in the Congo which has more natural resources than nearly any other spot in the world. All the Haitians went through and moral-less europeans are still bothering those great people....damn shame....well at least Seabrook appeared to have got what he deserved for trying to exploit African secrets...Seabrook went crazy and died in his end...maybe because of something he saw...maybe because of something he said...who knows....but in my opinion, either way..he got exactly what he deserved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating
I could not be helped but be moved by the documents in this book.The author did an incredible job of helping the reader understand the importance of San Domingue and the other French colonies by including letters, articles and transcripts. This was so important to my research about the nation that would eventually become Haiti and other colonies that found themselves in similar circumstances.These accounts tell the real truth about life in the French colonies and the resolve of the inhabitants. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Great insights
This book provides great insights into Haitian history and how it has influenced the US, and how the US has been a key player in determining Haiti's economic & political fate. The conspiracy theories about how Haiti's misery is largely (though not entirely) due to the meddling and often racist policies of the US government suddenly seem more believable!

Excellent Book
Haiti: A Slave Revolution provides a well documented backdrop for the current crisis in Haiti.It clearly exposes the historical role of the governments of France and the US in the destabilization of the country.It lays the basis for the recent kipnapping of Aristide by the US government.

It is a must read for anyone who is interested in the history of Haiti and the role of the US. ... Read more

Book Description
Why has Haiti been plagued by so many woes? Why have multiple U.S. efforts to create a stable democracy in Haiti failed so spectacularly? Philippe Girard answers these and other questions, examining how colonialism and slavery have left a legacy of racial tension, both within Haiti and internationally; Haitians remain deeply suspicious of white foriegners' motives, many of whom doubt Hatians' ability to govern themselves. He also examines how Haiti's current political instability is merely a continuation of political strife that began during the War of Independence (1791-1804). Finally, Girard explores poverty's devastating impact on contemporary Haiti and argues that Haitians--particularly home-grown dictators--bear a big share of the responsibility for their nation's troubles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Tragic, heartbreaking history. . . .
Philippe Girard's book about the chaos and utter hopelessness of Haiti makes for mesmerizing but disheartening reading.It seems that for 200 years, Haiti has been plagued by voodoo-like bad luck. Haiti's slaves may have staged the first and only successful uprising against one of the most brutal (French) occupations, but this did nothing to improve their lot. But as Girard makes clear, international racism is NOT the cause of Haiti's never-ending troubles!Haiti's problems are directly due to the unspeakable ineptitude and corruption of political leaders who expressed utmost contempt for the very people they were elected to Govern. Papa Doc Duvalier may have been one of the most vicious dictators, but he was in fact just one in a very long line of political leaders who have systematically stripped Haiti of whatever potential it once had.Sadly, Haiti now seems forever destined to retain its status as the poorest, most desolate nation in the western hemisphere.

Girard splendidly details Haiti's history from colonial to present-day.He writes of Haiti's entangled and complicated racial history, the abdication of the French, the contempt that the remaining ruling class of mulattoes (of mixed race and lighter skin) had for their illiterate and ill-informed darker-skinned countrymen; the US occupations; the unrelenting exploitation, pollution and pillaging of land, resources and foreign aid; the brutal repression, violence and callous indifference of politicians to building an infrastructure that would allow the country to advance from an antiquated rural-based economy to one more modern and service-oriented.

I was expecting to receive a thick, heavy history book--one that is usually issued in high school or college, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book is a very SLIM volume and a very quick read, the better to showcase Mr. Girard's beautifully concise and lively writing style.I highly recommend this book to anyone remotely curious (as I was) about why Haiti continues to be the pariah of the carribean."Paradise Lost" is a real page-turner, worth every penny and more!

Provocative and informative
This is likely to be the most ground-breaking book on Haitian (or even Third World) history in a long time. Refuting the tired "this is the white imperialist's fault" that is still the Haitian mantra 200 years after independence, Girard shows that the disastrous rule of Haitian dictators like Duvalier and Aristide is the main reason why Haiti is such a mess today. One might expect a racist diatribe with such a premise, but the book is well documented, surprisingly civil, and often funny as well. ... Read more

Book Description
Notes from the Last Testament, by veteran reporter Michael Deibert, is a riveting narrative account of the events leading up to and including the overthrow of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A fearless correspondent and a meticulous researcher, Deibert traces the rupturing of the social-democratic coalition that originally brought Aristide to power and that had been the fruit of years of opposition to the dictatorships and military juntas. From chaotic scenes of frenzied mayhem on the streets of the bidonvilles of Port-au-Prince with their armed gangs and burning intersections to heated debates in the halls of power, these dramatic events throw into stark relief the obstacles facing the world's nascent democracies, the trend of first world military intervention in third world affairs, and the dual legacies of slavery and colonialism.

In a remarkable and deeply humane synthesis of on-the-ground perspectives and exhaustive research, Deibert sets vivid personal testimonies alongside an analysis of the country's rich history that reaches back to Haiti's first days as a colony, to the time of the rebellion led by the former slave Toussaint Louverture, and extends to the present, ultimately exploring how Aristide, once a beacon of populism and democratic aspirations, came to embody brutality and misrule in the tradition of his predecessors. Along the way, Deibert introduces us to the real heroes of the Hatian people's struggle for a just and independent society free from violence and corruption. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Sympathetic and Troubling
The mainstream and alternative media in the US present a remarkably uniform picture of recent Haitian history, with former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide starring as a wildly popular leftist leader who challenged the US and the International Monetary Fund, and, rightly or wrongly, was removed from office for his hubris.

The reality is more complicated. It's true that Aristide came out of the radical grassroots movement of the 1980s, won the presidency in 1990 as a left populist, and was overthrown in 1991 by a coup in which the US role was unmistakable. But it's equally true that he returned to power in 1994 accompanied by a 20,000-member US occupation force--an action not exactly in the tradition of Jacobo Arbenz and Salvador Allende.

It's this more complicated reality that's the focus of Michael Deibert's Notes From the Last Testament, an often disturbing study of Haiti after Aristide's 1994 return. Deibert, who covered the country for Reuters from 2001 to 2003, presents a rich panorama of views from the ground--from the left and from the right, from Aristide's supporters, from his detractors, and, tellingly, from his disillusioned former supporters. What's most striking is Deibert's reporting on the so-called "chimè," the young Aristide supporters in Port-au-Prince's most impoverished neighborhoods. While others debated whether the chimè were dangerous gangsters or a genuine grassroots movement, Deibert interviewed them in their homes in Cité Soleil, socialized with them, and made them his friends. The result is a unique, sympathetic, and troubling portrayal.

People who want a simplistic morality tale should avoid this book; but for people with a real desire to understand Haiti and Latin American social movements Deibert's account will be an indispensable reference.

If we only knew
I am a Haitian, born and raised. I supported Jean-Bertrand Aristide. I fought for him. My family suffered. Some lost their lives. If I only knew then what Michael Deibert has now so clearly laid out in his book. Just the facts. Most of which I did not know, or perhapschose to ignore, as did so many of my friends and countrymen. I wanted so badly to believe that the little priest from Cite Soleil was the prophet we had prayed so long for. We were all looking for a new Toussaint Louverture, who would free us once again, this time from our own self-imposed bondage. Through Deibert clear and dispassionate writing and his careful, on the spot research, I have now come to realize that Aristide (our Titid ) was just the last of a long series of corrupt tin-pot dictators whose sole objective seems to have been to retain power by any means, including through his murderous thugs,and to plunder from the poorest of the poor.
I find one jarring flaw in Deibert's book however. He should have written it years ago. Perhaps I would not have chosen to ignore the facts, perhaps the long agony of my people would have been shortened. We will know next time though, thanks toMr. Deibert. No more thieves, no more murderers. My country has had enough of those!

Desappointing overall with many important omissions
It is a disappointing book. Deibert gives the impression that Aristide was no more popular when pushed out of office and that everybody in Haiti was happy to see him out. Wile many intellectuals and members of the
elite who hated Aristide were indeed happy, the reality is that if they were elections held in 2004 Aristide would have been elected again by a wide majority. Besides, Michael Deibert does not refer to the massacres against Aristide supporters in Citei Soleil perpetuated by the HNP or the UN forces after February 2004, the hundreds of political prisoners or the massive crowds that gathered to support Aristide on February 7 and before that. Very little is said about the constant obstacles put on Aristide's path by the opposition and the international community since Aristide came to public life in Haiti. This coming from an experienced journalist is rather disappointing.

Haitian Professor Robert Fatton and Michelle Montas, Jean Dominique's widow (two personalities that Michael Deibert refer to often) said the following about Aristide during and after the coup:

Montas quote #1- January 5, 2004 Miami Herald

"I did an interview recently and was asked if I thought President [Jean-Bertrand] Aristide was a dictator, and I said, `No.' And after the interview came out, some people in the opposition were angry with me,'' she said. ``But to say Aristide is a dictator is to say he has control over what is happening in Haiti. He doesn't have the tools to be a
dictator. Chaos rules Haiti. And that scares me very much.''

Montas quote #2- January 5, 2004 Miami Herald
``There can be something worse than Aristide.'' ''Who
we haven't heard from is the peasantry, which has always been very loyal to Aristide,'' Montas said. If the poor in the country were to abandon Aristide, then
nothing would be able to keep Aristide in power. For now, though, their loyalty appears intact. They legitimately fear a return to the Duvalier-style dictatorship they lived under for so long and are leery of the motives of opposition leaders, such as Andy Apaid. Haiti may well be on the verge of a civil war, but the best course for Haiti would be for all
sides to work toward fair elections."

Fatton quote # 1- March 8, 2004 Counterpunch magazine:

"In spite of all of that, I'm convinced that Aristide is still the most popular individual in Haiti. And that tells you something about the opposition. If you had elections--so-called "free and fair" elections--I'm sure that he would win, in spite of all the corruption and all of the problems that he has, because the opposition, even though they used to support Aristide, have essentially merged with very conservative business groups. I think those are the groups that will ultimately take over now".


"What is clear to me is that Aristide would never have been toppled had it not been for the armed insurgents. I don't think that the civil opposition, although it became larger and broader in its appeal, was in any way capable of forcing Aristide out of power. It's only when you had the armed insurgents that you have the opportunity for the so-called "civil society" to force the issue."

What were the real benefits of the coup? This would be an interesting question to ask to Mr. Deibert and others who share his views. What we know for sure today is that a thousand or more of innocent haitians died as a result of it!

The truth can be embarassing
Michael Deibert's account of Haiti's entropy under the Aristide regime occasioned the spleen of the "true believers" because many had also become the beneficiaries of his version of the kleptocratic state. As someone who visited Haiti several times in the past 15 years, I can attest to the fact that a motivating sentiment among the Lavalas cohort was "It's our turn." i.e. It's our turn at the public trough. They do not want to admit that Aristide was just the latest in a long line of "gwo neg" who were driven by or (to put it more charitably) succumbed to the temptations of power. Deibert's account of the workings and machinations of power reinforces from the ground level, the same conclusions reached by Robert Fatton's Haiti's Predatory Republic: The Unending Transition to Democracy (Lynne Rienner, 2002).
People who condemn Deibert as a lapsed leftist should remember that he is not alone.Less publicized exposes were the recantations of former Lavalas party members, popular organization dirty tricks artists, ex-gang enforcers, government officials, etc. who were driven by their revulsion with zero tolerance teams, chimeres, corrupt policemen, political fixers, and corrupt judges to denounce Aristide and his schemes. It wasn't just former embassy DCM Luis Moreno who believed that "Aristide wasn't ruling a country, he was running a crime syndicate." (410). Haitians who once considered themselves Aristidistas, especially those who knew too much, realized that they were "disposable." This was made perfectly clear both by the assassination of Amiot "Cubain" Metayer, leader of the Gonaives Cannibal Army gang in 2003 and the subsequent disappearance not long after of the hit man, Odonel Paul. Why else would a motley crew of ex-FAd'H and hangerson be able to sweep the people's choice out of power--the people were no longer willing to go to bat for him.
In sum, Deibert has covered the waterfront in a compelling fashion.

Must be good if it bothers so many people
Reading some other readers' reviews of Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti, I am reminded of nothing so much as the organized "denunciations" that authoritarian movements so often mount against "incorrect thoughts," "insults to the revolution," and so on. The careful student of history easily recongnizes these slanders for what they are: the scrabbling attempt of second-rate thinkers to prop up flimsy belief systems that barely support their own weight, much less withstand competition. But then, the careful student of history does not generally get involved with such movements; those who do are not thinkers but seekers, believers, looking only for evidence that will support their neatly organized world view and cherrypicking flaws -- ideological and otherwise -- in anything that contradicts it.

I finished this book this fall and find that, yes, it is not perfect. (Shall we page through the Amazon site and see how many books for sale here are?) But while it may be possible to prove Michael wrong on a detail here and there (I cannot say, being no expert on Haiti, and so I must take other reviewers' word for it), I cannot understand the stance taken by some on this page that this book is not worth reading. How could it not be? If you are curious about Haiti, how in good conscience can you pass up the opportunity to read a firsthand account by someone who was there, who speaks the language, whose dispatches have always been conspicuous for their heavy use of quotes from "the people" (obtained at considerable personal risk) rather than merely from generals, ministers and others who can be comfortably interviewed in the hotel bar?

Some reviewers here accuse Michael of being an "imperialist," or otherwise try to place him in an ideological category. This won't work, and it is precisely his post-ideological outlook that makes his book such a valuable contribution. The vitriol aimed at him by some of these commenters seem, as another commenter points out, the fiercer for the fact that Michael claims a position in the political left and yet dares to criticize others who do the same. Why does Michael's criticism of Aristide have to be ideological? Isn't it possible that Aristide was a great and visionary man who at the same time was not ultimately able to transcend the considerable pressures and temptations that act on any ruler of a nation like Haiti? Why does "the left's man" get a free pass; why is it impossible that he turned out to have human flaws? One can be the victim of unscrupulous action by the U.S. government, as Aristide seems to have been, while at the same time being an unsavory sort. Or is this sort of world view too complicated, not explicit enough about how to think?

If you are curious about Haiti specifically and about the struggles of oppressed peoples generally, you will find much to reward you in Michael's book.

Disclosure: I have been personally acquainted with Michael for a number of years. On the other hand, I've never knowingly published a lie. And why would I do so here? According to Amazon stats, 80 percent of the people who view this page buy the book. Michael's work clearly speaks for itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A great book!
Fick's book reveals unknown aspects of the haitian revolution: the fundamental role of the masses without witch the revolution would not have taken place. This book is for anyone who is trying to understand the haitian revolution from the people's point of view. It is the equivalent of Zen's People's history of the U.S.

A Masterpiece!
This book is not only a great companion to CLR James' classic, The Black Jacobins, it also initiates a deeper understanding of the forces and factors that were at the root of the revolution. Whereas James' work tends to mythesize leaders, particularly Toussaint, Fick's work is more likely to detail specific battles and events with information on multiple actors. The only trouble is that Fick's book lacks some of the moral indignation that James had as well as his interest in connecting the Haitian Revolution to the political context of modern times. This makes the book more "scholarly" but less compelling. This is a small drawback, however, for those already impassioned about the subject.

A new most important aspect of Fick's book is her emphasis and redefinition of the role of the maroons (escaped slaves). Whereas many times the maroons are portrayed as only peripheral actors or precedents to the revolution, Fick's work shows that the community of escaped slave, a very broad category, was one of the main forces at work in the revolution.

This book is a must for understanding maroonage, the Haitian Revolution, and a historical investigative method that is liberating!

Revising A Classic {4 1/2 stars}
How to follow in the footsteps of a great historian? One answer is found in this important successor to CLR James's "Black Jacobins." Fick effectively honors James's legacy by expanding the scope of inquiry to encompass the "self-activity" of historical actors at all levels of Haitian society. Where "Black Jacobins" stressed the key role of revolutionary leaders, Fick documents longstanding patterns of everyday resistance and marronage from which the 1791 revolution drew great strength. Her work restores popular agency to the forefront of Haiti's epic history---and James's contribution remains secure, not least due to superior literary merit. ... Read more

Product Description
A seamless narrative that covers the history of Haiti from the days of the Tainos (pre 1492) to Dessalines s assassination (1806). ... Read more

Book Description
On February 29, 2004, the first democratically elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was forced to leave his country. The president was kidnapped, along with his Haitian-American wife, by American soldiers and flown to the isolated Central African Republic.

In An Unbroken Agony, best-selling author and social justice advocate Randall Robinson chronicles his own cross-Atlantic journey to rescue the Haitian president from captivity in Africa while also connecting the fate of Aristide's presidency to the Haitian people's century-long quest for self-determination. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Opens Your Eyes
I sent the author an e-mail when I finished reading this book.And I will tell you like I told him.This is one of the best books I have read in quite sometime.Mr. Robinson is a voice for the people of Haiti.I admire people likehim because he cares so much for which most people care so little.

An Unbroken Agony
I like the book, and would recommend it to someone else. I learned a lot about our goverment involvement and about the Haitian people.

Great Book on Haiti, Even Better Book on U.S.
This book is a great book for anyone who wants to understand Haiti's 2004 coup and the events leading up to it. But it is even better for anyone who wants to understand U.S. foreign policy towards Haiti and other poor countries. It should be required reading in US high schools and colleges. As with all Mr. Robinson's books, it is written with passion and eloquence, from the perspective of someone who was there, with his eyes, ears and mind open.

Ugly truths about the United States
Randall Robinson again displays his towering intellect, clear-eyed vision, and grasp of history, economics and power relationships.The ugly truths regarding the unrelenting American (and French) hostility toward Haiti are truths that the overwhelming majority of Americans cannot handle, and who therefore resort to willful ignorance.This book is a fascinating review of the kind of U.S. history that is not taught in the schools, nor covered by the media.

Our Book Club Enjoyed It
Consensus among our book club members was favorable toward Mr. Robinson's latest book.As most of us had never focused on Haiti and knew little about the country's history, An Unbroken Agony was great in that it provided a basic history which highlighted main players and key events.It also gave us an insightful, perhaps biased, account of Aristide's alleged ouster. Since reading the book, I personally am more enlightened about (1) Haitian history and its geography; (2) French, Spanish, and U.S. history; (3) the greatness of Toussaint L'Ouverture whose deeds should be more well-known and documented in history books; (4) the smelly politics and foreign policies of the U.S.; and (5) Aristide's struggle to improve the plight of his nation's people, primarily the lower class and disadvantaged. On the negative side, I wish Mr. Robinson had offered more detail on why the U.S. went to great lengths to rid Haiti of Aristide, i.e., more precise information naming specific corporations and other entities now benefiting from Aristide's absence.Also, I was left wondering why Aristide has not been more vocal in his exile.Why has he not written a book to tell us how and why he was forced to leave his country? Why is he not pleading his own case? Finally, everyone in the book club to a person was motivated/inspired to seek out more information on Haiti, which is a good thing. ... Read more

Book Description
The U.S. invasion of Haiti in July 1915 marked the start of a military occupation that lasted for nineteen years--and fed an American fascination with Haiti that flourished even longer. Exploring the cultural dimensions of U.S. contact with Haiti during the occupation and its aftermath, Mary Renda shows that what Americans thought and wrote about Haiti during those years contributed in crucial and unexpected ways to an emerging culture of U.S. imperialism.

At the heart of this emerging culture, Renda argues, was American paternalism, which saw Haitians as wards of the United States. She explores the ways in which diverse Americans--including activists, intellectuals, artists, missionaries, marines, and politicians--responded to paternalist constructs, shaping new versions of American culture along the way. Her analysis draws on a rich record of U.S. discourses on Haiti, including the writings of policymakers; the diaries, letters, songs, and memoirs of marines stationed in Haiti; and literary works by such writers as Eugene O'Neill, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston.

Pathbreaking and provocative, Taking Haiti illuminates the complex interplay between culture and acts of violence in the making of the American empire. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Paternalism= imperialism evolved
Renda's book illuminates the early stages of America's invisible empire: providing an excellent account of paternalism and the racial undercurrents that swell beneath the surface. While I believe she is a little too harsh in her assesment of the Wilson administration, the ideological premise and the conclusion in which she arrives is dead on. A must read for anyone with an interest in U.S. foreign policy and carribean history.

The final chapters are a bit tedious (but that could be my lack of interest in U.S. cultural exoticism) and the "gender" angle is a bit over-amplified for my taste. Otheriwse a great book.

A study of the imperialism of the U.S., a bit overstated
Paternalism is the central theme of Mary Renda's analysis of the US involvement in Haiti during the early part of the 20th century, an imperialistic foray in to what most Americans (including the thousands of US Marines sent there) considered to be a "backward," undeveloped land of childlike inhabitants.Renda asks two questions in this well-written book: "who did US American men think they were in Haiti and how did the people of the United States imagine themselves when they read about their nation's occupation there?" (9) She structures her study in two parts, in order to answer each of these concerns.
Statesmen, diplomats and soldiers of the U.S. involved in the invasion and occupation of Haiti in the second decade of the 20th century brought with them a piece of cultural baggage known as paternalism.By observing and reacting to Haiti with this frame of reference, U.S. Americans almost universally saw their duty as occupiers as being in the role of parent to the native Haitians, to bring to the island and its people the benefits of what U.S. Americans regarded as order, stability, secure commerce and modern, rational customs."Paternalism," she notes, "was the cultural flagship of the United States in Haiti." (15) As agents of U.S. cultural conscription, Marines tried to remake Haiti in to something of their own image of American society primarily through coersive means, though this largely failed due to Haitian resistance.Nevertheless, attitudes toward race, gender and sexuality the soldiers brought with them was the lens through which they viewed this island to be tamed. The racism of the Marines made them see the native Haitians as either ignorant "children," or savages not worthy to rule themselves.Through this paternalistic discourse, policy makers "appealed to the marine's sense of manhood," (303) which made the later look on their roles as that of fathers to children.This of course did not apply to the rebels they were expected to kill."Seeing people of African heritage as children," Renda concludes, "enabled marines to imagine themselves acting on protective and disciplining motivations.Seeing them as targets, however, did not." (156)
Renda argues in chapters 5 and 6 that the Marines' occupation in Haiti had a pronounced effect upon U.S. citizens at home; it was a military intervention that remade U.S. America.She writes that the US imperialism "could...intervene in domestic cultural politics," (185) and she attempts to support this claim by pointing to the popularity of the journalism of American writer James Weldon Johnson, Eugene O'Neill's hit play about a Caribbean leader entitled The Emperor Jones, a novel, film, and cruise line travels to the island in the 1920s.With regard to these claims, Renda is unconvincing.It is difficult to agree with her conclusion that Haiti was "no sideshow" (15) given other larger and more significant U.S. ventures abroad including World War I, the administration of the Panama Canal, and continued U.S. involvement in the Pacific Islands.Renda acknowledges this issue herself by quoting NAACP President Moorfield Story: "It is very hard to get the people to consider anything except the war [in Europe.]" (189) Additionally, Renda offers no convincing evidence as to how many Americans actually read Johnson's work or cruised the islands; the mere fact that critics acclaimed O'Neill's play is hardly proof of a significant intervention in cultural politics.
Despite these limitations, Taking Haiti is an excellent study of the imperialism of the U.S. in which Renda identifies clearly the racial, sexual and gender apparatus that came along with the marines, all under the cloak of interventionist paternalism, the "cultural fabric" of Haitian occupation. (303) ... Read more

Book Description
"A good history of a sordid intervention that submitted a people to autocratic rule and did little for economic development." --The New York Times"From Schmidt we get the full details . . . of the brutal racist practices inflicted on the Haitians for nearly all of the nineteen-year American presence in the country." --American Historical Review"The only thoroughgoing study of one of the more discreditable American interventions overseas." --Journal of Interdisciplinary History"Should become the standard work on the subject. . . .required reading for specialists in Caribbean studies and U.S.-Latin American relations." --ChoiceHans Schmidt taught form many years at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He now teaches at the University of Hong Kong. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Brief New York Times review of the book
New York Times review of the book Sep 26, 1971:

Pedestrian (lacking wit or imagination) but caustic (harsh or corrosive in tone) and thorough history of the US intervention in Haiti.Prevailing imperialistic and racist attitudes in America, coupled with a fatuous (unconsciously foolish) faith in technological progress, accounted for the involvement.The National City Bank had investments in Haiti, but American policy according to the Hans Schmidt, was more the result of fears that European countries, specifically France and Germany, had their eyes on the Caribbean.This is a good history of a sordid intervention that submitted a people to autocratic military rule and did little for economic development.Parallels with our recent Vietnam venture are not out of place. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Vital research source
What a vital research source this has been. Everything from an interview with Antoine Izmery (assassinated by military attaches in 1993) to Top Secret FOIA reports.I recommend this to anyone researching the 1991-1994 junta period in Haiti and the first coup against Aristide. ... Read more

Book Description

Did Aristide leave Haiti voluntarily? Why did the U.S. want him out? What does the regime change mean for the health of Haitians? Did Aristide "overstay his welcome," in the words of Vice President Dick Cheney, who never had a welcome in his own country to overstay? After 35 coups, what does the double entendre mean to get Haiti "right" this time?

From Noam Chomsky, author of the 100,000 copy cloth best seller, Hegemony and Survival, from Paul Farmer, subject of the New York Times biography by Tracy Kidder Mountains Beyond Mountains, from Jean-Bertrand Aristide, president of Haiti and first lady Mildred Aristide, from Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, come the answers the world has been waiting for.

Customer Reviews (8)

Another view...
There is another view of Haiti, mostly about sex tourism, but which includes a sarcastic riff on Haitian politicians that readers may find humorous. It's entitled Naked in Haiti: A sexy morality tale about tourists, prostitutes & politicians. Enjoy.

Crucial to understanding the economic and political crisis in Haiti!
For activists interested in learning more about the recent U.S. military intervention in Haiti which resulted in massive human rights violations and the kidnapping of left-wing president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, this brief anthology of essays and Democracy Now! interviews is an excellent introduction. As the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere, Haiti, a former French colony and current victim of World Bank/IMF structural adjustment programs, has suffered years of U.S. sponsored dictatorships and paramilitary violence. As a former Catholic priest who preached liberation theology, Aristide fought to improve the lives of Haiti's enormous underclass who for centuries have endured horrific levels of poverty, illness, political repression, illiteracy, and environmental destruction. For this transgression, Aristide, like Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala and Salvador Allende in Chile, was seen as a threat to mulitnational corporate interests and overthrown. As the global justice movement maintains its focus on Venezuela, Bolivia, Chiapas and the Middle East, it's important that we also not forget the situation in Haiti. Here, in the United States, we must also not ignore the plight of Haitian refugees who face criminalization and/or deportation as a result of racist immigration policies and who, like gay and bisexual men, have been scapegoated for the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Despite the poor reviews other people have posted on this website, I found this book to be a very educational and thought-provoking tool to help us better defend the poorest and most oppressed members of human society.

Misleading title...
This relatively short book is titled incorrectly.The title is derived from a statement from Ambassador James Dobbins talk on NPR, but it does not relate the actual content of this book.Also, to say the authors of this book are Noam Chomsky, Paul Farmer, and Amy Goodman, is misleading.Noam Chomsky has a short introduction (9 pages), which is not really all that informative.Paul Farmer's portion was a bit more interesting.Paul Farmer has many years experience living and working with the Haitian people and has written more in depth analysis of Haiti and the occurence of oppresion of third world countries in his books The Uses of Haiti (1994) and Pathologies of Power (2005).
The majority of this book is made up of transcripts from Democracy Now! radio and television broadcasts, and while a good introduction to the situation as it occurred in 2004, it does not adress any thing about steps to remediate the years of US and French backed coups.It does not explain the statements made by either Aristide and his supporters or the claims made by US officials - such as claims of corruption, etc.
The coverage by average US media organizations of this entire event was rather poor, much like the current coverage of the elections taking place currently in Haiti.

Badly written propaganda.
This is without a doubt the worst written account of the current Haitian political situation I have read to date, full of innuendo and unsupported opinions.If I wanted to read a political paphlet I would have gone to a rally.
The one redeeming feature of this pamphlet is the bodyguards account of what exactly happened in the hours prior prior to Aristide's force out, and the role of the Steele foundation.
If you want decent haitian history book look at "Written in Blood"and do not waste your money on this.

Title doesn't really reflect material.
Although this book offered some interesting transcripts, I was interested in reading through a comprehensive set of issues matched with potential solutions (since that was what the title implied to me). ... Read more

Product Description
History of Haiti by Jean M. Cyprien1999 A.H.C. Inc.72 pages"This book has been specially written for young Haitians born and raised in the United States of America and other nationalities, I think it is a great opportunity for them to become familiar with the history of their parent's country. Therefore, be knowledgeable about Haitian History and buy a copy!" ... Read more

Book Description

“This book...avoids the political debates about Jean-Bertrand Aristide that dominate so many current writings about Haiti. Its focus is the society itself, the sources of difference, the origins of violence, and the possibility of change....The superb work done by the editors has established a high standard for future efforts.” (Terry Copp and John English from the Preface)

Book Description
Winner of the Society for French Historical Studies 2007 Gilbert Chinard Prize!In 1804 French Saint-Domingue became the independent nation of Haiti after the only successful slave uprising in world history. When the Haitian Revolution broke out, the colony was home to the largest and wealthiest free population of African descent in the New World. Before Haiti explains the origins of this free colored class, exposes the ways its members both supported and challenged slavery, and examines how they created their own New World identity in the years from 1760 to 1804. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (17)

A Starry-Eyed Cliche
While written with sincerity, the book is a starry-eyed cliche. A rich white woman falls in love with a poor black man. She glorifies him and his country, while never tackling anything of substance. She makes excuse after excuse for his lack of initiative in his own life, and credits it all to racism. Haiti and its people deserve a more indepth treatment than this frivilous little tale. If you have ever been to Haiti, you will not learn anything here.

fast service
Haven't had a chance to read yet but have interest in anything about Haiti and Vodou.

Did not enjoy it
After reading many of her articles which used poor fact checking and overt reliance on elites- I felt this book was boring even though it was not as overtly bias in its politics as her newspaper writing.

Good memoir, little depth
I read this book hoping to better understand the constant strife in Haiti.I didn't get the understanding I was looking for.The litany of changing leaders is given, but no real examination of why each one fails is provided.For example, Aristide wins the election and then does not follow up by doing anything to improve conditions.He eventually is driven from power, but no details about his lack of action are provided in this book.A good read, but not what I was hoping for.

madame dread
i LOVED it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't put the book down!!!!I could visualize each word she wrote!! I have a whole new perspective on Haiti!! Not only did I learn so much about the life, culture, and politics in this country, but about a women's personal journey in a place so foreign to her.Leaving the comforts and safety of the US behind to learn about and try to make a difference inHaiti speaks volumes about this woman!!!And then to face the struggle of what is best for her son, even if her personal choice was not to leave Haiti.This is a great read...i hope to see more from this author!!! ... Read more