Bell, Madison Smartt

New York. 1995. Pantheon Books. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0679439897. 530 pages. hardcover. keywords: Literature America . FROM THE PUBLISHER - In this first installment of his epic Haitian trilogy, Madison Smartt Bell brings to life a decisive moment in the history of race, class, and colonialism. The slave uprising in Haiti was a momentous contribution to the tide of revolution that swept over the Western world at the end of the 1700s. A brutal rebellion that strove to overturn a vicious system of slavery, the uprising successfully transformed Haiti from a European colony to the world's first Black republic. From the center of this horrific maelstrom, the heroic figure of Toussaint Louverture-a loyal, literate slave and both a devout Catholic and Vodouisant-emerges as the man who will take the merciless fires of violence and vengeance and forge a revolutionary war fueled by liberty and equality. Bell assembles a kaleidoscopic portrait of this seminal movement through a tableau of characters that encompass black, white, male, female, rich, poor, free and enslaved. Pulsing with brilliant detail, All Soul's Rising provides a visceral sense of the pain, terror, confusion, and triumph of revolution. This National Book Award finalist and PEN/Faulkner Award nominee presents 'a remarkable feat of historical imagination' (The Washington Post). The horrific slave rebellion of the 1790s in Haiti is the focus of this epic historical novel of astonishing depth and range. Bell has broughtthese events viscerally to life, making them vivid, resonant, and believable for all readers. inventory #21637 ISBN: 0679439897.