“The Black Count” by Tom Reiss – Forgotten Legends Reborn

Many of us know Alexandre Dumas as being the author who brought to us great classics such as The Count of Monte Christo and The Three Musketeers.

However, what many people do not know is that Dumas didn't just pull those stories out of his head, newspaper articles, or even first-hand observations… rather, many of the heroic events taking place in his stories were inspired from his father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (for the purpose of simplicity, the father will be referred to as General Dumas from now on).

Indeed, it seems as if life in the old days was much more exciting than it is now, for as author Tom Reiss describes it in his book The Black Count, General Dumas was the real Count of Monte Christo.

Though I know it may be very hard to believe, but General Dumas was something akin to a French version of Superman. Straight from the start his life was nothing to envy, as he was born the son of a black slave, destined to spend his entire life in forced labor.

However, he somehow managed to muster the perseverance, strength and courage to succeed in the world of the white man, though that nearly cost him his life on more occasions than we know.

The Black Count chronicles Dumas’ life, all the way from the colony of Saint-Dominique (Haiti today) to the streets of Paris, how he rose from the son of a slave all the way to the rank of General in the French Army, and the part he played in the revolution.

Of course, not every single page of the book is dedicated to General Dumas, and certain parts of it were made for literature lovers (which is to say, pretty much all of you reading this), comparing the General’s exploits to the events which befell Alexandre Dumas’ characters in his novels later on.

If there is one thing which became clear, at least to me, it was that General Dumas was one of those rare and unique people who were capable of changing the course of history, whose destiny actually mattered in the big picture.

He demonstrates that the human mind and body are capable of accomplishing anything, holding off a bridge by himself against more than twenty enemy soldiers, and spending years as a prisoner in one of the worst fortresses there was (the French were really good at that kind of stuff).

In the end, we are very lucky that Tom Reiss had the courtesy to shed some light on this important and yet unheard-of historical figure; he was an exceptional human being in every way, finding a way to win even when all the odds were stacked against him.

The Black Count, in my opinion, has made General Dumas more fascinating than most characters in literature, and the book is worth reading for that reason alone. If you are a fan of Alexandre Dumas, then that goes double for you as this book will shed a thick ray of light on his source of inspiration.

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Tom Reiss Personal site Tom Reiss is an American historian, journalist and author whose latest nonfiction book, The Black Count, has earned him the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. His other works include Fuhrer-Ex, delving inside the neo-Nazi movement happening in Europe, and The Orientalist, which examines the life of Russian Jewish-born Lev Nussimbaum.