His new moniker and army career clearly agreed with him, as Dumas rose quickly from lowly private to a heroic general leading an army of 50,000 men. Thomas-Alexandre's enlistment in the Sixth Regiment of the Queen's Dragoons under the new name of "Alexandre Dumas" signaled a turning point in his life. and his strength would be compared to Hercules's, though his hands and feet were said to be as delicate as those of the ladies he escorted into town." Thomas-Alexandre came of age at a time when his race was viewed by many in Paris as pleasantly exotic, and his encounters with the period's virulent racism were relatively few. Thomas-Alexandre enjoyed a period of relative equality in pre-Revolutionary France, and Reiss never ceases to remind the reader what a great looking young paragon he was: "His proportions were those of a Greek hero. Tom Reiss' previous books include The Orientalist and Fuhrer-Ex Memoirs of a Former Neo-Nazi. As such, Saint-Domingue was, in the author's words, "a vast infernal factory where labor never ceased and slaves regularly worked from sunup to past sundown in conditions rivaling the concentration camps and gulags of the twentieth century." It was from this Caribbean charnel house that Davy de la Pailleterie took his mixed-race young son to France for a free life and gentleman's education. According to Reiss, the island colony - known as the "pearl of the West Indies" - accounted for two-thirds of France's overseas trade in the late 18th century. Thomas-Alexandre (later, simply Alex) Dumas was born in 1762 in Saint-Domingue to a blackguard French aristocrat named Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie and one of his black mistresses. Historian Tom Reiss went to France specifically to uncover the papers and tell the story of this forgotten Dumas, the titular "Black Count" of Reiss' fascinating new book. For the father of Alexandre Dumas, pere, the sword was mightier than the pen, and this larger-than-life figure's story heavily influenced the fiction of his literary offspring. The novelist Alexandre Dumas - the one known for penning The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers - is often referred to as "Alexandre Dumas, pere." This is to distinguish him from his son, also a writer, who is identified as "Alexandre Dumas, fils." The thing is, there is an even older Alex Dumas who, while not a professional writer, made quite a name for himself in Revolutionary France. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Black Count Subtitle Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, And The Real Count Of Monte Cristo Author Tom Reiss A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context A chronology of the author's life and work A concise introduction that gives readers important background information Alexandre Dumas's thrilling adventure of one man's quest for freedom and vengeance on those who betrayed him. Each book includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding of the writer and their work. Book Synopsis Enriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary.
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