Do You Know What You Don't Know, The Timeless Lessons of The Black Count by Tom Reiss
An image of Alex Dumas from the cover of The Black Count by Tom Reiss
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I started the #reallivesbookclub nearly five years ago to assure I'd read at least one book a month. And not just any book, but thought-provoking selections from the non-fiction genre to discuss with other fine people. Plus, I must admit that I wanted to read books that would help me improve my evolution as a human being.
The Black Count by Tim Reiss served as an excellent book and, by way of solid storytelling, brought the times of General Alex Dumas and 1700s France alive. His story involves the significant human themes of racism, greed, and the sways of government that often work against the governed. Dumas may have been an 18th-century man, but the experiences of his life still prove relevant today.
HISTORY ALL AROUND US
What do you know about the French Revolution? Are you a Francophile who thrills every year on July 14 for Bastille Day, donning your beret? I had a general understanding about the French Revolution, maybe a little vague, which made Reiss' telling of pre-revolutionary France fascinating. Through the highlights of the Revolution and Napoleon's rise to power, I felt I had an almost visceral grasp of the world in which General Dumas lived by way of a fast-paced narrative.
Engraving of a portrait drawn by Guillaume Guillon-Lethiere
The story begins in the present day with history and intrigue. Reiss tries to access and view centuries-old documents locked away for decades. After multiple contacts with the local historian in the French town of Villers-Cotterets, Reiss is set to see the papers and arrives in France before the plan is cut short.
Only days before his arrival, the historian died unexpectantly and took with her the knowledge of the key to the locked vault. Reiss was so very close but now stuck in the delay of bureaucratic red tape. This story reveals how elusive the discoveries of history and its meaning can be. It is there for us, but we must work to know and understand it.
FRENCH REVOLUTION BASICS
The storming of the Bastille symbolized a turn of the increasing furor of the pending Revolution. French people had grown hateful of monarch rule and desired government controlled by the people. Plus, France was bankrupt because of ongoing wars with European neighbors, including their support of the colonists in America in their fight with the British.
The French people were exhausted from constant war, and at home, King Louis XVI worked to usurp the other branches of government. The Parisians, fearing the king would use the might of the royal army against them to quell an insurrection, finally decided to take over the Bastille.
A MIGHTY AND UNLIKELY SOLDIER
Other than the bloody parts, the French Revolution also brought in a series of unique political ideals, including liberty, equality, and fraternity, which in France remarkably included people of color. In addition, France, ahead of the rest of Europe (and, of course, the burgeoning country of The United States), took steps to abolish slavery in their Revolution.
Our man Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (Alex Dumas) born in 1762, was a child of color born to French aristocrat Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie and one of his black mistresses. Dumas lived most of his youth in Saint-Domingue (later to become Haiti) but was brought to Paris by his father as an adolescent. In Paris, he received the finest education and training of the day.
General Alexandre Dumas, post-1883
Alex evolves from a somewhat spoiled young man living in the bubble of class and wealth. However, Dumas benefits from his education and the changing attitudes toward race in France. He emerges into adulthood as an accomplished soldier loyal to France and the Revolution.
Alex Dumas earns his meteoric rise to General in the French army, celebrated for his skill, his physical stamina, as well as his youth and beauty. Dumas is raised to nearly mythic proportion in documented accounts, but Reiss has sewn together the General on a pedestal with significant research and reasoning by way of history.
Moreover, he presents a more objective view of the man than Alex Dumas' son, famed French writer Alexandre Dumas. The latter immortalized his father in the classic fiction story of The Count of Monte Cristo.
KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW
What I found most exciting about the book, apart from the education I received on the French Revolution, was how relevant Dumas' story is today. I highlight three major points:
Humans don't see humanity. Park this under "man's inhumanity to man," but as Reiss explains: the reality is that slavery has been a part of the human story since the beginnings of civilization. It was common for societies to enslave prisoners of wars and conflicts. Even Greek philosophers such as Aristotle believed that slavery was an essential part of society. After all, how could there be an elite class if lower classes and slaves didn't exist?
For countries and societies, color was also a convenient dividing line for determining those they saw as not human and deserving of enslavement. For France, racism and enslavement were rationalized when they abducted African people for labor in the sugar industry.
Power and wealth equate with greed. The general thread of the powerful and wealthy is that their capacity to want more never ends. It's the sickness of illogical hoarding. Napoleon serves as a great example – in the end, his desire for more conquest was too broad, helping lead to his demise.
Today we still live in the version of a feudal system where the powerful and wealthy class live by entirely different rules from the vast majority of society. But, as always, governments bow to them, and systems are in place to favor them.
We must challenge what we think we know. These days, some want to suppress and distort the history and social studies about our past and racism. We must challenge their agenda and the misguided argument that the past is over and shouldn't be taught in school.
History, and the understanding of history, are constantly evolving. New details surface, and new interpretations emerge. If we don't try to learn from our history and resist learning more about what we don't know or understand, we may be shocked when history repeats itself.
Even the fundamental rights we take for granted can be lost with changes in power corrupted enough to do it. Alex Dumas and all the other men, women, and children of color, for example, lived the reality as Napoleon gained power and overturned the anti-slavery and equality rules in France.
Statue of Thomas Alexandre Dumas destroyed during the Nazi occupation of France.
THE COMPLEXITY OF TRUTH
The Black Count is an excellent adventure story, which also happens to be about the history of Alex Dumas. As the details unfold, the past feels textured and close. Even if you're versed in French Revolutionary history, you'll likely learn something new and unexpected that will challenge your assumptions.
I recommend Reiss's book as an insightful and engaging read. He has a few other non-fiction books I plan to add to my reading list because I found his writing that good.
Of course, what you find compelling and informative in The Black Count will be different. And that is the slippery slope of truth. Even as we all glean facts, we filter them through individual interpretation. And yet, if we stand a chance of making sense of the present, we must look to history for new information because the past is never past. Only by learning what we don't know is there hope for our future.
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Sherry and Alexandra Borzo together in Lima, Peru
Sherry is the founder of Storied Gifts a personal publishing service of family and company histories. She and her team help clients curate and craft their stories into books. When not writing or interviewing, Sherry spends loads of time with her grandchildren and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.
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