"Rich in subject matter and eminently readable, this book is also a fine work of scholarship. The more than 1,200 footnotes are models of clarity and relevance; the bibliography and index seem scrupulously accurate. . . While each generation must rewrite its own history, as Nicholls remarks, no book on Haiti for a long time to come will properly be able to ignore the analysis he here provides." --Ethnic and Racial Studies "Step by step, Nicholls] guides us through the various historical time periods of Haitian political and national development, illuminating each one of them by a cogent and learned discussion of the main ideas and ideologies that accompanied them." --The Political Quarterly "Probably the best book written about Haitian history after its independence . . . a thorough, thoughtful, extremely well-researched work." --Handbook of Latin American Studies In this lively, provocative, and well-documented history, David Nicholls discusses the impact of "color" on political and social alliances during almost two hundred years of Haitian history. While consciousness of racial identity has been a powerful factor which, from the earliest days, has united Haitians in a determination to preserve their national independence, color has been a divisive factor, leading to the erosion of the stability of that independence. Nicholls grounds this sophisticated analysis in great historical detail and engaging, witty prose. Students and general readers alike will gain much from this insightful and informative history of Haiti. A new preface to this edition covers the last ten years in Haitiain history. David Nicholls is a major authority on Haiti, and was in the country as a newspaper correspondent during the 1987 election disaster. His other books include Haiti in the Caribbean Context: Ethnicity; The Pluralist State: and Deity and Domination.

Examining the political legacies of the Duvalier period and after, and revisiting the work of the late David Nicholls, Politics and Power in Haiti provides some of the keys to understanding the turbulent world of Haitian politics and the persistent challenges at home and from abroad which have distorted development.

Culture and Customs of Haiti begins with an overview of the mountainous island that seemed forbidding to European colonizers. Historical periods, including French colonization, U.S. occupation in the early 20th century, Independence and the Duvaliers' reigns, until today, are reviewed and provide the framework for the volume. A chapter on the people and society details the pride of the black state that managed the only successful slave revolution in history. The extremes of society from the elite to the peasantry and slum dwellers are depicted, along with Haitians in diaspora. Religion in Haiti, with the strong amalgamation of Roman Catholicism and vaudou, a West African import, is then explained. A Social Customs chapter notes the joy that is found in such an economically depressed culture. The media and literature and language chapters necessarily unfold in the context of Haiti's political history. A section on writing in Creole is especially intriguing. Finally, chapters on the performing arts and visual arts evoke the energy and color of the people in such forms as vaudou jazz and dance, contemporary rara rock, and the folkloric influence on Haitian painting. A chronology and glossary supplement the text.

During the past ten years, political debates, legal disputes, and rising violence associated with the presence of Haitian migrants have flared up throughout the Caribbean basin in such places as Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic, French Guiana, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. The contributors to this volume explore the common thread of prejudice against the Haitian diaspora as well as its potential role in the construction of national narratives from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. These essays, written by historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and Francophone studies scholars, examine how Haitians interact as an immigrant group with other parts of the Caribbean as well as how they are perceived and treated, particularly in terms of ethnicity and race, in their migration experience in the broader Caribbean. By discussing the prevalence of anti-Haitianism throughout the region alongside the challenges Haitians face as immigrants, this volume completes the global view of the Haitian diaspora saga.

Toussaint L’Ouverture was the leader of the Haitian Revolution in the late eighteenth century, in which slaves rebelled against their masters and established the first black republic. In this collection of his writings and speeches, former Haitian politician Jean-Bertrand Aristide demonstrates L’Ouverture’s profound contribution to the struggle for equality.