A fine reference about Haiti’s past and a guide to building its future.
Clermont, a Haitian American judge, chronicles the layers of Haiti’s culture from the indigenous Taíno to the 20th century in a tribute to the island nation that also serves as a call to action.
The story lovingly portrays the mythology, agriculture, trade, and spiritual practices of pre-colonial Haitian society, calling it a “symphony of ecological intelligence, spiritual reverence, and social cohesion” and introducing historical figures, including Taíno poet Anacaona and Guarionex, the cacique of Maguá. This idyllic society is brutally interrupted by the arrival of Christopher Columbus, described as a “storm masquerading as salvation.” No detail is spared in viscerally recounting the atrocities of Columbus and the French colony that followed. Clermont juxtaposes the ideals of the Europeans with their actions, calling attention to the hypocrisy of Enlightenment ideology as renowned figures of the time “betrayed their own principles in pursuit of wealth, status, or national pride” and “Governors quoted Rousseau while drafting plantation ordinances.” He also explores the racism of those who theorized that Africans were “durable enough to survive plantation economies.” As Clermont recounts life under colonial oppressors, the 1791 uprising of enslaved people that would eventually lead to the founding of the country of Haiti feels inevitable and necessary. Historically important Haitian revolutionaries, such as Toussaint L’Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and military general Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, make appearances, and the author emphasizes the influence of Haiti and Haitians on the wider history of the Americas, including the American Revolution, the liberation of Venezuela, the Louisiana Purchase, and the founding of Chicago. The brief mentions of what happens to the nation after its independence may compel readers to additional sources, as some events and ideas are mentioned multiple times without elaboration. Overall, however, this unflinching look at colonialism offers an important perspective. The author’s passion for his subject is clear, and its recommendations of how Haiti might thrive again are carefully considered.
A fine reference about Haiti’s past and a guide to building its future.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9798232841607
Page Count: 234
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 24, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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