Haiti: The Duvaliers and Their Legacy

Journalist, editor, historian, sister-in-law to the leader of the coup d'État that ousted the Duvalier regime: Abbott is uniquely positioned to write a well-informed account of Haiti's tragic past & present. This she's done with commendable objectivity. Haiti's colonial experience set most of the terms of its subsequent history. French landowners built a wealthy mercantilist colony upon an abattoir of black slavery: this brutal, savage exploitation killed almost a million in the course of a century. No wonder that Haiti's war of independence devastated the land in a racial bloodbath & left it facing insurmountable problems: a narrowly based & ruined agricultural economy; the absence of viable political institutions; long-term racial tensions. Blacks, united by poverty & voodooism, came into increasing conflict with mulattoes, who controlled the economy & administrative networks. Political instability led to revolving-door regimes based on army support & terror squads. In time, Papa Doc Duvalier emerged as the leader who could manipulate national distress & black aspirations into support for a stable regime. The price of that stability proved horrendous. Duvalier became a dictator, then demented tyrant, his role marked by abuses & atrocities. The poor grew poorer, while the elite ransacked the economy & allowed its agricultural base to collapse. Papa Doc's son inherited the nightmare, but proved incapable of maintaining his father's highly personalized reign of terror. History with a human face, effective, moving, written with surprising & admirable restraint.--Kirkus (edited) Acknowledgments Preface Prologue Written in Blood The American Occupation Papa Doc Comes to Power Papa Doc, President The Height of the Terror Papa Doc's Final Years The Revolution Continues Jeanclaudism, 1977-79 Jean-Claude and Michele, Honeymoon Marriage The Dynasty Falters The Final Days of Duvalier The Legacy: Duvalierism Without Duvalier Epilogue Sources Index