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The Other Mozart: The Life of the Chevalier Saint-George
Joseph Bologne was one of the most famous men in 18th-century France. The son of a slave and a French nobleman in Guadaloupe, the ambitious Joseph moved to Paris, where he was christened the Chevalier de Saint George. During his extraordinary life, he conquered every limitation by becoming a champion swordsman, violin virtuoso, composer, and military commander in the French Revolution. From the plantations of the West Indies to the palace at Versailles, The Other Mozart details the true story of a remarkable man. Illustrated by original paintings and archival materials, the Chevalier de Saint George’s inspiring and affirming story lives on.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2006
122 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Brewster
24 books32 followersBeing able to create books about history is a dream job for me since I’ve always been enthralled by history. When I was growing up in Georgetown, Ontario, our house was just around the corner from the town library. And I haunted its children’s section—reading sometimes four or five books a week. Historical fiction titles by writers like Geoffrey Trease and Rosemary Sutcliffe were particular favourites. I still treasure a copy of Ernest Thompson Seton’s Two Little Savages that I was given as a prize in a library reading contest in 1960.
Since ours was the only house in the neighbourhoood without a TV antenna on the roof, reading was my primary form of entertainment. My parents thought their four children would read more without a television to distract us. And they were right, we did — though we also showed up at our friends’ houses whenever our favourite shows were on!
Our family had moved to Georgetown from a small town in Scotland in 1956, when I was six years old. When I was thirteen we moved to Guelph, Ontario, and I went to high school and university there. My first real job after graduating with an English degree in 1971 was with Scholastic – then a fairly new publishing company in Canada. As an editor for Scholastic Inc. from 1972 to 1984 in both Toronto and New York, I was involved in the creation of Scholastic’s Canadian children’s publishing program as well as in the selecting of books for Scholastic’s school book clubs. (One of our early discoveries was the teenaged author Gordon Korman and his Bruno and Boots books.)
Between 1984 and 2004 I was the Editorial Director and Publisher of Madison Press Books in Toronto. While there, I helped to create a number of successful books for both adults and young readers including Robert Ballard’s The Discovery the Titanic, that has sold over 1.5 million copies, and TITANIC: An Illustrated History a book that provided inspiration for James Cameron’s epic movie. Among the award-winning children’s books that I edited and compiled are: Polar the Titanic Bear, On Board the Titanic, First to Fly, and Journey to Ellis Island.
The first children’s book that I actually both wrote and compiled was Anastasia’s Album: The Last Tsar’s Youngest Daughter Tells Her Own Story, which was published in 1996 and won a number of awards. In 1997 I wrote the text for Inside the Titanic, which featured amazing cutaway illustrations by Ken Marschall. The next year, with Laurie Coulter, I compiled a book filled with fascinating facts about the Titanic entitled 882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the Titanic. Laurie and I went on to write To Be A Princess in 2001 which was a Silver Birch and Red Cedar nominee. In 2004, the 60th anniversary of D-Day, I wrote On Juno Beach which won the Children’s Literature of Canada Information Book Award in 2005. The success of that book encouraged me to write At Vimy Ridge which appeared in 2007 and won the Norma Fleck Award in 2008.
In 2005, I decided to devote myself to writing full-time and have produced seven books since then: The Other Mozart: The Life of the Famous Chevalier de Saint George published Fall 2006; Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose: The Story of a Painting and Breakout Dinosaurs. DIEPPE: Canada’s Darkest Day of World War II was released in 2009 and was followed by the novel Prisoner of Dieppe in Scholastic’s new I Am Canada series. A second novel, Deadly Voyage appeared in Fall ’11 and for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, I produced a large adult book entitled Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage in Spring 2012.
Since ours was the only house in the neighbourhoood without a TV antenna on the roof, reading was my primary form of entertainment. My parents thought their four children would read more without a television to distract us. And they were right, we did — though we also showed up at our friends’ houses whenever our favourite shows were on!
Our family had moved to Georgetown from a small town in Scotland in 1956, when I was six years old. When I was thirteen we moved to Guelph, Ontario, and I went to high school and university there. My first real job after graduating with an English degree in 1971 was with Scholastic – then a fairly new publishing company in Canada. As an editor for Scholastic Inc. from 1972 to 1984 in both Toronto and New York, I was involved in the creation of Scholastic’s Canadian children’s publishing program as well as in the selecting of books for Scholastic’s school book clubs. (One of our early discoveries was the teenaged author Gordon Korman and his Bruno and Boots books.)
Between 1984 and 2004 I was the Editorial Director and Publisher of Madison Press Books in Toronto. While there, I helped to create a number of successful books for both adults and young readers including Robert Ballard’s The Discovery the Titanic, that has sold over 1.5 million copies, and TITANIC: An Illustrated History a book that provided inspiration for James Cameron’s epic movie. Among the award-winning children’s books that I edited and compiled are: Polar the Titanic Bear, On Board the Titanic, First to Fly, and Journey to Ellis Island.
The first children’s book that I actually both wrote and compiled was Anastasia’s Album: The Last Tsar’s Youngest Daughter Tells Her Own Story, which was published in 1996 and won a number of awards. In 1997 I wrote the text for Inside the Titanic, which featured amazing cutaway illustrations by Ken Marschall. The next year, with Laurie Coulter, I compiled a book filled with fascinating facts about the Titanic entitled 882 1/2 Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the Titanic. Laurie and I went on to write To Be A Princess in 2001 which was a Silver Birch and Red Cedar nominee. In 2004, the 60th anniversary of D-Day, I wrote On Juno Beach which won the Children’s Literature of Canada Information Book Award in 2005. The success of that book encouraged me to write At Vimy Ridge which appeared in 2007 and won the Norma Fleck Award in 2008.
In 2005, I decided to devote myself to writing full-time and have produced seven books since then: The Other Mozart: The Life of the Famous Chevalier de Saint George published Fall 2006; Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose: The Story of a Painting and Breakout Dinosaurs. DIEPPE: Canada’s Darkest Day of World War II was released in 2009 and was followed by the novel Prisoner of Dieppe in Scholastic’s new I Am Canada series. A second novel, Deadly Voyage appeared in Fall ’11 and for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, I produced a large adult book entitled Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage in Spring 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 10, 2024
WOW WOW WOW! This year I have really fallen in love with picture book biographies but this one is by far one of the best I've ever read. It is not only a fantastic introduction to an amazing man but it is an engaging introduction to Marie Antoinette, Louix XIV and the French Revolution, Robespierre, the history of Haiti, Hot air balloons, fencing, classical music and opera! This book is SADLY out of print and EXPENSIVE ($50 and up for a picture book) but my library had 3 copies! GO FIND IT AND READ IT!
January 22, 2010
Given that it was a picture book, I decided to take a gamble and get it anyway, even though my nieces aren't in the age range. 6 and a half is ALMOST 9, after all, right...?
Wrong, definitely. This is NOT a read-aloud book, nor a good book for a kid who just recently learned to read. It has pages of long, advanced text, with insets providing more detail about, say, the French Revolution, or Slavery in French Colonies, or Marie Antoinette. And the illustrations are carefully captioned.
The end effect is a lot more like reading a history textbook, albeit a well-written one, than a story.
This book would be a real find for anybody looking for somebody new for Black History Month (or any other time of year when you expect children to write their book reports on biographies). Joseph Boulogne had a fairly interesting life on his own merits. This book doesn't suit my purposes as a read-aloud for my young nieces, but I'm keeping it until they're older and giving it four stars on the theory that, for the right age range, it's a really awesome book. If I change my mind when my nieces hit that age I'll come back and edit this review.
Wrong, definitely. This is NOT a read-aloud book, nor a good book for a kid who just recently learned to read. It has pages of long, advanced text, with insets providing more detail about, say, the French Revolution, or Slavery in French Colonies, or Marie Antoinette. And the illustrations are carefully captioned.
The end effect is a lot more like reading a history textbook, albeit a well-written one, than a story.
This book would be a real find for anybody looking for somebody new for Black History Month (or any other time of year when you expect children to write their book reports on biographies). Joseph Boulogne had a fairly interesting life on his own merits. This book doesn't suit my purposes as a read-aloud for my young nieces, but I'm keeping it until they're older and giving it four stars on the theory that, for the right age range, it's a really awesome book. If I change my mind when my nieces hit that age I'll come back and edit this review.
November 20, 2025
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges - music virtuoso, composer, master swordsman, socialite. A short but delightful book covering the life and times of Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges. This illustrated book can be enjoyed by young and old alike.
November 12, 2018
Have you ever heard of Joseph Bolognese, aka Monsieur Chevalier de Saint-George? Neither had I.
He was referred to as The Other Mozart (actually living in the same time as Mozart, though it is never known if they crossed paths in reality).
The book gives a very detailed and NON-GLOSSED OVER nor DUMBED-DOWN biography of one of the coolest men in History I've found to date.
Dec. 25, 1745-June 10, 1799 tells the life of Joseph from Guadaloupe, born to a slave mother and a French sugar plantation father, who moved to France. His father admired him and wanted him to be successful. His life story is truly amazing for making an incredible impact on France and living through American Revolution, French Revolution, impressing Marie Antoinette with music, skills as a dancer and violinist and fencer, and political activist fighting for the people of Haiti.
The illustrations are interspersed with historical paintings of the world around him and what historically was going on at the time in terms of France, America and the rest of the world.
He was referred to as The Other Mozart (actually living in the same time as Mozart, though it is never known if they crossed paths in reality).
The book gives a very detailed and NON-GLOSSED OVER nor DUMBED-DOWN biography of one of the coolest men in History I've found to date.
Dec. 25, 1745-June 10, 1799 tells the life of Joseph from Guadaloupe, born to a slave mother and a French sugar plantation father, who moved to France. His father admired him and wanted him to be successful. His life story is truly amazing for making an incredible impact on France and living through American Revolution, French Revolution, impressing Marie Antoinette with music, skills as a dancer and violinist and fencer, and political activist fighting for the people of Haiti.
The illustrations are interspersed with historical paintings of the world around him and what historically was going on at the time in terms of France, America and the rest of the world.
November 16, 2020
I had never heard of this little known composer until I picked up this little book. I have since played some of his quartet music and listened to a recording. The violist in my quartet has a brother who is a fencer and has heard of him. Apparently Chevalier Saint-George is more known for fenching than he is for composing.
July 22, 2012
Five-star: I loved learning about this person
Three-star: The design/layout of this book drove me nuts. It seems as if they adopted the approach of contemporary textbook design (choppy! Busy! Bright colors! Lots of Side Bars!)… which I think does not work. Actually, it does not work for me. Maybe it works for kids but …
Three-star: The design/layout of this book drove me nuts. It seems as if they adopted the approach of contemporary textbook design (choppy! Busy! Bright colors! Lots of Side Bars!)… which I think does not work. Actually, it does not work for me. Maybe it works for kids but …
January 22, 2011
Compare this book to another biography for children, Before There Was Mozart by Lisa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome.
May 17, 2021
A great book! Although I do not think it accurate or fair to compare Chevalier de Saint-George musical abilities to Mozart. While Mozart was getting attention as a child for his musical talents the adult Chevalier de Saint-George already made a name for himself. If anything Mozart is the white Chevalier de Saint-George. Indeed far too many white writers compare Black writers/artists, etc. as being the "black so and so" to a white person when it's grotesquely untrue and makes it seem as though a Black person can only be an imitation of a white person. Chevalier de Saint-George was unique and remarkable as himself and not an imitation of someone else.
October 10, 2017
Well done middle grade biography. Saint-George was a fascinating individual.
Wasn't crazy about the title.
Wasn't crazy about the title.
April 27, 2021
While I enjoyed the book, I wish Joseph wasn't considered the 'other Mozart or the Black Mozart'. He was a fine composer and shouldn't have to be compared to another musician.
July 13, 2021
Why have we never heard of this man?!
February 11, 2025
A facinating book about a fascinating man.
April 17, 2014
As informative picture books for older kids go, this one is top notch. The illustrations are colorful and interesting, and include period reproductions to help evoke the historical setting and ethos of the times. I agree with some of the other reviewers that the text book-style historical inserts are somewhat annoying, but they are informative and probably would enrich a kid's understanding of the times in which Satin-George lived. Clearly this book is not targeted at know-it-all grownups who are wearyingly familiar with Marie-Antoinette, the French Revolution, etc. So I forgive the slightly preachy and pedantic tone that creeps in here and there. What matters is that this is an informative and well-illustrated account of the life of a man who was consigned to undeserved obscurity during the Napoleonic era. The book represents a wonderful opportunity for kids - and even some adults - to know and learn more about such a fascinating and multi-faceted man.
October 13, 2011
amazing story of someone i'd never heard of, an 18th century Zelig. Saint-George was one of the top musicians, conductors, athletes of his day. also a warrior and ambassador. probably left out some things. and almost completely forgotten. he was half-black, from haiti, part of n. america, not from usa(most of the book predates the founding of usa) hence my putting Other Mozart in african american category.
negative about this book is the abrupt two page interuptions for french and marie antoinette histories
negative about this book is the abrupt two page interuptions for french and marie antoinette histories
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews