Black Count, The -- Buddy Read

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Tytti wrote: ""Napoleon Bonaparte of the First French Empire enacted laws that emancipated European Jews from old laws restricting them to ghettos, as well as the many laws that limited Jews' rights to property,..."

I did not realize that NB had done so much (good) for the Jewish population in Europe.

I guess like Hana, my lens for how I see NB is from the British perspective of the past and they (the British) had nothing good to say about him.

[Jalilah]

Andrea (Catsos Person) wrote: "Jalila, I am reading both simultaneously."

I am reading now and would agree that reading both simultaneously would be ideal. I think to appreciate this book it's best to at least be familiar with the Count of Monte Christo.

[Jalilah]

Alex Dumas's humiliation after France's new race laws is heartbreaking to read about. Now I really loathe Napoleon!

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Jalilah wrote: "Alex Dumas's humiliation after France's new race laws is heartbreaking to read about. Now I really loathe Napoleon!"

Truly. This book sure brought out emotions in me. Certainly a far cry from dry history.

[Laurie]

The story of Alex Dumas is emotional. I can see why Alexandre Dumas wanted to honor his father's memory in writing TCoMC.

[Jalilah]

Kathy wrote: "Found some information on the statue of General Dumas. Thinking this is the picture the author mentioned in the book. Sorry, it is in French.



and the new monument



Source: http://paris1900.l..."



While I appreciate the new monument, I think it's a pity they never made a new statue for Dumas himself!

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

I agree with you on that, Jalilah.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

This was a very god book. In addition to learning about AD, the TReiss manages to include quite a bit about French history.

The author’s information about 18th century life (ancien regime), race-relations and policy and French colonial life was very informative. It seems that slavery under the French was even more brutal than what I ever imagined for the U.S. during slavery. In any case, I found a passage that is a quote made by Henri Christophe’s personal secretary that is included in the Wikipedia article about Saint Domingue under the sub-section with the heading “Profitable Colony.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Do... This man’s detail s about atrocities committed against the slaves would have curled my hair if it were straight!

I also learned more about NB than I knew. Although I think that he was small (in character and in size) petty man governed by self interest, I have to admit that his legacy is mixed. I guess his code of laws that weakened the control of the church on daily lives such as legalization of divorce and rights and freedoms for European Jewish population. Also, T Reiss describes how NB manged to get a foothold in France so that he could take over. Previously, I never understood how it was that this foreigner managed to take over the country.

While I was aware that France played a role in the U.S. war for independence, I did not know that France assisted the U.S. in its fight to the degree that it (France) ruined its own economy. Perhaps if France had not bankrupted itself in this way, the French revolution might not have happened?

[Tytti]

Andrea (Catsos Person) wrote: "Although I think that he was small (in character and in size)..."

He wasn't small in size, again that is just a myth based on British propaganda I guess. He was above the average height at his time.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

I read that he was only about 5 foot seven. Maybe this is not true but it is short for a man.

[Laurie]

Andrea, I agree with all that you just wrote. I found this very interesting for both the historical content that I knew very little about and the biographical information on AD. It piques my interest in learning more about NP. I would like to read a biography about him by someone French, so I will have to look for that now.

[Tytti]

Andrea (Catsos Person) wrote: "I read that he was only about 5 foot seven. Maybe this is not true but it is short for a man."

It was 200 years ago! People were much shorter then.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Oh! I didn't realize that people were shorter as recently as 200 years ago. I was aware that people were shorter during medieval times, but not as of only 200 years ago.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Oh! I didn't realize that people were shorter as recently as 200 years ago. I was aware that people were shorter during medieval times, but not as of only 200 years ago.

[Tytti]

Well Finns are about 5 cm taller now than they were only 30 years ago (that's probably because of proper nutrition). The average male height around Helsinki area in 1922 was 171 cm. That's not much taller than Napoleon and now we are among the tallest in the world.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

That's amazing that the average height increased in only 30 years.

I thought that these type of changes for a population or specific group of people took longer to occur.