A review by himpersonal
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss

adventurous emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

3.75

This was recommended to me by someone in my Goodreads network. It was good, and I'm glad I read it. Military history is low on my list of favorite genres, but there was enough other content to make it more engaging for me. I had no idea that Dumas was part Black! And I really enjoyed learning more about France at that time, especially how egalitarian they were (at least for a while), considering the times they were living in. Also loved connecting the dots between his father's military and political life and Alexandre Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo. Knowing his source of inspiration makes his books more alive and enriching for me and makes me want to reread all of them.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail