"The Black Count" brings to life one of history's great forgotten heroes: a man almost unknown today yet with a personal story that is strikingly familiar. His swashbuckling exploits appear in "The Three Musketeers," and his triumphs and trials inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo"-both books written by his son. Yet it is for one reason in particular that General Alex Dumas deserves to stand in history's spotlight: alone among his race, he rose to command vast armies-in an audacious campaign across Europe and the Middle East-and in his triumph and ultimate betrayal we see how dangerous one individual can be to an entire way of life. Born to a black slave mother and a fugitive white French nobleman in Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), Alex Dumas was sold into bondage but made his way to Paris, where he was schooled as a sword-fighting member of the French aristocracy. When the Revolution broke out, he joined the army at the lowest rank-yet rose quickly, through a series of legendary feats, to command more than 50,000 men. No matter how high he soared, Dumas continued to live by his blade and his boldness in the face of overwhelming odds. Yet, because of his unwavering principles, he ultimately became a threat to Napoleon himself. Dumas was on his way home from conquering Egypt when his ship nearly sank, and he was captured by a mysterious enemy, thrown into a dungeon, and subjected to slow poisoning. But the fate that awaited him when he escaped the dungeon would shock him even more. "The Black Count" is simultaneously a riveting adventure story, a lushly textured journey through the late eighteenth century, and a window into the modern world's first multiracial society. But it is also the heartbreaking story of the enduring bonds of love between a father and son. Drawing on hitherto unknown documents, letters, battlefield reports, and Alex Dumas's handwritten prison diary, "The Black Count" is a groundbreaking masterpiece of narrative nonfiction.

Prologue, part 1: February 26, 1806 -- Prologue, part 2: January 25, 2007 / Book 1. The sugar factory -- The balck code -- Norman conquest -- "No one is a slave in France" -- Americans in Paris -- Black Count in the city of light -- A queen's dragon / Book 2. Summers of revolution -- "Regeneration by blood" -- "The black heart also beats for liberty" -- "Mr. Humanity" -- The battle for the top of the world -- The bottom of the revolution -- The siege -- The black devil / Book 3. Leader of the expedition -- "The delirium of his republicanism" -- Dreams on fire -- Prisoner of the holy faith army -- "Citizeness Dumasàis worried about the fate of her husband" -- The dungeon -- Wait and hope / Epilogue. The forgotten statue / Author's note on names.