Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution by Laurent Dubois

This book recounts the complex history of the Haitian Revolution in a readable and clear way. It gives a reasonable amount of background and does a good job tying the events in Haiti to the larger events that helped cause and provoke the Haitian Revolution (such as the political climate of France). The book insists on the importance of the Haitian Revolution beyond Haiti to world affairs and to questions of human rights. It tries to move beyond an account of just the leading generals and politicians to include a wide range of people, and it uses documentary and primary evidence where it exists. Overall this book is a great introduction to the complicated topic of the Haitian Revolution.