These are books that have impressed me the most and I have them in my collection. The Mountains Beyond Mountains book is an awesome read in my opinion. It was read in short order and borrowed out. A Crime So Monstrous is very powerful as it pulls away the veil to what is happening behind the scenes and leaves you thankful for our country and makes you want to reach out to all the oppressed. Yet I caution that its content is not for the squemish. Black Majesty is a good book to start learning about Haitian history. It will make you interested to learn more. Restavec is a story about Haiti that will frustrate you about human nature. Get these books for cheap on Amazon,etc.
Recommended Reading on Haiti
Black Majesty
- A book about the life of King Henri Christophe. The slave that became a king. A romantically written book about an interesting man in interesting times. He built San Souci and the Citadel in Northern Haiti. They were built on a scale that is hard to imagine in the Caribbean, never mind Haiti. A great book for those that want to read a story or for those that want to get interested in Haiti history. It is a good history primer. It was my first book on Haiti and really captured your imagination. The book makes him a hero- You will find many that considered him a tyrant. You’ll have to come to your own conclusion. It is an older book.
Any book on Toussaint L’Ouverture would be good for those interested in a good picture in how Haiti came into being.
Beyond Mountains More Mountains by Tracy Kidder
It’s a story about Dr. Paul Farmer. A big time Harvard doctor that fell in love with Haiti and threw all his resources into the Third World to make a difference one person at a time. He walks miles into the mountains to make sure all his patients get the proper care and today he is chief advisor on Haiti to the U.N. as of last year. A book that makes you want to help others.
A Brief History of the Caribbean by Jan Rogozinski
Is the best book on the Caribbean in my opinion. I must have read it three or more times through. If you are interested in the history of the Caribbean and what really happened it will tell you. However it is not a storybook. It does have dates and facts and figures enough to convince you that the man knows what he is talking about. It tells the big picture of what went on and all the history you need to know about each island. Haiti is well covered.
Restavec From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American by Jean-Robert Cadet
Life of a child slave in Haiti and the United States. There is child slavery in Haiti, because there is a lot of orphans and street children. Famalies even give up their children in hopes they will have a better life in town and go to school. This is a moving auto biography of one of these that actually escaped.
A Crime So Monstrous by E. Ben Skinner
To prove his point that in 5 hours he could purchase a child slave in Haiti from New York City, he booked a flight to Port-au-Prince got a table at a hotel and found out from the waiter all he wanted to know and was set up with a dealer. Skinner worked with the US government to combat slavery around the world. There is more slaves in the world than any other time in history. A real eye opener in a realm of suffering that you hardly knew existed. To think that God sees this everyday…….surely the end is not far off. You see another perspective to how children have suffered in Haiti and the Third World at large.
Written in Blood by Heinel, Heinel, and Heinel
A good book to impress you friends that you like to read, but mainly it keeps your bookshelf anchored down. Big book on the history of Haiti, but very dryly written. I read it to fill in the cracks that other books left out.
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