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9533: Old but useful list of books on Haitian history




>From Bob Corbett

I was going through some old files today and came across this
old list.  I have no time now to update it, but I thought I'd
share it with you.  If any note missing items, and particularly
contemporary works, I'd love to hear and I can note them now and
add them later when I have more time.
=========================


There has been some call for what history books are
available about Haiti.  The answer is almost none are 
actually available.  Most are out of print and very 
difficult to find.  Below is a list of books which have been
written about Haiti and some comments on some of them
 
This list is in no way exhaustive.  I'm just sitting in front of many of 
my books and selecting some which I think are most noteworthy.
 
Bob Corbett
Webster University
 
P.S. Virtually all the books and articles mentioned below
are in my library.
===========================================================
 
One more note:  I am going to skip the books which are
primarily on the colonial period and the Haitian Revolution.
As one person posted, these books are available and in many
libraries.  It is the history of later periods that is not 
easily found.
------------------------
 
Baur, John Edward.  "Faustin Soulouque, Emperor of Haiti:
	His Character and His Reign."  Americas 6 (1949):
	p. 131-166.  Focus on the rule of Soulouque.
 
Balch, Emily Greene, ed.  OCCUPIED HAITI.  New York:  	Writers, 1927  An 
	excellent book of essays by various authors, mainly unfavorable 
	toward the US Occupation.
 
Bausman, Frederic, et al.  THE SEIZURE OF HAITI BY THE
	UNITED STATES.  New York:  Foreign Policy Assoc.
	1922.
	A huge work with lots of documentation.  An important
	work on the first occupation.
 
Bellegarde-Smith.  HAITI: THE BREACHED CITADEL.  Boulder
	Colo. Westview, 1990.
	See the review I posted yesterday on this newsgroup.
 
Chandler, John.  BRIEF NOTICES OF HAYTI:  WITH ITS CONDITIONS, RESOURCES 
	AND PROSPECTS. London: War 1842.  
	Sort of interesting eye witness account.  Not too accurate, but 
	unusual.
 
Davis, H.P. BLACK DEMOCRACY:  THE STORY OF HAITI.  Rev. ed.
	New York:  Biblo and Tanner, 1936.
	This is my second favorite history, after Heinl and Heinl.  It 
	is a solid history with some great charts and lists in the back.
 
Diederich, Bernard and Al Burt.  PAPA DOC:  THE TRUTH ABOUT
	HAITI TODAY.  New York:  McGraw Hill, 1969.
	Also known as PAPA DOC AND THE TONTON MACOUTE.
	A journalistic, but very very useful account of the
	horrors of Papa Doc's early years.
	I do have a few copies of this for sale too.
 
Dorsinville, Max H.  "Haiti and Its Institutions:  From
	Colonial Times to 1957"  In THE HAITIAN POTENTIAL:
	RESEARCH AND RESOURCES OF HAITI. [See Rubin et al, below)
 
Ferguson, James.  PAPA DOC, BABY DOC:  HAITI AND THE
	DUVALIERS.  Oxford, Eng. Basil Blackwell.  1987.
	A good and useful book.
 
Greene, Graham.  THE COMEDIANS.  A novel which really
	conveys the darkness of the Papa Doc period.  This
	book got Greene banned for life from Haiti.
	I do have copies of this novel for sale, both in
	paper and hard bound.
 
Healy, David.  GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY IN THE WILSON ERA:  THE
	U.S. NAVY IN HAITI, 1915-1916.  Madison:  U. Of Wisc.
	Press, 1976.  
	This is a fascinating account of the first year of the
	first occupation.  Healy puts forward the thesis that
	Admiral Caperton was virtually abandoned by Washington,
	and that in large measure the invasion and early occupation 
	was his own doing, assuming he was doing the
	will of Washington.
 
Heinl, Robert Debs, Jr. and Nancy Gordon Heinl.  WRITTEN
	IN BLOOD:  THE STORY OF THE HAITIAN PEOPLE, 1492-1971.
	Boston:  Houghton Mifflin, 1978.
	This is certainly THE best history of Haiti ever written in 
	English.  Like others I have urged Nancy
	Heinl to bring the book out in a reprint, and while
	she is certainly willing she has not found a publisher
	willing to publish this huge volume.
 
Heinl, Robert Debs, Jr.  "Are We Ready to Intervene in 	Haiti?"  Reporter 
	34, no. 11 (1966) 26-28.
	Interesting.  Some in the US were contemplating an	
	invasion and occupation in 1966!
 
Laguerre, Michel S. VOODOO AND POLITICS IN HAITI. NY:
	St. Martin's, 1989.
	See the review of this book I recently posted on this
	newsgroup.
 
Leger, J.N. HAITI HER HISTORY AND HER DETRACTORS.  Westport
	Connecticut:  Negro University Press, 1970 reprint of
	a 1907 book.
	This is an excellent history, though a bit favorable
	to the mulatto class.  The book is in large measure
	a response to Sir Spencer St. John's notorious book.
	See St. John, below.
 
Logan, Rayford W.  THE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS OF THE UNITED
	STATES WITH HAITI 1776-1891.  Chapel Hill: Univ. of
	NC Press, 1941.
	An awesome scholarly work.  Not to be missed.
 
MacKenzie, Charles.  NOTES ON HAITI:  MADE DURING A RESIDENCE IN THAT 
	REPUBLIC.  2 Volumes.  London: Cass, 1971 reprint of a 1830 work.  
	Good for the period it covers.
 
Marshall, Harriet Gibbs.  THE STORY OF HAITI:  FROM THE
	DISCOVERY OF THE ISLAND BY CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS TO
	THE PRESENT DAY.  Boston:  Christopher, 1930.
	I don't know this book and don't have it in my 
	library.  I would LOVE to find a copy.
 
McCrocklin, James H.  GARDE'HAITI:  TWENTY YEARS OF ORGANIZATION AND 
	TRAINING BY THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.  Annapolis, Maryland:  
	Naval Institute:  1956
	An amazing book on the US building of the Haitian
	Army.  Given what happened to this army in subsequent
	history the book is even more amazing.
 
Montague, Ludwell Lee.  HAITI AND THE UNITED STATES, 1714-
	1938.  Durham, NC, Duke U. Press, 1940.
	A simply AWESOME work of scholarship.  This book can't
	be missed by anyone wanting to understand US - Haitian
	relations over the years.
 
THE NATION MAGAZINE:  Special note.  During the first occupation of 
	Haiti THE NATION led the anti-occupation front here in the US.  
	Dozens of articles, close to 100, appeared over the years and The 
	Nation can take a major credit for bringing the US to an eventual 
	anti-occupation stance.  This is especially interesting given that 
	today the two strongest anti-occupation pieces in mainstream 
	literature have appeared in The Nation!
 
Nicholls, David.  ECONOMIC DEPENDENCE AND POLITICAL AUTONOMY: THE 
	HAITIAN EXPERIENCE.  Reprinted in: HAITI IN CARIBBEAN CONTEXT:  
	ETHNICITY, ECONOMY AND REVOLT.  New York:  St. Martin's, 1985
	Very good book, typical of Nicholls' careful scholarship and good 
	writing.
 
Nicholls, David.  FROM DESSALINES TO DUVALIER:  RACE, COLOUR
	AND NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE IN HAITI.  Cambridge, Eng.
	Cambridge U. Press, 1979.  
	This is an excellent book, but it is not as much a history as 
	a historiography -- that is a book about the histories of Haiti.  
	Nonetheless, one gets lots of straight history and a good read.
 
Paquin, Lyonel.  THE HAITIANS:   CLASS AND COLOR POLITICS.
	Brooklyn:  Multi-Type, 1983.
	This is a strange book.  The main bulk of the book, from the 
	beginnings of Haitian history to about 1960
	is really a good book.  Then Paquin went into exile in
	New York and the rest of the book is horrible, a sort
	of gossipy book about himself and his plans to return
	to Haiti as the next Emperor!
	I do have some copies of this paper back for sale.
 
Plummer, Brenda Gayle.  (I don't have her book here with
	me, but she has an excellent book on the foreign
	policy of Haiti and American connection up to 1902.)
 
Rotberg, Robert.  HAITI: THE POLITICS OF SQUALOR.
	Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971.
	An important book which does not have a very favorable
	assessment of the potential of Haitians to run their
	country with any efficiency.
 
Schmidt, Hans.  THE UNITED STATES OCCUPATION OF HAITI, 
	1915-1934.  New Brunswick, NJ:  Rutgers U Press, 1971.
	This is THE history of the first occupation.  Very
anti-occupation, 
	and he uses Marine Corps document themselves to damn the
occupation.
 
St. John, Spenser.  HAYTI:  OR THE BLACK REPUBLIC.   London,
	Smith Elder, 1884.
	An infamous work, extremely racist and even was the
	source of the myth that Voodoo included human sacrifice.  Leger's 
	book, see above, was a response to this book, a book Haitian 
	understandably hate.
 
Trouillot, Michel-Rolph.  NATION, STATE AND SOCIETY IN 	HAITI, 
	1804-1984.  Washington, DC:  Woodrow Wilson
	International Center for Scholars, 1985.
	I've never seen this work.  If anyone knows about it,
	please let me know, and, of course, I'd love to get a
	copy for my library.