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Paradise Lost: Haiti's Tumultuous Journey from Pearl of the Caribbean to Third World Hotspot | 
 enlarge | Author: Philippe Girard
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Category: Book
List Price: $45.00
Buy New: $37.55
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New (23) Used (11) from $32.28
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 330265
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9
ISBN: 140396887X
Dewey Decimal Number: 972.94
EAN: 9781403968876
ASIN: 140396887X
Publication Date: December 11, 2005
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Product Description
Why has Haiti been plagued by so many woes? Why have multiple U.S. efforts to create a stable democracy in Haiti failed so spectacularly? Philippe Girard answers these and other questions, examining how colonialism and slavery have left a legacy of racial tension, both within Haiti and internationally; Haitians remain deeply suspicious of white foriegners' motives, many of whom doubt Hatians' ability to govern themselves. He also examines how Haiti's current political instability is merely a continuation of political strife that began during the War of Independence (1791-1804). Finally, Girard explores poverty's devastating impact on contemporary Haiti and argues that Haitians--particularly home-grown dictators--bear a big share of the responsibility for their nation's troubles.
Book Description
Why has Haiti been plagued by so many woes? Why have multiple U.S. efforts to create a stable democracy in Haiti failed so spectacularly? Philippe Girard answers these and other questions, examining how colonialism and slavery have left a legacy of racial tension, both within Haiti and internationally; Haitians remain deeply suspicious of white foriegners' motives, many of whom doubt Hatians' ability to govern themselves. He also examines how Haiti's current political instability is a continuation of political strife that began during the War of Independence. Finally, Girard explores poverty's devastating impact on contemporary Haiti and argues that Haitians--particularly home-grown dictators--bear a big share of the responsibility for their nation's troubles.
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| Customer Reviews:
Provocative and informative December 22, 2005
Haiti lover (Port-au-Prince, Haiti)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is likely to be the most ground-breaking book on Haitian (or even Third World) history in a long time. Refuting the tired "this is the white imperialist's fault" that is still the Haitian mantra 200 years after independence, Girard shows that the disastrous rule of Haitian dictators like Duvalier and Aristide is the main reason why Haiti is such a mess today. One might expect a racist diatribe with such a premise, but the book is well documented, surprisingly civil, and often funny as well.
Tragic, heartbreaking history. . . . November 5, 2006
Danniray99 (Expatriate in Germany)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Philippe Girard's book about the chaos and utter hopelessness of Haiti makes for mesmerizing but disheartening reading. It seems that for 200 years, Haiti has been plagued by voodoo-like bad luck. Haiti's slaves may have staged the first and only successful uprising against one of the most brutal (French) occupations, but this did nothing to improve their lot. But as Girard makes clear, international racism is NOT the cause of Haiti's never-ending troubles! Haiti's problems are directly due to the unspeakable ineptitude and corruption of political leaders who expressed utmost contempt for the very people they were elected to Govern. Papa Doc Duvalier may have been one of the most vicious dictators, but he was in fact just one in a very long line of political leaders who have systematically stripped Haiti of whatever potential it once had. Sadly, Haiti now seems forever destined to retain its status as the poorest, most desolate nation in the western hemisphere.
Girard splendidly details Haiti's history from colonial to present-day. He writes of Haiti's entangled and complicated racial history, the abdication of the French, the contempt that the remaining ruling class of mulattoes (of mixed race and lighter skin) had for their illiterate and ill-informed darker-skinned countrymen; the US occupations; the unrelenting exploitation, pollution and pillaging of land, resources and foreign aid; the brutal repression, violence and callous indifference of politicians to building an infrastructure that would allow the country to advance from an antiquated rural-based economy to one more modern and service-oriented.
I was expecting to receive a thick, heavy history book--one that is usually issued in high school or college, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book is a very SLIM volume and a very quick read, the better to showcase Mr. Girard's beautifully concise and lively writing style. I highly recommend this book to anyone remotely curious (as I was) about why Haiti continues to be the pariah of the carribean. "Paradise Lost" is a real page-turner, worth every penny and more!
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