Haiti: The Tumultuous History--From Pearl of the Caribbean to Broken Nation

Haiti: The Tumultuous History--From Pearl of the Caribbean to Broken Nation

by PhilippeGirard (Author)

Synopsis

In the aftermath of January's horrific earthquake, the world's attention is focused on Haiti. In this full narrative history of the Caribbean nation, historian Philippe Girard offers insight into Haiti's complex and layered past, showing that its current state as the poorest country in the western hemisphere was not inevitable. This highly readable and accessible history takes the reader back two hundred years to a time when Haiti was so prosperous it was known as the Pearl of the Antilles. Haiti was the only country in the Americas to pull off a successful slave revolution, yet today its survival is completely dependent on foreign aid. As all eyes turn to watch what happens to Haiti, author Girard provides the necessary context for envisioning its future - including a detailed account of the quake's consequences, an assessment of the benefit and cost of an American intervention, and commentary on what Haiti must do to rebuild for a brighter future.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 29 Sep 2010

ISBN 10: 0230106617
ISBN 13: 9780230106611

Media Reviews
Reviews for Clinton in Haiti: 'An engaging and wonderfully readable account of the circumstances leading up to the U.S. invasion of Haiti in 1994, and its restoration of Jean-Bertrand Aristide as Haitian president.' - Elizabeth Abbott, Trinity College, University of Toronto, Canada 'This is an extraordinarily well written account that places Clinton's Haitian foreign policy in historical perspective. Linguistic wit and analytical sophistication prevail as Girard skillfully weaves readers through the complexities and tragedy of Haiti's history and the highly touted, but unsuccessful aftermath of the 1994 invasion by U.S. troops to restore Aristide and democracy to this Caribbean republic. Until Clinton administration classified documents become available this will remain the standard account and an object lesson for all future American cut-and-run attempts at peace-keeping and nation-building.' - Joan Hoff, Montana State University, Bozeman, USA 'Written by an outstanding young French scholar of recent American history, this examination of U.S. intervention in Haiti under Bill Clinton probes the motivations behind an unnecessary military action and explains the ways in which objective failure is translated into political success. The author's finely-calibrated sense of irony makes his work as entertaining as it is instructive.' - Alonzo L. Hamby, Ohio University, USA and author of For the Survival of Democracy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis of the 1930s
Author Bio
PHILIPPE GIRARD is an Associate Professor of Caribbean History, McNeese State University of Louisiana, USA. A native to the French Caribbean, he is the author of Clinton in Haiti (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2004).