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I am creating the thread for the next Group Nonfiction Read (August-September 2015) a bit early.

We will be reading a biography: The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss.

One reason I am setting up this thread early is that my library hold for this has just come in! I may start reading it a bit early...

I have this on my TBR, I'd love to join.

I will be starting soon -- trying to wait until August but may not last that long!

I'd like to read this, but it goes against my resolve not to buy more books for my kindle. I think I'll have given in by half way through August!

Gill wrote: "I'd like to read this, but it goes against my resolve not to buy more books for my kindle. I think I'll have given in by half way through August!"

It's on Scribd if you have membership there.

Chris wrote: "Gill wrote: "I'd like to read this, but it goes against my resolve not to buy more books for my kindle. I think I'll have given in by half way through August!"

It's on Scribd if you have membershi..."

Thanks Chris, no I don't. I like the look of Scribd, but my intention is to read most of the books I've bought for my Kindle before I subscribe to it.

I can certainly understand that! I do like Scribd for the audio books, though - I haven't seen a better buy.

This book has been in my radar for ages since I loved the author's The Orientalist (which is fun to read with Ali and Nino: A Love Story. Ali and Nino is by Said about whom Reiss writes in The Orientalist.

I am worried about all the battles in The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo. I want to see how you guys react.


Does Scribd have as large a selection as Audible? Are they trustworthy? Where are they based? In what ways are they better and in what ways worse? Are they really cheaper than Audible where you can get one audiobook for about 9.50USD and return them if you don't like them? (That is when you buy 24 up-front.)

Please blab about the book so I can decide if I should read it or not. What is good? What is bad?

Chris wrote: "I can certainly understand that! I do like Scribd for the audio books, though - I haven't seen a better buy."

Actually, I hadn't realised they do audio. It's the ebooks that I fancy.

Chrissie wrote: "This book has been in my radar for ages since I loved the author's The Orientalist (which is fun to read with Ali and Nino: A Love Story. Ali and Nino is by Said about w..."

I have had no problem with Scribd - either with Audio or with books. I hardly use anything else now, for Audio. They are $8 or so a month for all you can read/listen. I sound like an advertisement, but I'm not. They do have a free trial month.

Chris, thanks for the tip.

I've just listened to it. I'm amazed. Don't want to spoil anything, but has anyone else started?

Why are you amazed, Chris. I have to decide if I should read it. What fits you may not fit me. Are there a lot of battle descriptions? How much character portrayal is there? Does it say anything about his son's, Alexander Dumas, time in Roscoff? Probably not.... Is it more history book or family epic?

Chrissie wrote: "Why are you amazed, Chris. I have to decide if I should read it. What fits you may not fit me. Are there a lot of battle descriptions? How much character portrayal is there? Does it say anything ab..."

I am a history major, and I've studied the Napoleonic Wars and have never heard of this before. Don't mean that I know everything, but I do read a lot about this era. This was a whole new character, and a very interesting one.

There's not much about the battle scenes, Dumas (pere) is mentioned quite a bit, but it isn't his story. It is a biography of his father, and an interesting look at the social issues of the time. There is some aspect of family epic, but I would say more history.

I thought it worth the read just for the social aspect.

Yes, I understand that it is about his father primarily. So, more a depiction of the social milieu than the battles of the Napoleonic era, right?

Thanks, Chris, from Chrissie ;0)

Chrissie wrote: "Yes, I understand that it is about his father primarily. So, more a depiction of the social milieu than the battles of the Napoleonic era, right?

Thanks, Chris, from Chrissie ;0)"

Correct.

OK, then it might be for me. Thank you, Chris.

I hope you enjoy it!

I am enjoying it very much so far (I am not very far into it yet). Easy to read and informative.

I agree, Leslie...very good book suggestion you made for the group read. I'm five chapters in, and the history/cultural info is fascinating.

Did either of you know this man existed? I didn't.

I read this one a few months ago and loved it. The story of the elder Dumas was completely unknown to me.

Chris wrote: "Did either of you know this man existed? I didn't."

Not me! The position of black and mixed race people in France at this time is fascinating.

Leslie wrote: "Chris wrote: "Did either of you know this man existed? I didn't."

Not me! The position of black and mixed race people in France at this time is fascinating."

I thought so, too. I had no idea.

Chris wrote: "Did either of you know this man existed? I didn't."

I had no idea how "colorful" the Dumas family tree was in reality. (Oh, that reads like a bad pun, but not how I intended it.) I thought the son/author was incredibly creative at "inventing" extraordinary characters for his books, but now I see that it may be more a case of "art imitating life".

Glad this read extends over 2 months. There is so much detail in the book that I'm taking time to digest it all. I'll have to let this one go back the library soon, and then wait to get it back, but hopefully will finish it by the end of September.

I am up to Book Three, about 45% in; Napoleon is on the rise but hasn't taken over yet. I like all the footnotes (end notes?) which are so easy to read using my Kindle -- just click on the symbol, read the note, and then return to where you were!

How am I going to keep track of which Alexandre Dumas I mean when I post here? I guess I will call the subject of this book Alex Dumas, his son Alexandre and hopefully won't have to refer to his grandson but if I do, I will call him Alexandre III :)

I have been reading a lot of Alexandre this year and it is interesting to see the inspiration for various characters or events. For example, Reiss has commented several times on how large Alex is & how physically strong -- I was irresistibly reminded of the descriptions of Porthos which I recently read in The Man in the Iron Mask.

I am almost done now, ~85% done. I am learning so much, not just about Alex Dumas but about this whole period of French history. I knew bits and pieces (many gleaned from reading Georgette Heyer) but now I have a framework for those pieces to fit into. I like how Reiss tells the reader about how he discovered information or visited places that were important in Alex's life.

I found this image of a painting from a museum in Bayonne thought to be of General Dumas: Portrait of a Hunter in a Landscape, attributed to Louis Gauffier (1762-1801):

Thanks for the post, Leslie.

Isn't this a wonderful book. There is so much history included in it, and such a unique look at the racial history in France. It was a side of Napoleon that I never knew about. Not that I thought he was particularly nice to begin with.

(Georgette Heyer!!! My start to reading obsession, thanks to my grandmother.)

I loved learning a bit more about Nelson & his famous Battle of the Nile (even though Dumas really wasn't a part of it).

I finished this biography today. I need to take some time to organize my thoughts but one thing is clear to me now -- Napoleon was much more of a weasel than I had previously known! I had always been one Wellington's side but more due to my Anglophilia than from any real animus towards Napoleon.

Here is an image of a painting (origin unknown to me) showing General Dumas at the bridge outside Brixen on 25 March 1797 where, while waiting for reinforcements, he single-handedly kept the Austrians from crossing:

Notice how tall Dumas is compared to the other soldiers!

I just finished the classics group read (Far From The Madding Crowd) and now I am ready to take up "The Black Count." I am 8% in, but already liking this book a lot. But then, I was a history major in college, so why would I not?

David wrote: "I just finished the classics group read (Far From The Madding Crowd) and now I am ready to take up "The Black Count." I am 8% in, but already liking this book a lot. But then, I was a history maj..."

It covers an interesting period of history. Glad you are joining us :)

I am now at 36%. This is a really interesting book. I am glad that I am finally getting to read it.

I finished "The Black Count" 3 days ago. I enjoyed the heck out of it, but I have no idea how many stars to give it. How did you rate it Leslie?

David wrote: "I finished "The Black Count" 3 days ago. I enjoyed the heck out of it, but I have no idea how many stars to give it. How did you rate it Leslie?"

I gave it 4 stars. I often find nonfiction difficult or boring and this book wasn't so to me it was above average just on that basis. I also was impressed by the quantity of notes (I don't know whether to call them footnotes or endnotes) which indicated the amount of research Reiss put in.

However, it wasn't 5 stars because it seemed to me it wasn't really a biography as much as a history of race relations of this period using Dumas as a centerpiece. I didn't feel like I got to know him as a person very well.

I agree. I have to think that the author felt that, since he was not writing a scholarly treatise, his readers would need a thorough grounding in the history of the times in order to appreciate the story itself. That means educating us on history and economics, not just of France but of Europe and the Caribbean islands. And there is no way that we understand or appreciate General Dumas' accomplishments without some understanding of race relations at the time.

But I am hovering between a 3 or a 4, actually. I, like you, try to be miserly with 5's and not much more generous with 4's. My gold standard (5 stars) for popular history are books like David Halberstam's "The Coldest Winter", T.E. Lawrence's "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" or Shelby Foote's 3 volume History of the Civil War, (or anything by David McCulloch, Winston Churchill or Barbara Tuchman, for that matter.). I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I am glad that I read it, and I learned many things that I did not know but I thought it fell well short of my gold standard.

I would suggest giving it a 3 then. You can comment in your review that you thought it was a bit above a regular 3 if you want.

My 5 star history nonfiction is the Costain histories of the Plantagenet kings of England -- The Conquering Family in particular. The 4 volume set was lent to me back when I was in grad school by the mother of a friend and were the first history books that I read for fun.

I was also a big fan of Thomas B. Costa in when I was very young. But I read and loved his novels and managed to avoid his histories.

Costa in should be Costain. Auto Correct is my worst enema.

David wrote: "Costa in should be Costain. Auto Correct is my worst enema."

LOL! I too hate auto correct -- I turn it off whenever possible.

Finished this as well. Well worth the read. Enjoyed how the author took the life of the main character and placed it within historical context...fascinating.

Thanks for the photos posted in messages 28 and 32, Leslie.

I enjoyed looking for them Monica -- glad you liked them too.

I found several interesting tidbits in the historical context -- such as the world's first airforce was French created when they used hot air balloons to spy on troop movements of the enemy!

Reading this gave me a new perspective on Alexandre Dumas the author. He came up with such lively, colorful characters in his books...which I used to believe came from a very vivid imagination. Now I see that quite often he was drawing on real life "characters", using a wealth of material at his disposal.

Without this group I might never have known about this book and that would have been a shame. I've long been a fan of Alexander Dumas and have always enjoyed reading about this time period. I've just started reading this book but already am impressed. Some of the history I knew but am learning a lot as well.

Glad you could join us Sharla! I agree with Monica that reading this gives a new perspective on Alexandre Dumas's books, perhaps even more so for those of us who are fans (like you and me).