A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2025 "To better understand Haiti's current plight . the tale of Jean-Jacques Dessalines is enlightening. Gaffield paints a revisionist portrait of Dessalines as a brave freedom-fighter. Had it not been for Dessalines, slavery would probably have been reimposed in Haiti, Ms. Gaffield argues, setting back the global abolitionist movement."--David C. Adams, Economist Newsletter on Latin America "In her groundbreaking biography, [Gaffield] has succeeded in the vital mission of offering a faithful account of Dessalines's life, while underscoring his immense contributions not simply to Haitian freedom, but to the transatlantic abolitionist movement."--Marlene L.
Daut, Public Books "The picture that emerges is of a fierce freedom-fighter, deadly to his enemies, but willing to make peace--though he struggled to find partners in doing so. Gaffield is an historian, not a political theorist, but the history she uncovers contributes to ongoing, more wide-ranging reassessments of political traditions that are intertwined with political and military conflicts across the globe."--Paul Henry Rosenberg, Liberal Currents 2025 HSA Book Prize Honorable Mention, sponsored by the Haitian Studies Assoc. (HSA) "At last, a biography of JeanJacques Dessalines, the Haitian par excellence, the only hero of Independence to enter the Vodou pantheon! Julia Gaffield reconstructs the life of the father of the country with exhaustive research and easytoread prose that avoids value judgments while reflecting a sympathy for her subject that courses through the book."--Jean Casimir, Université d'État d'Haïti "A distinguished scholar known for her precise archival research, Julia Gaffield has succeeded in the vital mission of writing a faithful account of Haitian founder JeanJacques Dessalines's life. A book for all true lovers of history, I Have Avenged America offers groundbreaking insights into the world that Dessalines made, underscoring his immense contributions to the Haitian Revolution."--Marlene L. Daut, author of The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe "Charting Dessalines's remarkable journey from enslavement to leadership of a revolutionary army and radical anticolonial nationstate, Gaffield probes his character and contradictions more carefully than any scholar before her, offering brilliant insights into the political history of warfare, statecraft, and the struggle for human freedom.
"--Vincent Brown, author of Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War "Julia Gaffield's longawaited biography of JeanJacques Dessalines paints a compelling portrait of one of Haiti's most enigmatic leaders, a formerly enslaved man who became the nation's first head of state. Based on prodigious new research, this fascinating book is also propulsively readable. A stunning achievement."--Ada Ferrer, Princeton University "Beautifully and brilliantly told, this story of revolution, power, and political imagination challenges long-standing misrepresentations and powerfully illuminates the intertwined thought and action through which Dessalines reshaped the world."--Laurent Dubois, author of Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution.