8vo. [4], iii, [1], 285pp, [1]. With a folding table. Contemporary gilt-tooled calf, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece. Rubbed, marked, and stained. Recent bookplate of John Fowles to FEP, slight loss to lower corner of leaf I4.

The first edition of a contemporary account of the Haitian Revolution, from the perspective of the defeated French colonists.

The insurrection began in 1791 with the enslaved people of Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, rising against French colonial rule. The revolt ended in 1804 with the Haitian people gaining independence from France, thereby becoming the first country to be founded by those formerly enslaved.

The book is primarily a defence of French actions during the conflict, and in particular the conduct of military commander Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau (1755- 1813). In 1801, Rochambeau was appointed to lead an expeditionary force against Saint- Domingue in an effort to restore French control. He proceeded to wage a war of extermination, massacring thousands. His brutal tactics served only to galvanise the rebels, and he was ultimately defeated in November 1803.

John Fowles (1926-2005), English novelist, notable works include The Magus (1965) and The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969).