Top book. Don't be turned off by the language describing blacks. its a rip-roaring adventure novel.
So good! The only mystery is why this book is not better known. It is outstanding and I'm not even a big fan of the gangster genre. the only reason i can think of is the title is not very enticing.
A lot of readers might be turned off by the very un-PC nature of this book, which covers the black slave uprising against french plantation owners in Haiti round about 1789. However, you will be missing out on a pretty good aventure book if you do so. The hero is a typical remarkably competent Henty boy, Nat, who is likeable. He saves a French family from the slaves and goes on several naval adventures in the Carribian. The book pulls few punches, discussing the slaughter of French families and retailiation by the soldiers. It presents some positive black characters, like a loyal maid and the future dictator of Haiti, Tolusse. Sadly, the novel ends on the poverty and tragedy that the revolution and poor governence that followed inflicted on the island, something unfortunately still true today as in Henty's day.