Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, also known as Alexandre Dumas, was a Creole General from Saint-Domingue. At the time, this was a French colony, hence the French language and heavily French names. He was born in 1762, to a French nobleman father and a slave mother of African heritage. Since his mother was a slave, he was born a slave, however his father took him to France, which automatically gave him free status. Slavery was prohibited in mainland France, but accepted in colonies.

His father helped him enlist in the French Army, before he later served with the French Revolutionary Army. Through his exceptional service and intelligence, he was the first person of color in the French military to become brigadier general, divisional general, and general-in-chief of a French army. He took part in some major battles, including the Italian campaigns. (One thing I thought was exceptional about him was that he and Napoleon Bonaparte had words with each other.) I won't spoil the details in the book about his military service, because that was very interesting to me so there is no reason to ruin it for everyone else.

This book was very well researched. I had never heard of this man before, though I am very familiar with his son, also called Alexandre Dumas. His son is the author of The Count of Monte Cristo, as well as a multitude of other famous works. This man was an extraordinarily interesting person, and I can see why his son used his life stories as inspiration for some of his famous characters. Aside from learning about the man, the information about the battles was great. I wish that I knew more about the French Revolution, and this was a good book for that. I will have to get some others about this topic. I highly recommend this book.