"The updated edition of this perceptive study could hardly appear at a more auspicious moment, as the latest phase of the tragedy of Haiti is unfolding. It brilliantly illuminates the rich tapestry of Haitian culture and reveals the remarkable resilience of the Haitian people, subjected to centuries of rapacity and violence and brutally punished for revealing the limited definition of freedom adopted by the French and American revolutions, in the author's accurate words. As he relates, they have continued to teach such lessons to this day, frightening the rich and powerful in their own tortured land and at the centers of global rule. It is our great loss if we choose not to understand, and there is no better starting point than this learned and penetrating inquiry."— “Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor Emeritus, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT

Professor Patrick Bellegarde-Smith teaches courses on Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa in the Department of Africology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received a doctorate in the fields of International Politics, Latin American History and Comparative Politics from The American University. He has written extensively on issues of Haitian cultural and national identity, Haitian social thought and philosophy, and the Vodou religion. He is Haitian, and is a houngan asogwe, an initiate and priest of Vodou.

Patrick Bellegarde-Smith's profile page

"Haiti: The Breached Citadel is one of the smartest, most thorough and most lyrical books ever written about Haiti. On the bicentennial of Haiti's independence, this second edition offers extraordinary insight into a much maligned but enduring history and culture. Whether you've never heard of Haiti or think you know it well, you will learn a great deal from these pages."— “Edwidge Danticat, Haitian Writer