Media Coverage
March 21, 2025
The First and Last King of Haiti reviewed on the front page of the Miami Herald
Historian Marlene Daut tells the story of Haiti's nuanced history through the life of one of its first and last king, Henry Christophe.
March 6, 2025
Marlene Daut on This Day podcast
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Marlene Daut of Yale to discuss how Haiti ended up with a king after its revolution, the remarkable life of Christophe, and how the instability of the time still lingers today.
Feb 27, 2025
The Bronx Social Justice and Anti-Violence Forums | The BronxNet
Dr. Marlene Daut discusses her book “The First and Last King of Haiti” which focuses on the life and legacy of Haiti's only king, Henry Christophe.
Feb 23, 2025
Henry Christophe & the 1791 Haitian Revolution | Lectures in History
Yale University professor Marlene Daut discusses the life and legacy of slave, revolutionary, and king Henry Christophe and how the United States and other foreign powers reacted to the 1791 Haitian revolution.
Feb 17, 2025
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe | KTVU
As we continue to mark Black History Month, we're shining a light on Haiti's first and only king. From enslaved child to revolutionary war hero, Henry Christophe's life was anything but ordinary.
Feb 17, 2025
Julia Gaffield on Dessalines & Marlene L. Daut on the Haitian Revolution | Freedom Now Gerald Horne
Gerald Horne interviews Professor Marlene L. Daut about her important research and book entitled: "Awakening the Ashes: An Intellectual History of the Haitian Revolution."
Feb 11, 2025
Episode 59: Marlene Daut Returns to Storytelling | Drafting the Past
Marlene L. Daut on Drafting the Past with Kate Carpenter.
Feb 5, 2025
Episode 151: Henri Christophe: First and Last King of Haiti | 15 Minute History
Marlene L. Daut on 15 Minute History with Benjamin Wright.
Feb 3, 2025
An Interview With Marlene Daut, Author Of The First and Last King of Haiti | What We Reading
What We Reading sat with Marlene to talk about everything from Henry Christophe to the pride she feels as a public communicator.
Jan 30, 2025
New History Books for January 2025 | Unseen Histories
“The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe” featured on Unseen Histories
Jan 23, 2025
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe | The Academic Life
Marlene Daut talks about her book, The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe on The Academic Life.
Jan 23, 2025
The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe, King of Haiti | WNYC (All Of It)
Biographer Marlene L. Daut unpacks the complicated truths behind Christophe's life in her new book, The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe.
Jan 15, 2025
The First and Last King of Haiti: An Interview with Marlene L. Daut | Black Perspectives
Nathalie Frédéric Pierre, Assistant Professor of History at Howard University, interviews renowned historian Marlene L. Daut about her latest book
Jan 12, 2025
A new book details the rise and fall of a Haitian monarch | CityLine
Author Marlene Daut talks about her new book The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe that details the life of a leader in the Haitian Revolution who later became the country's only monarch.
Jan 10, 2025
Marlene Daut joins Tavis Smiley | Tavis Smiley
Professor of French and African American studies at Yale Marlene Daut discusses her book The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe and how the sovereign nation can overcome its bleak spiral as it struggles under political instability and gang violence.
Jan 8, 2025
Henry Christophe, the first and last King of Haiti (with Marlene L. Daut) | Vulgar History
No discussion of 18th-century revolutions is complete without including the Haitian Revolution. We're joined this week by Marlene L. Daut to learn about Henry Christophe, a key leader in the Haitian Revolution and the only monarch of the Kingdom of Haiti.
Jan 6, 2025
Henry Christophe: The King of Haiti | Unsung History
Dr. Marlene L. Daut, Professor of French and African Diaspora Studies at Yale University on the Unsung History podcast.
Jan 6, 2025
Dr. Marlene Daut on Queen Marie-Louise of Haiti | Infinite Women
Dr Marlene L. Daut, Professor of French and African-American Studies at Yale University and author of the new book, The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe, as well as Awakening the Ashes: An Intellectual History of the Haitian Revolution, joins us to tell the story of Marie-Louise, who was queen of Haiti from 1811 to 1820.
Dec 24, 2024
Scholar SOUNDS OFF On HARMFUL MAGA Stereotypes! | Scholar Society with Brandon Clark
We talk with author Marlene Daut about Haiti, recent Haitian stereotypes & their effects.
Dec 8, 2024
Marlene L. Daut, author of "The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe" (Knopf, 2025) on New Books Network.
Dec 2, 2024
Marlene Daut was interviewed by Yitzi Weiner for Authority Magazine.
Reviews & Features
Feb 18, 2025
Recent Reads for Black History Month | The Cheshire Library Blog
“The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe” featured on The Cheshire Library Blog
Feb 10, 2025
Henry Christophe: Haiti’s Revolutionary King | Politics and Rights Review
“Daut’s work is a definitive account of Christophe’s life, offering readers a nuanced understanding of a figure often obscured by myth.” — Politics and Rights Review
Feb 5, 2025
Marlene L. Daut's "The First and Last King of Haiti" | The Page 99 Test
Marlene L. Daut applied the “Page 99 Test” to The First and Last King of Haiti.
Jan 31, 2025
This Month’s Best New History | Readworthy by Book Bub
“The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe featured on Book Bub.
Jan 31, 2025
January 2025 Reads for the Rest of Us | Ms. Magazine
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe”featured on Ms. Magazine.
Jan 29, 2025
On My Mind: Brutalist Dining Chairs and Banana Republic Dresses | NY Mag - The Strategist
“The First and Last King Of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe” featured on NY Mag - The Strategist
Jan 24, 2025
Winter books: 30 new reads to combat the cold-weather blues | The Globe and Mail
The First and Last King of Haiti featured in The Globe and Mail.
Jan 22, 2025
"This revelatory work restores a lost figure to the pantheon of pivotal world leaders.” - Peggy Kurkowski
Jan 14, 2025
Most Anticipated: The Great Winter 2025 Preview | The Millions
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe featured on The Millions.
Jan 12, 2025
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe featured on Scroll.in.
Jan 10, 2025
“…an overview of the entire revolutionary period. It’s a magnificent, sweeping work of history.” —Dana Snitzky, history and current affairs reviews editor, Publishers Weekly
Jan 7, 2025
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut featured on What Is That Book About
Jan 7, 2025
Zora Neale Hurston! The real-life Hester Prynne! Y2K! 27 new books out today | Lit Hub
“A tour de force. Daut brings King Henry Christophe vividly back to life in this deeply researched and rivetingly told biography. In a work overflowing with new archival discoveries and insights, she carries us expertly through a moment of revolutionary political thought and cultural transformation that reshaped our world and its possibilities. Everyone should know this history.”
–Laurent DuBois
Jan 5, 2025
Review: The man crowned king of Haiti | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“In The First and Last King of Haiti, Marlene Daut, a Professor of French and African Diaspora Studies at Yale University, provides a full-scale biography of Christophe, set in the context of immensely consequential decades in Haiti’s history.” — Glenn C. Altschuler, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jan 3, 2025
10 New Nonfiction Book Releases of January 2025 | Book Riot
“In The First and Last King of Haiti, Yale scholar Marlene L. Daut explores the life of Henry Christophe, a complex figure in Haitian history. Born to an enslaved mother in Grenada, Christophe would go on to be a key leader in Haiti’s revolution for independence. Eventually, he would go on to declare himself King of Haiti, only to die by his own hand nine years later.” — Kendra Winchester, Book Riot
Dec 30, 2024
The 20 Most Anticipated Books of 2025 that I’m Excited to Read | Ballasts for the Mind
The 20 most anticipate books of 2025 that Ballasts for the Mind is excited to read.
Dec 18, 2024
January 2025 Nonfiction: Fresh Reads for the New Year | Bookstr
“The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe” by Marlene L. Daut featured on Bookstr
Dec 7, 2024
“Daut's deeply researched and nuanced portrayal is exactly the kind of underlying IP that a good screenwriter needs to craft a compelling script. It’s also a dream part for an actor.” — Andy Lewis
Dec 1, 2024
"The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe" | Library Journal
Many details of Christophe’s life remain murky, but Daut’s research is outstanding. She has unearthed new sources in Caribbean and European archives, and she weighs all evidence carefully and reaches judicious conclusions. This book’s depth of detail may daunt general audiences, but it is a must-read for scholars.
Nov 27, 2024
From Fictions to Lives of the Haitian Revolutionaries | Politics and Rights Review
Haitian historical portrayals of the Revolution, in contrast to often misleading fictional representations, reveal the profound contributions of Haiti to anti-racism, human rights, and anti-colonial thought.
Nov 25, 2024
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe | Booklist Review
“By clearly chronicling Christophe's complexstory with detail and nuanced analysis, Daut portrays a crucial, if little-known leader and traces the deep roots of Haiti's ongoing struggles.”
—Booklist (starred review)
Nov 18, 2024
Book Mention: "The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe"
The essential biography of the controversial rebel, traitor, and only king of Haiti. Henry Christophe is one of the most richly complex figures in the history of the Americas, and was, in his time, popular and famous the world over: in The First and Last King of Haiti, a brilliant, award-winning Yale scholar unravels the still controversial enigma that he was.
Nov 15, 2024
Books of the Year 2024 | Times Literary Supplement
“Marlene L. Daut’s The First and Last King of Haiti (Knopf) is an impressively researched biography of Henry Christophe, a former lieutenant of Toussaint Louverture’s who became one of the leaders of post-revolutionary Haiti.”
- SUDHIR HAZAREESINGH
Nov 15, 2024
Yale University Press London buys Marlene L. Daut’s 'riveting biography of Haiti’s first and only king'
Nov 15, 2024
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe | Kirkus Reviews
"Scholarly insights into a grandiose historical character..."
Oct 27, 2024
New Black global nonfiction about Haiti, the Caribbean
Amsterdam Daily News says Marlene Daut offers an essential biography that explores the tumultuous life of one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Americas in “The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe.”
Sep 12, 2024
When asked by Elle magazine what currently sits on her her nightstand, Edwidge Danticat, author of a new collection called We’re Alone by Graywolf Press, responded: “The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut, a fascinating, in-depth, and meticulously researched biography of Haiti’s revolutionary-turned-king.”
Jul 25, 2024
Notre Dame features me in its English Ph.D. Alumni Spotlight: Marlene Daut ('09)
Since graduating with her Ph.D. in 2009, Marlene has written four books, including Tropics of Haiti: Race and the Literary History of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World (Liverpool UP, 2015); Baron de Vastey and the Origins of Black Atlantic Humanism (Palgrave, 2017); Awakening the Ashes: An Intellectual History of the Haitian Revolution (UNC Press, 2023); and the forthcoming The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe (Knopf, 2025). Additionally, she has authored much public-facing work on Haitian history and culture and has appeared in over a dozen magazines, newspapers, and journals including, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Essence, The Nation, and the LA Review of Books.
Jul 25, 2024
Library Journal includes "The First and Last King of Haiti" in January 2025 Pre-Pub Alert!
Daut (French and African diaspora studies, Yale Univ.) pens a monumental biography of Henry Christophe, the only king of Haiti. Born in 1767, Christophe was both globally famous and influential and changed the fates of nations in complex ways.
Excerpts
Jan 30, 2025
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe featured on Women Writers, Women's Books
Jan 7, 2025
The First and Last Queen of Haiti in Exile | History News Network
Queen Marie-Louise outlived most of her family, yet her story about the revolution and its aftermath was rarely consulted by those writing the era’s history.
