I am so delighted to be able to now share that The First and Last King of Haiti has won the Gilbert Chinard Book Prize from the Society for French Historical Studies!

The prize committee issued the following citation: "The story of Henry Christophe is often told as either tragedy or farce. Marlene L. Daut's critical biograhy moves beyond such tropes, delving into the complexity and the contradictions of this fascinating figure. Thanks to Daut's careful archival work and eloquent writing, we are invited to look with fresh eyes on Christophe's worlds of slavery and emancipation, as well as the transformations unleashed by the Ages of Revolutions and the forces that sought to control them"

The Gilbert Chinard Prize is awarded each year by the Society for French Historical Studies with the financial support of its Institut Français d’Amérique Fund to recognize the best book published for the first time and with a copyright date of 2025 by a North American press in one of the two following fields: the history of French-American relations; or the comparative history of France and North, Central, or South America.  

Vive le roi Henry!