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Haiti, Rising Flames From Burning Ashes: Haiti the Phoenix. By Hyppolite Pierre. Maryland: University Press of America, 2006. ISBN 0-7618-3369-2.374 pp. $49.00 paper.
Hyppolite Pierre provides a comprehensive study of Haiti for two centuries-1804 to 2004. In the acknowledgements, Pierre revealed that witnessing poverty during a visit to Haiti in 1998 was an underlying reason which prompted him to seek answers to the country's crisis. Undoubtedly, Haiti, Rising Flames From Burning Ashes is pivotal in understanding the crucial link between the past and the present. An obvious theme is the frequent comparisons between the personalities of the Haitian Revolution and twentieth century leaders. In this sociopolitical work there is emphasis on the element of continuity in Haiti's tainted political past, especially the inadequate leadership and hostility among the ethnic groups.
There are 25 relatively compact chapters grouped into three sections"Power in Haiti: 1804-1915," "From 1915 On: Occupation and American Supremacy in Haiti" and "Reforming the State to Benefit the Nation." An apparent shortcoming in the book's layout is the existence of too many chapters. Probably some chapters could have been merged to ensure more coherence. Furthermore, the numerous subsections in chapters resulted in disjointed and abrupt ideas. Some relatively short sub-sections such as "Boyerism as Haiti's Political System" in Chapter 5 and "Different Kinds of Interest Groups" in Chapter 14 could have been merged with another sub-section.
Pierre focused on one of the previously overlooked institutions in the Haitian society-interests groups such as think tanks and neighborhood associations. Pierre contends that such non-governmental organizations have been branded as "irresponsible" and "worthless" but they have a crucial role...