On a Colony of Citizens

This book was a slog but well worth it. In it, Dubois argues that slaves gained their rights as freed individuals by accepting a Republican identity in the 1790s. In addition, he argues that the universalism of French citizenship during the Revolution came, in part, from the acceptance of black slaves as citizens. As such, French citizenship cannot be understood just by looking at the hexagon, but it requires a more global context. This ambitious, readable account is a necessary piece of scholarship to anybody interested in the French Revolution.