Sudhir Hazareesingh (18 October 1961) is a British-Mauritian historian. He has been a fellow and Tutor in Politics at Balliol College, Oxford since 1990. Most of his work relates to modern political history from 1850; including the history of contemporary France as well as Napoleon, the Republic and Charles de Gaulle.

Biography

Hazareesingh is the son of Kissoonsing Hazareesingh, a

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

- and

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

-educated historian in his own right, who was a notable figure in Mauritian public life as a '' Mauritius Times'' writer and Principal Private Secretary to Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. Hazareesingh's

Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...

biography ''Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture'' was published by

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

in September 2020. It was shortlisted for the 2020

Baillie Gifford Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its m ...

. Described in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as "a tour de force: by far the most complete, authoritative and persuasive biography of Toussaint that we are likely to have for a long time", ''Black Spartacus'' was

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's "Book of the Week" from 16 November 2020, read by

Adrian Lester Adrian Anthony Lester (born Anthony Harvey; 14 August 1968) is a British actor, director and writer. He is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his work on the ...

. It won the 2021

Wolfson History Prize The Wolfson History Prizes are literary awards given annually in the United Kingdom to promote and encourage standards of excellence in the writing of history for the general public. Prizes are given annually for two or three exceptional works ...

and was shortlisted for the

James Tait Black Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...

for biography. He is a member of the international reading committee of the ''Institut Napoléon'', a French learned society founded in 1932, dedicated to Napoleonic studies. He is on the editorial boards of the international journal ''Napoleonica La Revue'', "an online review which aims to promote research in the history of the First and Second French Empires". ''Napoleonica La Revue'' is "published by the

Fondation Napoléon The Fondation Napoléon is a foundation, registered as a French non-profit organization (reconnue d'utilité publique) on November 12, 1987. It's mission is to encourage and support study and interest in the history of the First and Second French E ...

, is academic, multidisciplinary, international and peer-reviewed".

Publications

* ''Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture.'' Allen Lane, 2019. * ''How the French Think.'' Allen Lane, 2015 *''In the Shadow of the General: Modern France and the Myth of De Gaulle''. New York, Oxford University Press, 2012 (this is an English version of ''Le Mythe Gaullien'', first published in French by Gallimard in 2010) * ''Les préfets de Gambetta'' (with Vincent Wright and Eric Anceau), Paris, Presses de l'Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2007 * ''The Saint-Napoleon. Celebrations of Sovereignty in 19th Century France'', Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press 2004 (French translation published by Editions Tallandier, 2007) * ''The Legend of Napoleon'', London, Granta, 2004 (French translation, Editions Tallandier, 2005; published in collection Points-Seuil, 2008) * ''The Jacobin Legacy in Modern France''. Essays in Honour of Vincent Wright (editor and contributor), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002 * ''Francs-Maçons sous le Second Empire'' (with Vincent Wright), Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2001 * ''Intellectual Founders of the Republic: Five Studies in 19th Century French Political Thought'', Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001 (revised paperback edition, 2005)

Awards and decorations

*: **

Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean - GCSK, GOSK, CSK (Mauritius) - ribbon bar

Grand Commander of the

Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean The Most Distinguished Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean is the highest distinct order of merit in the honours system of Mauritius established under the National Awards Act 1993. It was founded in 1992 to decorate people who have mad ...

(2020)

References/Notes and references

Historians of the Napoleonic Wars 1961 births Living people Political historians Political science writers British historians British foreign policy writers British people of Mauritian descent Grand Commanders of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean British people of Indian descent Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford {{UK-historian-stub