Papa Doc: Portrait of a Haitian Tyrant

by John Marquis

Dr. Francois 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, former self-appointed President-for-life of Haiti, was the most brutal tyrant of his time. His pervasive secret police, the Tontons Macoute, were literally connoisseurs of terror. For more than three decades, they struck terror into the impoverished people of Haiti, in the most macabre way. In this outstanding account of Duvalier's life, the full horror of the Haitian nightmare is laid bare. Disappearances of entire families in the night, public execution of political foes, summary killings of the peasantry and a succession of failed assassinations on Duvalier's life, provide the theme of a demon-possessed president. 'Papa Doc' was the embodiment of evil in the most sinister form. There was voodoo and his own involvement in strange rites, his apparent supernatural powers and reputed immortality. Using voodoo to suppress an entire nation of 7 million souls, 'Papa Doc' became the political ogre of the age, a trained country doctor transmuted by power into a sinister killer his people considered indestructible. He exuded this evil image even in his appearance. He dressed always in dark apparel, from top to toe; he appeared funereal promoting death rather than life. His propensity for Machiavellian intrigue and ruthlessness was limitless. Using a spy trial in Port-au-Prince in 1968 as the foundation of this electrifying tale, the bewitching and terrifying reality of Duvalier's Haiti, the author reveals a spellbinding account of the macabre regime in one of the world's most haunted lands.

280 pages, Hardcover

First published June 22, 2007

Reviews

[Stephen Curran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book of interest to me as there is a surprisingly Bahamian element to the tale