"This book is a great piece of history . . . After reading my uncle's book, I feel just like I was an apple and he was my Big Tree" (Wyclef Jean).

When the 2010 earthquake struck Haiti, the former Haitian ambassador to the United States Raymond Joseph rushed back to his beloved country. Inspired to help the people recover, he ran for president against a field of candidates that included two well-known Haitian pop stars—his nephew Wyclef Jean, and the eventual winner Michel Martelly. But even in defeat, he knew that Haiti's still-struggling democracy was already being corrupted at its core, and the world must be told.

Now Joseph, who served four presidents, offers an insider's account of Haitian politics. He explores the country's unfolding democracy and unearths the hidden stories of Haiti's cruel dictators, focusing on the tyranny of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, who used voodoo legends to bewitch the country into fearing him.

In this decades-spanning "engrossing memoir," Ambassador Raymond Joseph challenges the common misconceptions of Haiti, it's history, and its place in world affairs (Dimitry Elias Léger). But he also warns readers about Haiti's current political leaders' attempts to impose a new dictatorship.

It is his hope that Haiti can right itself despite the destruction it has suffered at the hands of man and nature, from within and without.