"Set in 1791, during the first months of a slave revolt that would eventually lead to the creation of the black republic of Haiti in 1804, Bug-Jargal is a tale of interracial friendship and rivalry, an account of the ties that bind a young Frenchman to one of the rebel leaders and the tragic misunderstandings that threaten to sever those ties completely." "This Broadview edition contains a critical introduction and a broad selection of appendices, including Hugo's never-before-translated 1820 short story "Bug-Jargal," contemporary reviews of the novel, documents pertaining to the young Hugo's poetics and politics, and selections from his source materials about the Haitian Revolution."--BOOK JACKET.