The Rebel's Clinic

Longlisted for The Baillie Gifford Prize 2024 Prospect Magazine Books of the Year 2024: Lives Guardian Best Biographies & Memoirs 2024 Frantz Fanon was born in Martinique, a French colony, in 1925. As a young man, he volunteered to fight in de Gaulle’s army for the liberation of France, and trained to become a doctor and psychiatrist. His experiences as a Black man under French colonial rule had a profound effect on him. In 1952, he wrote Black Skin, White Masks , a vital analysis of the effects of racism on the human psyche. He was later re-assigned to a hospital in French Algeria. It was here that he became involved in the rebellion of the National Liberation Front (FLN), who fought to break free from colonial power. Fanon’s work for the FLN as a propagandist and psychiatrist became highly contentious. His final work, The Wretched of the Earth , was published in 1961 just before he died at the age of 36. It has proved to be one of the most controversial yet influential books of our time. The Rebel's Clinic is a searing biography of the short and harrowing life of Frantz Fanon, and a brilliant, nuanced exploration of his ideas, whose legacy is still so powerful. In an age when debates about race and the effects of colonialism are ever more urgent, The Rebel’s Clinic is a profoundly relevant book.

Longlisted for The Baillie Gifford Prize 2024 Prospect Magazine Books of the Year 2024: Lives Guardian Best Biographies & Memoirs 2024 Frantz Fanon was born in Martinique, a French colony, in 1925. As a young man, he volunteered to fight in de Gaulle’s army for the liberation of France, and trained to become a doctor and psychiatrist. His experiences as a Black man under French colonial rule had a profound effect on him. In 1952, he wrote Black Skin, White Masks , a vital analysis of the effects of racism on the human psyche. He was later re-assigned to a hospital in French Algeria. It was here that he became involved in the rebellion of the National Liberation Front (FLN), who fought to break free from colonial power. Fanon’s work for the FLN as a propagandist and psychiatrist became highly contentious. His final work, The Wretched of the Earth , was published in 1961 just before he died at the age of 36. It has proved to be one of the most controversial yet influential books of our time. The Rebel's Clinic is a searing biography of the short and harrowing life of Frantz Fanon, and a brilliant, nuanced exploration of his ideas, whose legacy is still so powerful. In an age when debates about race and the effects of colonialism are ever more urgent, The Rebel’s Clinic is a profoundly relevant book.

One of The New York Times 's 100 Notable Books of 2024 One of the Washington Post 's 50 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography Named a best book of 2024 by The New Yorker Vulture Los Angeles Review of Books Foreign Affairs The New Republic Longlisted for the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Shortlisted for the 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography "Nimble and engrossing . . . [An] exemplary work of public intellectualism." --Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post "Undoubtedly the best [biography of Fanon] . . . A remarkable achievement." --Robert J. C. Young, Los Angeles Review of Books A revelatory biography of the writer-activist who inspired today's movements for social and racial justice. In the era of Black Lives Matter, Frantz Fanon's shadow looms larger than ever. He was the intellectual activist of the postcolonial era, and his writings about race, revolution, and the psychology of power continue to shape radical movements across the world. In this searching biography, Adam Shatz tells the story of Fanon's stunning journey, which has all the twists of a Cold War-era thriller. Fanon left his modest home in Martinique to fight in the French Army during World War II; when the war was over, he fell under the influence of Existentialism while studying medicine in Lyon and trying to make sense of his experiences as a Black man in a white city. Fanon went on to practice a novel psychiatry of "dis-alienation" in rural France and Algeria, and then join the Algerian independence struggle, where he became a spokesman, diplomat, and clandestine strategist. He died in 1961, while under the care of the CIA in a Maryland hospital. Today, Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth have become canonical texts of the Black and global radical imagination, comparable to James Baldwin's essays in their influence. And yet they are little understood. In The Rebel's Clinic , Shatz offers a dramatic reconstruction of Fanon's extraordinary life--and a guide to the books that underlie today's most vital efforts to challenge white supremacy and racial capitalism. Includes 8 pages of black-and-white photographs

One of The New York Times 's 100 Notable Books of 2024 One of the Washington Post 's 50 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography Named a best book of 2024 by The New Yorker Vulture Los Angeles Review of Books Foreign Affairs The New Republic Longlisted for the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Shortlisted for the 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography "Nimble and engrossing . . . [An] exemplary work of public intellectualism." --Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post "Undoubtedly the best [biography of Fanon] . . . A remarkable achievement." --Robert J. C. Young, Los Angeles Review of Books A revelatory biography of the writer-activist who inspired today's movements for social and racial justice. In the era of Black Lives Matter, Frantz Fanon's shadow looms larger than ever. He was the intellectual activist of the postcolonial era, and his writings about race, revolution, and the psychology of power continue to shape radical movements across the world. In this searching biography, Adam Shatz tells the story of Fanon's stunning journey, which has all the twists of a Cold War-era thriller. Fanon left his modest home in Martinique to fight in the French Army during World War II; when the war was over, he fell under the influence of Existentialism while studying medicine in Lyon and trying to make sense of his experiences as a Black man in a white city. Fanon went on to practice a novel psychiatry of "dis-alienation" in rural France and Algeria, and then join the Algerian independence struggle, where he became a spokesman, diplomat, and clandestine strategist. He died in 1961, while under the care of the CIA in a Maryland hospital. Today, Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth have become canonical texts of the Black and global radical imagination, comparable to James Baldwin's essays in their influence. And yet they are little understood. In The Rebel's Clinic , Shatz offers a dramatic reconstruction of Fanon's extraordinary life--and a guide to the books that underlie today's most vital efforts to challenge white supremacy and racial capitalism. Includes 8 pages of black-and-white photographs

Frantz Fanon was born in Martinique, a French colony, in 1925. As a young man, he volunteered to fight in De Gaulle's army for the liberation of France, and trained to become a doctor and psychiatrist. His experiences as a black man under French colonial rule had a profound effect on him. In 1952, he wrote Black Skin, White Masks, a powerful analysis of the effects of racism on the human psyche. He was later reassigned to a hospital in French Algeria. It was here that he became involved in the rebellion of the National Liberation Front (FLN), who fought to break free from colonial power, and the draconian response of the French authorities, which included widespread mass killings and the systematic use of torture. Fanon's work for the FLN as a propagandist and psychiatrist became highly contentious. His final work, The Wretched of the Earth, was published in 1961 just before Fanon died at the age of 36. It has proved to be one of the most controversial and influential books of its time. The Rebel's Clinic is a searing biography of the short and harrowing life of Frantz Fanon, a man whose legacy is nuanced, disputed, powerful, and in a time where the topics of empire and race have become increasingly pressing, still very much felt today.

Frantz Fanon was born in Martinique, a French colony, in 1925. As a young man, he volunteered to fight in De Gaulle's army for the liberation of France, and trained to become a doctor and psychiatrist. His experiences as a black man under French colonial rule had a profound effect on him. In 1952, he wrote Black Skin, White Masks, a powerful analysis of the effects of racism on the human psyche. He was later reassigned to a hospital in French Algeria. It was here that he became involved in the rebellion of the National Liberation Front (FLN), who fought to break free from colonial power, and the draconian response of the French authorities, which included widespread mass killings and the systematic use of torture. Fanon's work for the FLN as a propagandist and psychiatrist became highly contentious. His final work, The Wretched of the Earth, was published in 1961 just before Fanon died at the age of 36. It has proved to be one of the most controversial and influential books of its time. The Rebel's Clinic is a searing biography of the short and harrowing life of Frantz Fanon, a man whose legacy is nuanced, disputed, powerful, and in a time where the topics of empire and race have become increasingly pressing, still very much felt today.