Ribbe has specialised in the history of colonialism in the Caribbean. He has also been active in promoting civil rights in France for people of ethnic African and Caribbean origin. Through his books and films, he has supported the recognition of figures such as
Eugene Bullard,
Chevalier de Saint-Georges, and
Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, who was the first black man to be promoted to general in the French Army in 1793. In his book (2005), Ribbe accused
Napoleon of having used
sulphur dioxide gas for the mass execution of more than 100,000 rebellious black
slaves when trying to put down slave rebellions in
Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and
Guadeloupe. He said this was a model for
Hitler's
holocaust nearly 140 years later. ==Books==