Hubert asks why Haitian governments from Soulouque to Francois Duvalier worked so hard to appear at world's fairs, and twice, in 1881 and 1949, mounted expositions of their own. The fairs were showcases of national progress and imperial reach, designed as much to confirm racial and economic hierarchy as to promise a shared future, and Haitian officials entered them to demonstrate that a black republic was capable of what the age called civilization.

The study follows the displays at New Orleans in 1884-85, Chicago in 1893, the Paris expositions of 1931 and 1937, the New York fairs of 1939 and 1964, and Expo 67 in Montreal, alongside the two Haitian expositions.

A consistent aim runs through them: to correct the country's reputation abroad and attract trade, investment and eventually tourists, often by way of the pavilions' modern architecture. The same effort, Hubert argues, registered Haiti's dependence and provoked recurring arguments at home about sovereignty.