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The spirit in which this book is written, is manfully declared in its title, and nowhere not find it possible, as he does, to despise the soldier as they hate the sovereign. throughout the whole series of Napoleon's battles; but though we believe the would have been welcome as the rushing sound of water to the wanderer of.
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What is the difference between ISIS now? It would be nice if Roberts considered the perspective of, well, the rest of the whole of Europe at the time. France was a revolutionary, terrorist state with no little respect for national sovereignty and none for kings. Perhaps the Czar of Russia is not the best representative of the Old Regime, but certainly there were civilized Prussians and Austrians who might have stood in as a counterpoise to French terror?
Certainly Edmund Burke! This is the main problem with the book. Roberts is a great author of military battles and lifetimes, but he is lousy as an author of ideas. Roberts seems to consider himself above ideology, a man so certain in progress that he need not consider alternatives.
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At times his political analysis is so inept and unctuous you'd think you were reading The Economist. Roberts lauds the fact that Napoleon instituted meritocratic reforms throughout his rule; he also notes that these reforms were in part to resemble NB's modern military. Napoleon modernized and made efficient the French state--again, like the military. Does anyone else see a pattern here?
One has to wonder if the "liberated" peasant or Jew would not have preferred his former servitude to freezing to death outside Moscow. Naturally, Roberts hates the Church above all things. NB's cruel and stupid invasion of Iberia is justified by Roberts as an act of--you guessed it--modernization. The backwards Spaniards were lagging on the long arc of history, still adhering to the Inquisition fatalities of which couldn't hold a flame to Wagram, Borodino, etc. In all the pages, I don't think I can remember Roberts criticizing Napoleon's Spanish policy but for the fact that he should have been more severe and gone to the peninsula himself.
From onward, Spain was an acquiescent, weak power, and posed no serious threat to French interests. Beyond raw lust for power and cruelty, there was no reason to subject Spain to the lawless treatment she received at the hands of the French. Why is there no voice condemning this tyrannical, despicable course or action?
Roberts provides us with no countervailing voice, and becomes sycophantic in his praise or, more accurately, lame criticism of NB. But the Iberian policy was a failure at every level: Morally, militarily, and politically let us remember that the illegal and unscrupulous Louisiana Purchase did about as much for European decline as any other one act. The reason Roberts can't come to criticize Napoleon for his mass slaughter of men is that he doesn't seem to realize the possibility for another side, i.
It's hard to read this and think that Roberts has not been struck by the worst of revolutionary impulses, i.
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Hundreds of thousands killed--but isn't the Code Napoleon nice? States destroyed, cultures ruined--but the Jews! They're free! There are even some homosexuals working in Provence! How can you argue with Progress? Beyond political naivitee, Roberts contradicts himself in his descriptions of his hero.
However much he may like to twist it, the Peace of Amiens was broken by Napoleon.
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Yes, the later coalitions formed and waged war on him, but only after his tyrannical decrees made war all but inevitable. Napoleon was a bully, and this trait served neither him nor the citizens of Europe well. There is something of the swash-buckler in such behavior which is intriguing and captivating--but again, is such decadence worth the hundreds of thousands rotting across Europe?
And so, while Roberts has saved Napoleon from the pathetic over-analyzers and the postmodernists, he has not moved on to perform the greatest task of the historian: To make us understand Napoleon's time and context. Without an understanding of the appeal and fault of the Old Regime, we can never be sure what NB is really up against, or if the wars he waged to defeat its tenets were really worth it.
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Perhaps such consideration is not necessary. Napoleon was intriguing enough without such considerations, perhaps.
But Roberts cannot succeed in his larger project--convincing us that Napoleon was of another league than Hitler, Stalin, etc. And he simply hasn't done this. He's only succeeded in forgetting the dead.
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These considerations aside, Roberts does a nice job of letting us inside the mind of this great genius. Most interesting are Napoleon's letters to Josephine, and his other ruminations on the romance. The image of NB waiting on Elba, rooms reserved for his son and empress, is incredibly moving, no matter who the tyrant. His letters are funny, his personality is affable, his heartache is sincere.
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Proust said that falling in love is the only poetic thing most men ever achieve. Greater than his faux-royal processions and bloody military feats, his success and failure in romance stuck with me the most throughout reading.
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Nonetheless, I still can't help but think that Roberts has not achieved his goals. Yes, Napoleon was a "great man" in the Carlyle sense, but by creating the modern state he ruined the conditions whereby later men might become great. He modernized his country, but so did Jefferson and Hamilton, without the bloodshed.
He led an army, but led it to endless war, unlike General Washington who led his to peace and prosperity. Even America's murderer-tyrant, Abe Lincoln, attempted no coup and wouldn't even disallow the election which may have ruined his war. These are acts of true character; acts of true moral courage.
Napoleon, as one men, may have bettered this group, but his faults and crimes loom much larger. His hubris alone killed more than his weak principles. Roberts never captures Napoleon's strange contradictions, the mix of the squalid and the grand in the man. For now, it does us readers well to remember how many of the great patriots we dote upon might have just as well become our oppressors, lashing us alongside of the Turks. Mar 02, John Blumenthal rated it liked it. One more page and I would have fallen on my sword. May 01, Philipp rated it it was amazing Shelves: france , biography , war.
If you're looking for an overview of Napoleon's life and google around, this is usually the biography you end up finding, readable, engaging, thrilling, more than pages long. Roberts is a military historian, so the focus is definitely on military action, less on other interesting aspects of Napoleon's life like, for example, the specific art style of the Napoleonic era.
The majority of this book's maps are maps of battlefields and positions, the largest part of the text is descriptions of the If you're looking for an overview of Napoleon's life and google around, this is usually the biography you end up finding, readable, engaging, thrilling, more than pages long. The majority of this book's maps are maps of battlefields and positions, the largest part of the text is descriptions of the various battles, which is perhaps unsurprising for a biography of a man who made his name in war.
The focus on war is the trick that makes book so fast-paced, the battles are almost described like sports matches with tactic errors and routes and whatnot, you almost almost! Roberts' viewpoint is, let's say, conciliatory - he likes to look at instances where history judged Napoleon harshly and tries to defend Napoleon, often by assuming the most positive view 'Yes, Napoleon wrote this error in his letter, but he was probably betting on it being intercepted, thereby confusing the English!
There are a few cases where Roberts criticises Napoleon more than other historians: his treatment of women and the laws he introduced sexist even for his time, women as birth machines for the army , or the way he treated Jews 'Napoleon therefore hardly deserves his present reputation in Jewry as a righteous Gentile'. What's ridiculous is how fast-paced Napoleon's life is, you can't help but compare your own life. He learned French at 9, joined the army as a secondary lieutenant at 16, brigadier general at 24, commander of a whole army at 27, Emperor of France at 35, lost everything and was exiled at 45, died as Roberts is adamant, of stomach cancer like his father, not of any poisonous plot at That to me is the biggest strength here, how Roberts succeeds in depicting Napoleon's sheer energy and speed often by citing from Napoleon's many micro-managing letters.
Another fun thing I learned is that if there are indeed infinite universes where everything possible has happened, then we live in one of the few universes where Napoleon didn't die on the battlefield. I think there are at least 20 sentences like this, perhaps somebody else should count? With the Emperor riding beside him, Desvaux was cut in half by a cannonball.
Overall, very, very interesting reading, I can see why this is generally recommended as the general Napoleon biography. I didn't! Jan 15, Bou rated it it was amazing Shelves: downloaded , english , biography , favorites , non-fiction , audio , on-ipod. After reading his excellent account of the Storm Of War , I had high expectations of Robert's newest release, his biography of Napoleon. I was not dissapointed. I suspect you can fill half of the New York's library with books dealing with Napoleon and as I understood these can be divided in two sorts: you either hate him, or you love him.