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2013 Book Review #63: The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte
Title: The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte
Author: Robert Asprey
Genre: History/biography
Thingummies:4
Synopsis: The first "half" of Napoleon's life--childhood through Austerlitz.
Thoughts: I had a rough idea of French history, along the lines of "king, king, king, REVOLUTION!, Napoleon, king". But I could never quite figure out how they went from heads rolling off the guillotine platform to an Imperial monarch striding about conquering Europe, dripping in ermine. Not to mention that most of my knowledge of this period comes very much from the English perspective--Horatio Hornblower and Jane Austen--with a touch of Tolstoy, in which Napoleon is the devil incarnate a la Hitler or something.
So getting a detailed explanation of how this random kid from Corsica who wanted to overthrow French rule there ended up crowning himself Emperor of France was interesting and connected a lot of the dots. I knew he went to Egypt--I didn't realize it was pre-Imperial days. I had no idea he started off with republican leanings, let alone revolutionary sympathies. There are so many points at which he nearly derails himself because of a big mouth and a sharp temper, it's really impressive how far he managed to get.
And you know? I kind of like him now. Oh, he's a completely arrogant bastard, but he works so goddamn hard. And he starts with such a mess, it's a relief in a way to see someone competent start to put it to rights. France was a disaster when he came to power--I can understand why acquiring a military dictator seemed like a good idea. And maybe it was--he was pretty effective at creating reforms and getting taxes back to work and building useful things and reorganizing society to be functional again. And England...well, the English were kind of pricks. They were pissy about France taking control of Europe on the land, but they completely ruled the seas. I don't blame Napoleon for being bitter about it and convinced he needed to challenge their dominance.
This book covers a lot of ground, very thoroughly. It means that there aren't a whole lot of anecdotes, but there is a fair amount of explanation. The author is a military historian, so there are a lot of descriptions of battles, but not to an exhaustive degree. And he covers personal life, as well. It's clear and easy to follow, which I appreciated, with exhaustive primary source footnotes. It's amusing, where appropriate, and dramatic, also where appropriate. It's not light, quite literally--this is the first in a pair of volumes, and it's still impressively weighty. But you'll understand the overall situation well at the end. I'd be interested in reading more of Asprey's books, in fact. After I finish the second volume of this one.
Author: Robert Asprey
Genre: History/biography
Thingummies:4
Synopsis: The first "half" of Napoleon's life--childhood through Austerlitz.
Thoughts: I had a rough idea of French history, along the lines of "king, king, king, REVOLUTION!, Napoleon, king". But I could never quite figure out how they went from heads rolling off the guillotine platform to an Imperial monarch striding about conquering Europe, dripping in ermine. Not to mention that most of my knowledge of this period comes very much from the English perspective--Horatio Hornblower and Jane Austen--with a touch of Tolstoy, in which Napoleon is the devil incarnate a la Hitler or something.
So getting a detailed explanation of how this random kid from Corsica who wanted to overthrow French rule there ended up crowning himself Emperor of France was interesting and connected a lot of the dots. I knew he went to Egypt--I didn't realize it was pre-Imperial days. I had no idea he started off with republican leanings, let alone revolutionary sympathies. There are so many points at which he nearly derails himself because of a big mouth and a sharp temper, it's really impressive how far he managed to get.
And you know? I kind of like him now. Oh, he's a completely arrogant bastard, but he works so goddamn hard. And he starts with such a mess, it's a relief in a way to see someone competent start to put it to rights. France was a disaster when he came to power--I can understand why acquiring a military dictator seemed like a good idea. And maybe it was--he was pretty effective at creating reforms and getting taxes back to work and building useful things and reorganizing society to be functional again. And England...well, the English were kind of pricks. They were pissy about France taking control of Europe on the land, but they completely ruled the seas. I don't blame Napoleon for being bitter about it and convinced he needed to challenge their dominance.
This book covers a lot of ground, very thoroughly. It means that there aren't a whole lot of anecdotes, but there is a fair amount of explanation. The author is a military historian, so there are a lot of descriptions of battles, but not to an exhaustive degree. And he covers personal life, as well. It's clear and easy to follow, which I appreciated, with exhaustive primary source footnotes. It's amusing, where appropriate, and dramatic, also where appropriate. It's not light, quite literally--this is the first in a pair of volumes, and it's still impressively weighty. But you'll understand the overall situation well at the end. I'd be interested in reading more of Asprey's books, in fact. After I finish the second volume of this one.