Napoleon Bonaparte

[Manixx]

Hello and happy to join this community of literature lovers. I have a question and I´m sorry if it´s already been answered:

GIven the fact that there are so many books written about Napoleon,

¿Which books or biographies are the most recommended, I mean the most used by say, scholars, and history lovers like me?

Thanks for your help!

;)

[JordanW]

I'd like to know too, I'd love to check out a book on Napoleon.

[jgweed]

Napoleon is as much a symbol as a person, and consequently he is seen either as a hero or a villain in most biographies as well as histories that focus on him. One might read Pieter Geyl's Napoleon, for and against (1949) to understand the controversies surrounding the interpretation of his his life and actions.
In exile on St. Helena, Napoleon dictated his memoirs which is a good a place as any to start, but should obviously be read with caution. J.M.Thompson's Napoleon Bonaparte (1952) seems to be a balanced account.
Perhaps the best way to approach the stack of biographies is to avoid them completely, and read instead the accounts and historical discussions about the period (here, too, some biases exist, but do not dominate as they do in biographies of the Emperor.Begin with the appropriate volume of the New Cambridge Modern History and consult the bibliographies found there.

[Manixx]

Thanks jgweed for your correct and sound advice. This is what I am trying to avoid: Bias. I´ll try the books you recommend and ´m surely going to have a better understanding what Napoleon was like. ;)

JordanW, you too, read these books and enjoy them also.

[jgweed]

For what it is worth, a friend mentioned that he enjoyed reading Frank McLynn's biography (2002). Although it does not have footnotes, he added, the bibliography is very complete and annotated. It might, since it is a more popular book, be a good introduction.

[Pecksie]

There's an old but interesting biography by Emil Ludwig, which was the first Napoleon bio I ever read.

If you want a take on certain specific aspects of his life, I suggest Christopher Hibbert's book about Napoleon's wives and lovers - the most pathetic perhaps being the little Polish countess Walewska, who was coaxed by Polish patriots into the great man's bed, but who fell in love with him and tried to follow him into exile. There are also several intriguing books on his alleged murder by poisoning - whatever your opinion on the subject, some are very well argued and convincing.

[curlyqlink]

Some years ago, I read a Napoleon biography--my first-- written by Alan Schom. Much to my amazement and grief, Schom seems to loathe his subject. The book was informative in the sense that it presented the facts and details of the great man's life, but I found it nothing short of bizarre that an author would spend years researching and writing the life of an historical figure that he despises. Schom goes so far as to claim Napoleon was an incompetent military leader. Just lucky, I guess...

Every empire builder can be seen as a monster, so I understand the Napoleon "controversy". But it seems both unfair and absurd to apply contemporary standards in judging an historical figure. I'm not sure biographers ought to be in the business of passing judgment on the people they're writing about, anyway.

Adrian Goldsworthy abstained from doing either in his excellent biography Caesar. If there's such a biography of Napoleon, I'd love to read it.

[Manixx]

Perhaps the best way to approach the stack of biographies is to avoid them completely, and read instead the accounts and historical discussions about the period (here, too, some biases exist, but do not dominate as they do in biographies of the Emperor.Begin with the appropriate volume of the New Cambridge Modern History and consult the bibliographies found there.


http://www.amazon.com/New-Cambridge-Modern-History-Revolutions/dp/0521291089/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215811464&sr=8-4



I´d say this is the one. :alien:

[blackbird_9]

Read his love letters. Such big passion for such a little man... who wasn't really as short as everyone says he is.

[PabloQ]

I went searching for a book about Napoleon when I was reading Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series and the Hornblower books. Cornwell recommended Age of Napoleon by J. Christopher Herold on his web site and I found very interesting. There's tons of information out the on old Boney, so choose what you like.
There's so much literature written about this time period and around this time period. War and Peace, Vanity Fair, The Red and the Black.