World History

Last edited Fri Nov 14, 2025, 04:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Obviously, many authors have written about Napoleon; in this case there was some emphasis by publisher and author that this is a single-volume work. So the alternatives may be daunting.

That probably has a lot to do with the fact that I never read a book specifically about Napoleon.

(Interesting tidbit: Gaspard Monge, Joseph Fourier, and a number of other accomplished scientists were invited by Napoleon on his Egyptian campaign. The Institute they founded survived Napoleon's time, but the building was burned and most of its contents destroyed during the "Arab Spring" revolt.)

I just finished the chapter on Egypt -- the Egyptian campaign was a military disaster, with Napoleon losing (or abandoning!) two-thirds of his initial force of 33,000 men and almost all of his ships. But when he returned to France, the populace was still celebrating the news of his earlier victories and greeted his arrival with wild enthusiasm! As one of his detractors put it, "the devil's spawn has the devil's luck", or as we might call it today, failing upwards.

Knowing the details of the Egyptian campaign (which few did at the time; BP was a truly audacious and prolific liar) might have provided some warning about how that "let's invade Russia next" idea was likely to work out.



ETA: I've since learned Schom's book has been very controversial, especially his conclusion that Napoleon was poisoned. Hard to know whether this is just due to a Napoleon-worshipping "old guard" or genuine shortcomings of his work. He also wrote a controversial report claiming that Switzerland had established concentration camps on its soil during WWII. So .... take with a grain of salt, at least.