
Books on Napoleon - deepbow
https://fivebooks.com/best-books/napoleon-andrew-roberts/
======
mo1ok
I read Napoleon: A life - it was a great book with fascinating insights.

For example, Napoleon's first big break came not particularly from outstanding
competence but because, in the midst of the french revolution, all reputable
officers had fled for the hills in fear of getting guillotined. Napoleon was
one of the only halfway competent officers still around in Paris, so they
picked him for a mission where he performed heroically.

Additionally, the myth that Napoleon only slept for 4 hours a night is both
true in false. It's literally true, but he was known for falling asleep in the
middle of roundtable meetings, and all those who were afraid of him didn't
dare wake him - so his lieutenants just sat in silence for an hour while he
dozed off!

Lastly, his infamous defeat in Russia was initially a sound plan - he was
going to capture Moscow and spend the winter there - and he actually defeated
the Russian army in combat, forcing them into a retreat. What was incredibly
audacious of the Russians was that they _burned their own capital city to the
ground_ in order to prevent Napoleon from wintering there, which was
incredibly brutal and unexpected. It's like the modern equivalent of American
military command nuking NYC to prevent its federal gold reserves from being
taking.

~~~
AmericanOP
The detailed account of the continent-wide collapse of the napoleonic system
after his return was riveting, in no small part because it actually happened.

------
vondur
If anyone here wants more info regarding the French Revolution, I heartily
recommend listening to the Revolutions podcast by Mike Duncan. He really goes
into detail into the French Revolution and of course covers the period Of
Napoléon.

~~~
pmoriarty
I tried listening to that, but found it incredibly dull. I much prefer
Hardcore History, and it's a pity Dan Carlin hasn't yet done a series on the
French Revolution.

~~~
smogcutter
I love Carlin, especially his series about the Persian empire, but for my
taste he gets too caught up in military history. You can tell he’s a tabletop
wargamer. Mike Duncan isn’t nearly as gripping a storyteller (practically no
one is), but he covers events from a more holistic point of view.

If you started Revolutions from the beginning and gave up, maybe give it
another try with a later episode. IMO the first series, on the English civil
war, is the weakest one I’ve listened to.

~~~
pmoriarty
Yeah, I agree that Carlin is primarily a fan of the military side of things,
and that's really what he focuses on. I do enjoy a wider view than one merely
focusing on the military side, and for that I've found a pretty good podcast
called Literature and History, hosted by Doug Metzger. It's no Hardcore
History, but, as you point out, nothing is.

By the way, my favorite Hardcore History series was Wrath of the Khans, and I
can heartily recommend it to anyone who hasn't tasted Hardcore History before.
Last time I looked it was still free on his site, so get it while you still
can.

------
Dirlewanger
Napoleon is underrated not only as a military general, but as a builder of
civilization and a visionary of what it could be. Too often he's just seen as
another general who was pretty good during that time when warfare was very
orderly and everyone wore garish uniform. But countries were scared of him,
_deftly scared_ of him (especially Great Britain, but mainly because they
didn't want another country that wanted to conquer the world as much as they
did). There's a reason why Europe went ~100 years without another continent-
wide war.

------
pmoriarty
I was just listening to an audiobook recording of _Resolute Determination:
Napoleon and the French Empire_ by Donald MG Sutherland, which was ok.

As someone almost completely ignorant of the history of the French Revolution
and of Napoleon, I was surprised by a number of things:

First, that Napoleon was Corsican, and actually originally a militant Corsican
nationalist, and not from the French mainland. He had an Italian accent for
which he was made fun of. He wasn't a good orator, though he was a master of
written French.

Second, that Napoleon was poverty stricken and completely unknown, though well
read, before his rise to fame. Right up to the point of becoming emperor, he
was greatly underestimated, even by some of the most perspicacious of minds,
partially due to prejudices that might at first glance seem to be of his time
and place, but many similar prejudices that could blind people to others'
potential are alive and well even now.

Third and most depressing, was the brutality with which Napoleon, the soldiers
under him, many in the Revolution and various wars acted, with the wanton
slaughter of their enemies, prisoners, and civilians.

Listening to this just made me ever more convinced that revolutions only bring
endless bloodshed, cruelty, and sorrow.

------
pvg
I haven't read Andrew Roberts's book but picked up and enjoyed an even more
recent bio by Adam Zamoyski also titled _Napoleon: A Life_. It's much less
focused on the military details and is framed more like the story of an
ambitious Corsican family, centered on its very successful son.

~~~
AmericanOP
Also recommended

------
RcouF1uZ4gsC
> Britain and France are continuously at war from 1803 onwards until
> Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815, a period of war unmatched in any of
> the other coalitions. What do you think is the main motivation for why the
> Brits are so uncompromising?

This actually short-changes how much Britain and France actually fought during
this time. This is the tail end of what some historians call the Second
Hundred Years' War:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Hundred_Years%27_War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Hundred_Years%27_War)

Here is the list of conflicts during that time

Nine Years' War (1688–1697)

War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714)

War of the Austrian Succession (1742–1748)

Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755)

2nd Carnatic War (1749–1754)

Seven Years' War (1756–1763)

Anglo-French War (1778–1783)

French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802)

Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815)

------
smogcutter
Also, for those interested in the military side, check out Swords Around a
Throne, John Elting’s excruciatingly detailed history of the Grande Armee, or
anything by Brent Nosworthy.

