Shadows of Revolution by Bell David A.;

Author:Bell, David A.;
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Published: 2015-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

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Just Like Us: Writing Napoleon’s Life

over the years, i have written about many biographies of Napoleon. In some cases, it has been a depressing experience. Reviewing the first, deeply flawed volume of a planned two-volume set, I gently suggested that the author learn from his subject and stop before he got to Russia (the author, needless to say, failed to comply). I have also been amused at the way authors have claimed originality for their books by highlighting the previously untapped sources they have used. If Napoleon had been like Shakespeare, who left few traces in the historical record beyond his plays, new sources would indeed matter. But given the ocean of material we have about Napoleon’s supremely well-documented life, no new material is going to matter much, unless it reveals some truly spectacular new facts. (Did he escape from Saint Helena, leaving a double to take his place? Did he die of poison, as conspiracy theorists have long believed?) Not the least of the merits of Steven Englund’s biography, which I discuss in this essay, is that instead of protesting its originality, it simply demonstrates it, through its writing and analysis.

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