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General Interest Books

General Interest Books

Ambrose, Stephen.
To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian

Reviewed by Robert Burnham

Essays by a best-selling American author on history and the writing thereof. . .

Alexander, R.S.
Napoleon

Reviewed by Thomas J. Vance

An intriguing book tracing
the development of Napoleon’s image from 1815 to the current day and
Napoleon’s presence in the popular media…

Napoleon
Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

A look at looking at Napoleon…

Amini, Iradj
Napoleon and Persia: Franco-Persian Relations Under the First Empire

Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

The strange story of Napoleon’s flirtation with Persia…

Andress, David. 
The Savage Storm: Britain on the Brink in the Age of Napoleon

Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

A broad survey of the political, social and military
events in Britain during the Age of Napoleon…

Anonymous
Regency Etiquette; The Mirror of Graces (1811), By a Lady of Distinction.

Reviewed by Anne Woodley

Atkinson, John A.
British Duelling Pistols

Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

What happened when gentlemen went armed.
. .

Austin, Paul Britten
1815: The Return of Napoleon
Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

The human story of the Hundred Day. . .

Boileau, John.
Half-Hearted Enemies: Nova Scotia, New England and the War of 1812

Reviewed by John R. Grodzinski

Vignettes of the War of 1812 in Nova Scotia…

Bonaparte, Napoleon
Napoleon on Love

Reviewed by Ira Grossman

Napoleon on love.

Brown, Colin.
The Scum of the Earth; What Happened to the Real British Heroes of Waterloo?

Reviewed by Robert Burnham

Fascinating look into the post-Waterloo lives of Britain’s soldiers…

Burrows, Simon
French Exile Journalism and European Politics, 1792 – 1814
Reviewed by Dave Hollins

A fascinating study of the clandestine world of émigré journalism…

Buttery, David
Waterloo Battlefield Guide

Reviewed by Ron McGuigan

A history and guidebook to the battlefield of
Waterloo…

Cardoza, Thomas
Intrepid Women: Cantinières and Vivandières of the French Army

Reviewed by Eman M. Vovsi

The women
who marched into battle with France’s armies…

Carmigniani, Juan-Carlos and Gilles Boué
Napoleon and Italy: a Military History of Napoleonic Italy, 1805 – 1815

Reviewed by Robert Burnham

 Richly illustrated look at the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy…

Collins, Irene
Napoleon And His Parliaments 1800-1815

Reviewed by Max Sewell

This out-of-print work explains how the parliaments worked,
its evolution and deficiencies, and how Napoleon was able to use this
system to organize and stabilize French life, establish laws, and center
power in the hands of his person, and how he believed that this was
not only just, but a perfect expression of the will of the people.

Crook, Malcolm
Napoleon Comes to Power: Democracy and Dictatorship in Revolutionary France, 1795-1804

Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

A good, but brief overview of Napoleon’s coup d’etat
of Brumaire…

Crumplin, M.K.H. and P. Starling
A Surgical Artist at War: the Paintings and Sketches of Sir Charles Bell 1809 – 1815

Reviewed by Robert Burnham

An unique look at the aftermath of battle. . .

Daly, Gavin
Inside Napoleonic France: State and Society in Rouen, 1800-1815
Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

The best look at life inside Napoleonic France from the ground up…

Esdaile, Charles J.
Outpost of Empire: the Napoleonic Occupation of Andalucía, 1810 – 1812
Reviewed by Robert Burnham

A must-read account of the French occupation
of Andalucia…

Napoleon, France and Waterloo: The Eagle Rejected
Reviewed by Steve Brown

A revealing look at Napoleon’s “Home Front” in 1815…

Frayling, Christopher
Napoleon Wrote Fiction

Reviewed by Ira Grossman

Napoleon on love.

Frye, Major W. E.
After Waterloo; Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-19

Reviewed by Anne Woodley

An interesting, but odd, look at the state of Western Europe
immediately after the end of the Napoleonic Wars…

Geyl, Pieter
Napoleon: For and Against

Reviewed by Tom Miller

A classic look at Napoleon from all sides….

Glover, Gareth
Waterloo in 100 Objects

Reviewed by Robert Burnham

Colorful, eclectic look at the objects surrounding the famous battle…

Grehan, John
The Hunt for Moore’s Gold: Investigating the Loss of the British Army’s Military Chest during the Retreat to Corunna

Reviewed by Robert Burnham

The story of a retreat and a search for lost treasure…

Grocott, Terence
Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras

Revied by Robert Burnham

Men go down to the sea in ships
and ships go down in the sea with men. . .

Hattem, Mark Van; Mariska Pool; and Mathieu Willemsen (editors)
In the Wake of Napoleon: the Dutch in Time of War, 1792-1815
Reviewed by Bas en Jikke de Groot

A well-researched, extensively illustrated look at the Netherlands
during the Napoleonic era…

Haynes, Christine
Our Friends the Enemies: The Occupation of France after Napoleon

Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

A detailed look at the making of peace following the end of the Napoleonic wars…

Hazareesingh, Sudhir
The Legend of Napoleon
Reviewed by: Tom Holmberg

A history of the Napoleon of the imagination…

Hofschröer, Peter
Wellington’s Smallest Victory: The Duke, the Model Maker and the Secret of Waterloo
Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

With Wellington, as in war, truth is the first casualty. . .

Hore, Peter (editor)
The Trafalgar Chronicle. Dedicated to Naval History in the Nelson Era

Reviewed by Donald Graves

Informative treasure trove of Napoleonic era naval history…

Horne, Alistair
The Age of Napoleon
Reviewed by Alexander Mikaberidze

Alistair Horne’s interesting overview of the era for general readers…

Jeffery, Brian
España de la Guerra: the Spanish Political Songs of the War in Spain 1808 to 1814

Reviewed by Robert Burnham

An unusual look at how Spanish popular songs helped to defeat Napoleon…

Jourdan, Annie
L’empire de Napoléon

Reviewed by John Lawrence Tone

Napoleon’s empire, despotic and modern…

Leggiere, Michael V.
The Fall of Napoleon: The Allied Invasion of France, 1813–1814
Reviewed by Alexander Mikaberidze

First volume in an in-depth look on the 1814 campaign…

Lucas, Mark Grenville
The Consequences of Honour: Bonaparte, Britain and the Peace of Amiens

Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

The momentous year of peace between the Revolutionary
Wars and the Napoleonic Wars…

Markham, J. David
Napoleon for Dummies
Reviewed by Doug La Follette

Napoleon for Dummies a real winner!

Napoleon for Dummies
Reviewed by Diane Parkinson

A brief overview of Napoleon’s varied and controversial career…

The Road to St Helena, Napoleon after Waterloo
Reviewed by Susan Howard

A new account of Napoleon’s “missing” month…

Muir, Rory
Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune: How Younger Sons Made Their Way in Jane Austen’s England
Reviewed by Robert Burnham

 Fascinating look at the lives of younger sons of Britain’s aristocracy…

Murray, Venetia
An Elegant Madness: High Society in Regency England

Reviewed by Anne Woodley

A disappointing look at life among the smart set of Regency England…

Paret, Peter
Yorck and the Era of Prussian Reform, 1807-1815
Reviewed by Kevin Kiley

An excellent look at Prussian Army politics that deserves to be reprinted…

Patat,
Jean-Pierre.
1814: Trahisons et Reniements

Reviewed by Susan Howard

A review of the “treasons” and “denials” of the main players of 1814…

Philp, Mark
Resisting Napoleon: the British Response to the Threat of Invasion, 1797-1815
Reviewed by Susan Howard

Essays exploring the range of British resistance to the
French…

Price, Munro
Napoleon, the End of Glory

Reviewed by Susan Howard

A substantial and satisfying study of the military, political and diplomatic aspects of the period before Napoleon’s first abdication…

Scanlan, Paidric X.
Freedom’s Debtors: British Antislavery in Sierra Leone in the Age of Revolution

Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

The end of the slave trade was not the end of their story…

Semmel, Stuart
Napoleon and the British
Reviewed by Tom Holmberg

A look at the protean views of Napoleon by the British…

Smith, Digby
The Decline and Fall of Napoleon’s Empire
Reviewed by: Frank Müller

A concise look at Napoleon’s decline and
fall. . .

The Decline and Fall of Napoleon’s Empire
Reviewed by: Alexander Mikaberidze

A brief look at Napoleon’s many errors. . .

Sparrow, Elizabeth
Secret Service: British Agents in France, 1792-1815

Reviewed by Dave Hollins

A highly recommended look at the shadowy world of Napoleonic espionage.

Secret Service: British Agents in France, 1792-1815
Reviewed by Kevin Kiley

The mysterious world of Napoleonic
espionage…

Talty, Stephan.
The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon’s Greatest Army

Reviewed by Cristóbal S. Berry-Cabán

Napoleon
learns that you avoid medical advice at your own risk…

Uffindell, Andrew
Napoleon’s Chicken Marengo: Creating the Myth of the Emperor’s Favorite Dish
Reviewed by Robert Burnham

The fascinating story of the dish forever linked to Napoleon…

Urban, March
The Man Who Broke Napoleon’s Codes

Reviewed by Robert Burnham

How an obscure staff officer helped Wellington win the war…

Villepin, Dominique
Les Cent-Jours, ou l’Esprit de Sacrifice
(Review in English)
Les Cent-Jours,
ou l’Esprit de Sacrifice
(Review in French)
Reviewed by Dominique Contant

A bestseller from France on the Hundred Days written by a man who
knows politics intimately…

Woloch, Isser
Napoleon and His Collaborators: The Making of a Dictatorship
Reviewed by: Alexander Stavropoulos

Isser Woloch assesses the men behind the man…

Napoleon and His Collaborators: The Making of a Dictatorship
Reviewed by: Christopher Gibbs

A fascinating tale of Napoleon’s collaborators and the consolidation
of power…

Wright,
Christine
Wellington’s Men in Australia: Peninsular War Veterans and the Making of Empire c.1820-40

Reviewed by Steve Brown

An in-depth look at the Australian diaspora of Wellington’s veterans. . .

Zarzeczny, Matthew D.
An Analysis and Critique of Three Recent Articles on Religion During the French Revolution

How modern historians view religion in Revolutionary France.

Comments on Good and Bad Review Essays concerning Recent Napoleonic Historiography

A look at how different historians viewed Napoleon by reviewing their
essays on the man.