Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)

One of the greatest military leaders in history, and emperor of France he conquered much of Europe.

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on 15 August 1769 in Corsica into a gentry family. Educated at military school, he was rapidly promoted and in 1796, was made commander of the French army in Italy, where he forced Austria and its allies to make peace. In 1798, Napoleon conquered Ottoman-ruled Egypt in an attempt to strike at British trade routes with India. He was stranded when his fleet was destroyed by the British at the Battle of the Nile.

France now faced a new coalition - Austria and Russia had allied with Britain. Napoleon returned to Paris where the government was in crisis. In a coup d'etat in November 1799, Napoleon became first consul. In 1802, he was made consul for life and two years later, emperor. He oversaw the centralisation of government, the creation of the Bank of France, the reinstatement of Roman Catholicism as the state religion and law reform with the Code Napoleon.

In 1800, he defeated the Austrians at Marengo. He then negotiated a general European peace which established French power on the continent. In 1803 Britain resumed war with France, later joined by Russia and Austria. Britain inflicted a naval defeat on the French at Trafalgar (1805) so Napoleon abandoned plans to invade England and turned on the Austro-Russian forces, defeating them at Austerlitz later the same year. He gained much new territory, including annexation of Prussian lands which ostensibly gave him control of Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, Holland and Westphalia created, and over the next 5 years, Napoleon's relatives and loyalists were installed as leaders (in Holland, Westphalia, Italy, Naples, Spain and Sweden).

In 1810, he had his childless marriage to Josephine de Beauharnais annulled and married the daughter of the Austrian emperor in the hope of having an heir. A son, Napoleon, was born a year later.

The Peninsular War began in 1808. Costly French defeats over the next five years drained French military resources. Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 resulted in a disastrous retreat. The tide started to turn in favour of the allies and in March 1814, Paris fell. Napoleon went into exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba. In March 1815 he escaped and marched on the French capital. The Battle of Waterloo ended his brief reign. The British imprisoned him on the remote Atlantic island of St. Helena where he died on 5 May 1821.


Napoleon and His Parents: on the Threshold of History


It would seem appropriate first of all to express surprise at how a book so recently published can now be out of print. Can it really have sold so poorly? However, I would argue that although this state of affairs is unfortunate it nonetheless enhances the reputation of this unique and valuable work. Indeed, I consider myself a very lucky individual to own a copy.

One is immediately struck by the quality of the prose and, while some may expect nothing less from an Oxford graduate in English Literature, there are undoubtedly numerous books of this type, which lose their way as a result of a convoluted style. Clearly this is not a subject that lends itself to fluency and accessibility thus all the more reason to commend the author for doing so. Carrington's expert knowledge shines throughout, reminding the reader that this is someone passionate about her writing.

To her credit, Carrington structured the book well. It is divided into eight chapters of invariably equal length, making the book suitably concise. There is also an appendix containing some useful documents, mostly letters written by Carlo Bonaparte, Napoleon's father. More importantly the notes and bibliography provide essential material for scholars.

Naturally a book on Napoleon's youth and his parents will discuss Corsican history in the mid-eighteenth century; the declaration of independence and formation of a constitution (1755), twenty-one years before the Americans, the subsequent fight for survival against the Genoese and French (once the island had been sold to them in 1768) and finally the civil war which was still raging when the Bonapartes were exiled in 1793. One can't help feeling that the only reason we have come to know so much about the history of this small island is because it gave birth to Europe's most famous individual and we believe that through such knowledge we come to a better understanding of Napoleon the man. This is simply not true and, as Carrington makes clear in the book's latter chapters, the moulding of Napoleon's character owed more to his experiences as a pupil and soldier in France during the 1780s than the time spent in Corsica beforehand. Having said that, when Napoleon returned to Corsica in the early 1790s, he immediately and enthusiastically embroiled himself in several political disputes involving his family. Carrington does not adequately explore the true significance of this phase in the young man's life. The intensely family-orientated, violent and corrupt culture of 18th century Corsica was the political cauldron in which Napoleon acquired his first political experiences. Therefore its significance lies in what it can potentially tell us about Napoleon's character, values, style of rule and political philosophy.

Carlo Bonaparte's life eventually became inextricably linked with the history of Corsica. He was an assistant to the nationalist Paoli before his collaboration with the French reaped huge benefits in the form of ennoblement and lucrative political placements. Letizia Bonaparte, the pretty, taciturn and reserved teenager who married the ambitious Carlo is shown in her true colours. More has been written about her than Carlo if only because Napoleon in later life attributed his success to her qualities as a mother. One notable episode tells of how Letizia dealt with Napoleon's misbehaviour on the way back from church. Rather than shout at him immediately she waited until they returned home and hid in Napoleon's bedroom where, upon his entering, she launched a rocket on the unsuspecting child. Napoleon understandably never forgot that day.