Books on Napoleonic Wars/Revolutionary France

[PresidentSamTilden]

Hey guys,

I've grown pretty interested in this era recently. Do you have any book recommendations that cover this time period?

[AuH2O Republican]

Lol, I have literally just posted in the current reading thread Andrew Roberts' superb biography of Napoleon called Napoleon The Great.

Half my A Level History course at 6th Form was French Revolution and I have always had an interest in the Napoleonic Era, so I recommend these if you are looking for something more general than Roberts' work on Napoleon and his role (politically and militarily) during that period:

Doyle, William: The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction
Rapport, Mike: The Napoleonic Wars: A Very Short Introduction
(I am a massive fan of Oxford's VSI's and they are always a great launch pad before going into more depth).

Davey, James: In Nelson's Wake: The Navy and the Napoleonic Wars
Doyle, William: The Oxford History of the French Revolution
Esdaile, Charles J.: Napoleon's Wars
Esdaile, Charles J.: The Peninsular War: A New History
Fremont-Barnes, Gregory & Fisher, Todd: The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of An Empire
Hibbert, Christopher: The French Revolution
Schama, Simon: Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution
Strathern, Paul: Napoleon in Egypt -- in my opinion a real underrated part of the Napoleonic Era, considering the impact Napoleon's expedition to Egypt had in the Middle East.
Zamoyski, Adam: 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow

I don't know too many books out there on the French perspective of the Napoleonic Wars, but Andrew Field has written two books, Prelude to Waterloo: Quatre Bras: The French Perspective and Waterloo: The French Perspective.

A guy called Michael V. Leggiere has recently released two volumes on Napoleon's campaigns in "Germany" (not a country at the time, more of a concept like Italy was) which are high on my wish list. Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany: The Franco-Prussian War of 1813. This is a part of the Era I know nothing about so I am looking forward to devouring them.

There are masses of books on this era, with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era really being the birth of early modern Europe.

If you are interested in fiction too, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series (also a TV series) and C. S. Forester's Hornblower series (a TV series too again) are entertaining.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

This is an interesting read:



Concerning Napoleon's Marshals.

[Lumine]

This one's a very specific one, but I have to recommend Stefan Zweig's Fouche. It truly is a fantastic biography of Fouche and his relationship to the various sides he supported at different times (from the Republic to Louis XVIII), and personally it gave me a lot of fascinating insight.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

This one's a very specific one, but I have to recommend Stefan Zweig's Fouche. It truly is a fantastic biography of Fouche and his relationship to the various sides he supported at different times (from the Republic to Louis XVIII), and personally it gave me a lot of fascinating insight.

Damn, you've just reminded me I really need to get a hold on this.

From biographies by Zweig I've read those about Mary Stuart and Marie-Antoinette. I've bough one about Balzac, but haven't started yet.

[Mr. Smith]

If you're okay with fiction, alternate history, and a few looks at China on the side...try the Temeraire series. (Naomi Novik)

It's pretty much the Napoleonic Wars...WITH DRAGONS!

[Orwell]

This is an old old thread, but I think it needs to be said that for historical fiction the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell cannot be recommended enough, I have read, Sharpe's Tiger and Sharpe's Triumph and am currently reading Sharpe's Fortress. For those looking for another series, there is always The Saxon Tales also by Cornwell, though it focuses on a medieval Britain the series is good.