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Jerome Bonaparte: The War Years, 1800-1815 (Contributions in Military Studies)

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Professor Glenn Lamar has provided a fast-pace, scholarly, yet interesting account of the career, experiences, and loves of Napoleon Bonaparte's youngest brother, Jerome. Professor Lamar sets the record straight regarding many controversies that surround the young Bonaparte, such as his role at the infamous battle of Waterloo in June of 1815, which brought his great brother to his knees. Lamar's research is impecable; he has drawn information from all of the major French archives, including the French military archives: the Archives de la guerre, and the French state archives: the Archives Nationales. Lamar, a graduate of the prestigious Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution at Florida State University, has published numerous essays on French history, as well as specific aspects of the career of Jerome Bonaparte. This book, Lamar's inaugural work, not only provides a model for historical scholarship, but is highly entertaining for the scholar, novice, and buff. Readers learn how the young Jerome, laboring in the shadow of his famous brother, strove to make a name for himself in the French navy; how he became stranded in Baltimore and not only won over that city's high society, but also took Elizabeth Patterson as his American wife. Read the sad story of this ill-fated marriage as Napoleon--Jerome's only father figure--had political plans for his young ward and thus destroyed the marriage before Elizabeth ever stepped foot on French soil. Like the rest of his siblings, Jerome received his reward for doing as his brother wished when Napoleon appointed him to be King of the German state of Westphalia. Other chapters include Jerome's controversial role in the disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia in which Napoleon lost almost 500,000 men. One of the real merits of Lamar's book, however, is to illustrate the inner workings of the Bonaparte family. Napoleon awarded his siblings crowns all over Europe; Joseph became King of Spain, Louis was King of Holland, Jerome, the flamboyant playboy King of Westphalia, and Caroline took the throne of Naples. He demanded strict obedience from his siblings, and Lamar's book offers a fresh insight into Napoleon's relations with his family. This book will be highly satisfying to a broad array of readers.