Customer Reviews

Napoleon For Dummies

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Napoleon for Dummies a real winner!

J. David Markham's latest book, Napoleon for Dummies, is the perfect book for someone who wants to get the lowdown on Napoleon. It combines outstanding scholarship (Markham is a top international Napoleonic scholar and award-winning author) with the easy reading style associated with the Dummies series, and takes the reader beyond the stereotypes and to the real Napoleon. If the rest of the biographies in this new series are anywhere as good as Markham's biography of Napoleon, then Wiley Publishers will have created a real winner.

The first thing you discover when you read Napoleon for Dummies is that it really isn't for dummies at all. It is for people who enjoy a good read and would like to find out more about Napoleon. As one would expect, Markham writes in an easy, accessible style that should appeal to all readers. The book is well-organized and easy to follow. In his introduction, Markham explains why we should even care about Napoleon, giving examples of why that great man was important both to people of his time and to those of us living in the 21st century.

In successive chapters, Markham traces Napoleon's life from his early days on Corsica to his career-ending defeats and exile. Throughout this discussion, Markham points out both good and bad decisions, and does not hesitate to call some of Napoleon's actions into questions. It is also clear, however, that Markham sees Napoleon as a positive force in history. But this feeling is based on careful analysis of Napoleon and his legacy, an analysis which is easy to read and important to understand.

Markham next turns to a discussion of some of the innovations associated with Napoleon. Now the book becomes a bit more like a traditional Dummies book, providing the reader with a ready reference to various aspects of Napoleon's contributions. Markham discusses such issues as Napoleon's military innovations, his approach to politics and governing, his economic and legal contributions, his promotion of religious freedom, his diplomacy and his contributions - intended and unintended - towards a united Europe.

For many people, the story of Napoleon is one of romance, and Markham does a wonderful job telling the story of Napoleon's loves. We learn of his two wives, Josephine and Marie Louise, and we also learn of Napoleon's earliest loves, his mistress in Egypt and, perhaps most romantic of all, of his Polish mistress.

In the tradition of Dummies books, Markham closes his discussion with several chapters in a "Part of Tens" section. These include interesting discussions of Napoleonic battlefields, additional references, a time line and maps. The chapter in this section that I found most interesting was the one where Markham discusses a number of pieces of advice that he would have given to Napoleon (with, of course, the great advantage of hindsight).

In short, if you want to read a really good book on Napoleon, or if you just want to read a really good book, I highly recommend that you try Napoleon for Dummies.

I'm not a historian, I'm a musician who studied French in high school and college. I bought this book because I was curious about the relationship between France and Denmark during the Napoleonic years. I honestly could not put the book down and couldn't talk about anything other than Napoleon for several weeks after I read this book. Markham's conversational and humorous approach is very engaging and I found it so refreshing to hear something other than the British or American point of view.

The For Dummies series made a brilliant choice in choosing J. David Markham to write this Napoleon for Dummies. Although this book is by its nature a popular history, its author is nonetheless one of the world's most internationally recognized Napoleonic scholars. Markham's writing style is easy to read and he covers his subject in a way that is both informative and fascinating. He gives excellent coverage to the normal topics covered in a biography of Napoleon, and adds significant "in depth" discussion of other topics as well. Throughout it all, Markham gives the reader the best over-all portrait of Napoleon that I have seen in any biography of one of history's most interesting and complex leaders. Markham includes some 70 Napoleonic images from his personal collection of historical artifacts, which makes the book all the more interesting and useful.
In his book, Markham provides a concise overview of Napoleonic religious freedoms and liberties that focuses on the Concordat with the papacy and the promotion of Jewish freedom. He also discusses how Napoleon "tried to negotiate a peace with Great Britain [in 1811], anticipating that her difficulties with the United States might make her, finally, willing to come to terms with France," but again these negotiations also failed. Had Britain and France made peace, war with Russia might not have been necessary, as Russia would no longer find itself raising concerns over the Continental System. And so, Napoleon found himself in the unfortunate position of having to militarily enforce the 1807 peace agreement. We can see from the above series of events and diplomacy that while Napoleon long regarded Europe as a singular entity, his plan to unify Europe had an amorphous and constantly developing nature that could not have achieved a more definitive or concrete direction until after all of Europe, including England, would have been pacified in the years following the crucial year of 1812.
In that year, the notion of Napoleon as a sort of reincarnation of a certain Macedonian conqueror reemerged. David Markham explains that in 1812, "some thought Napoleon would not stop with Russia. These people believed that after Napoleon defeated Russia and once again secured Alexander's friendship, he would follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great and march all the way to India." But as we know, in spite of Napoleon's battle victories and occupation of Moscow, peace overtures to Tsar Alexander and Field Marshal Mikhail Kutusov were met with silence, and 1812 proved to be a disastrous year for Napoleon.
Considering the title of my master's thesis (Napoleon's European Union: The Grand Empire of the United States of Europe), I especially appreciated Markham's succinct overview of Napoleon's vision of a United States of Europe in his chapter titled "Creating a New United Europe." The visual evidence includes a medallion showing "Napoleon (wearing the laurel wreath crown of the Caesars) and Charlemagne together" that is particularly revealing of Napoleon's effort to identify with past emperors in European history and synthesize elements of their imperial iconography.
I am especially pleased to see that Markham included sections on Napoleon's religious policies and vision of European unity (Napoleon for Dummies), as well as comparisons of Napoleon to earlier leaders like Alexander the Great (Road to Glory). I do hope that Markham gets to do a Julius Caesar for Dummies book as well, and it would be great if eventually they come out with for Dummies books on Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, and even Napoleon III! I think that when I am a professor I will indeed use this as a reference book for my students. It's easy and enjoyable to read and I think that it would work quite well, particularly for undergraduates. It must have been fun to write! I hope that it sells well!

Historian J. David Markham is one of the major veterans of the Napoleonic fields, but unlike many others, he has managed to liberate Napoleon from the tyrannical grasp of the educated elite and has made him available to the general public. Too often when a biography of Napoleon is attempted, it is either too specific to be understood by the average person, too broad to be of any use, or simply repetitive of past biographies.

What has been achieved here is a book that presents the General, Revolutionary, First Consul, Emperor, and Refugee in a new fashion. While his military campaigns are explained in their overall aim and execution, the rest of his career is not disregarded as it so often tends to be. Domestic reforms are discussed, as well as his relation to the Jews and the contributions he made to the creation of modern Europe.

Furthermore, of particular importance, this book contains a fair and balanced view of Napoleon. Although that may sound obvious, far too often history of this period, despite having passed over two-hundred years ago, is presented in a very slanted way, the victim of political and nationalist ambitions, especially in Commonwealth countries. This book, however, manages to steer clear of this, and although the author is positively disposed towards Napoleon, his work presents all aspects of his life in a balanced manner, a rare feat. Overall, the book is a real gem. It is the perfect introduction for people new to Napoleon, and for those more experienced students and enthusiasts it is full of enough useful information to still serve as a good reference book. I would recommend this book not to dummies, but to everyone! A quick, easy, and fascinating read!

Very interesting read about one of the most successful military leaders in the history of mankind. Keeps things interesting, and provides an overall understanding of this unique man, who is originally from Corsica, which was actually a part of Italy at the time of his birth. All kinds of interesting tidbits. Highly recommend this book.

This history is enjoyable and easy to read. The editorial commentary on Napoleon's successes and failures makes the book read like a TV week-in-review interview and gives it a fresh feel.

Life doesn't get much better than a Dummies or Complete Idiot's Guide that is well written and chockful of interesting information in an easy to read and understand format. We watched the Napolean A&E DVD recently (excellent) and became interested in learning more about Napoleon. We have all heard the name but until I started reading about him in this book I didn't know more more than his name. I certainly didn't realize that the French people loved him so much that he escaped and returned to rule another 100 days. This is a nice addition of my history collection and a reference book for years to come.

The book was very easy reading, funny and to the point. The author truly loves Napoleon so I am wondering what slant he has put on the book. But I still enjoyed it very much.