Napoleon in Egypt [Paperback]

Paul Strathern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2009

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte, only twenty-eight, set sail for Egypt with 335 ships, 40,000 soldiers, and a collection of scholars, artists, and scientists to establish an eastern empire. He saw himself as a liberator, freeing the Egyptians from oppression. But Napoleon wasn’t the first—nor the last—who tragically misunderstood Muslim culture. Marching across seemingly endless deserts in the shadow of the pyramids, pushed to the limits of human endurance, his men would be plagued by mirages, suicides, and the constant threat of ambush. A crusade begun in honor would degenerate into chaos. And yet his grand failure also yielded a treasure trove of knowledge that paved the way for modern Egyptology—and it tempered the complex leader who believed himself destined to conquer the world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In 1797, eight years after the French Revolution, an obscure general, Napoleon Bonaparte, became a national hero after a brilliant campaign in Italy. Equally impressed with his own genius, he formed the idea of conquering Egypt and, like his idol, Alexander, marching on to India. Nonfiction author and award-winning novelist Strathern (Big Idea: Scientists Who Changed the World) turns up plenty of surprises in an enthralling history of the first of Napoleon's world-class debacles. With extraordinary logistical skill and luck, Napoleon led 40,000 men and hundreds of ships across the Mediterranean to Alexandria in 1798. Defeating local armies and occupying the capital, Cairo, proved easy, but difficulties arose despite genuine efforts to replace a corrupt government with French ideals of freedom and justice. A nasty insurgency developed; Admiral Nelson destroyed Napoleon's fleet; and the British also frustrated his invasion of Palestine. Abandoning his tattered army after a year under brutal desert conditions, Napoleon returned to France, pronouncing the invasion an unqualified success. Stories of powerful men making disastrous decisions have an endless fascination, and Strathern makes the most of it in this entertaining account. Illus., maps. (Oct. 21)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Here is a compelling narrative of an epic collision between two civilizations. In May 1798, Napoléon Bonaparte launched his ill-fated invasion of Egypt. Among his 40,000 invading troops (the Army of the Orient) was a small group of French scholars whom Napoléon included in the expedition for the sole purpose of examining all aspects of Egyptian culture. Although the French fought magnificently, the ravages of disease and British naval power brought them to their knees—but not before Napoléon's "savants" unveiled the grandeur of an ancient civilization and changed forever perceptions of the history of humankind. In this riveting account of that colossal campaign, British writer and philosopher Strathern ("Philosophers in 90 Minutes" series) evokes the incredible hardships endured by French soldiers in an unforgiving land. At the same time, he offers a poignant view of a Muslim society overwhelmed by invaders who brought death and destruction in the name of brotherhood and equality. Strathern's skillful use of memoir and other primary sources brings to life one of the most fascinating campaigns in military history. Libraries that have already purchased Juan Cole's Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East should still consider this more cohesive and less didactic account of a long-ignored Napoleonic misadventure. Specialists should also be intrigued by Strathern's analysis of the complex motives for France's invasion of Egypt. Highly recommended for both academic and public libraries.—Jim Doyle, Rome, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Reprint edition (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553385240
• ISBN-13: 978-0553385243
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #605,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Devil is in the Details, March 10, 2009

By 

Diotima "Mantinea" (Western Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Napoleon in Egypt (Hardcover)

It's the careless statements about collateral details which cast doubt on the accuracy of the main narrative. For example:

page 7: Alexander's "body was brought back to Alexandria to be buried in a magnificent tomb, made of gold and glass". Not the tomb. The original coffin was made of gold and later replaced by Ptolemy X about 89 BC with one of glass (or, more likely, translucent calcite).

page 79: "Dolomieu ... discovered a seven-ton stone sarcophagus covered in hieroglyphs which he took to be the long-lost tomb of Alexander the Great. ... Several decades later this sarcophagus would be identified as that of Nectanebo I". Actually Nectanebo II. (The author might have given us the sequel: that is, the rumour that Napoleon had wanted to be buried in the sarcophagus of his hero, Alexander, and so had it sent off to France in 1801. But the ship was captured by the British and the sarcophagus ended up in the British Museum.)

page 56: "Nelson ... was a battle-scared veteran, having lost his right eye leading his men ashore at Corsica". Not quite. He lost the "sight" of his right eye not the eyeball. (He never wore an eye-patch.)

page 136: Cairo's police chief, Barthelemy, is described as being "habitually dressed in a large white turban". This is unlikely as he was "a Greek Christian". In the Ottoman Empire, only Moslems were allowed to wear white turbans. Greeks had to wear blue and Jews yellow turbans.

page 160: "Nelson watched from the "Vanguard" as the sun sank behind the fort at the end of the Aboukir peninsula..." and the author then goes on to describe a great deal of the "Battle of the Nile" until "around eight p.m." as if the conflict had taken place in the dark. In fact, at Alexandria on August 1, sunset does not occur until 19:56 and twilight lasts until 20:22. The author could have found this out by simply consulting a nautical almanac or a web site. "Just before ten p.m." the French flagship "L'Orient" blew up (at just an hour-and-a-half into the night).

page 166 footnote: "the American poet Felicia Hemans". She was born in Liverpool, lived in Wales and England, and died in Dublin. She never set foot in America. As well as "Casabianca" ("The boy stood on the burning deck ...") she wrote the equally lackluster (and erroneous) poem "The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England" which was drummed into American school children until the 1950s. Perhaps that's why the author thinks she was "American".

page 185: "Desaix and his division began heading south down the Nile." Rather, "up the Nile" as it flows from south to north. (The same disorientation on pages 278, 286.)

page 389: "This black basalt slab... known as the Rosetta Stone." Actually "granite".

page 411: The author tells us that both Kléber and Desaix were killed "on the very same day". But two dates are given: 18 June for Desaix at Marengo in Italy (on page 408) and 24 June for Kléber in Cairo (on page 411). Both dates are wrong. The two generals died on 14 June 1800.

page 425: The Napoleonic bee emblem "was copied directly from the hieroglyph of an ancient Egyptian temple" and designed by Denon according to the author. No source is given for this intriguing bit of Egyptomania. The Napoleonic bee emblem looks nothing like the Egyptian bee hieroglyph and is generally thought to have been derived from Charlemagne's recreated regalia used for Napoleon's coronation.

page 429 note 1: "Different sources give Napoleon's height as anything between five foot two and five foot eight." The author forgets to tell us that there were English feet and French feet in use at the time. The French foot (pied du roi) was bigger than the English foot. Thus, 5' 2" in French measurements is about 5' 7" in English measurements. Both measurements equal about 1.7 metres.

I read a library copy of the British Jonathan Cape 2007 hardcover edition (ISBN 978-0224076814) which has the worst sort of glued binding (where the pages just fall out). The dust cover has a reproduction of Jean-Léon Gérôme's fanciful 1867 painting called "Napoleon and his General Staff in Egypt".

I found "Boneparte in Egypt" by J. Christopher Herold, first published in 1962 and reprinted as a paperback in 2005 (ISBN 978-1844152858), to be a better alternative.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed Perfection, April 26, 2009

By 

Glen Dower - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Napoleon in Egypt (Hardcover)

This is an exceptionally well done book. The scope of this work is on the mark. It describes the political, military, and scientific aspects of the expedition, giving each aspect its due. It also adroitly covers the other players in the story: the Egyptians, their Mameluke overlords, the Ottoman Empire, and the British Navy.

It offers food for thought on Napoleon's motivations concerning the expedition as well as later after be became ruler of France. There are also insights regarding interactions between westerners and middle eastern people which, depending on your point of view, may have application to the present.

All of the information is relayed in logical, smooth flowing prose that is a pleasure to read. Detracting from this pleasure are errors of fact/terminology that create doubt about the author's accuracy. In addition to errors of fact cited by other reviewers, I would like to point out two:
* Providing background between Egypt and Europe, the author writes "...the charms of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, proved irresistible first to Julius Caesar and then to Mark Antony, while rivalry between these two ambitious men plunged the Roman Empire into civil war." (pp. 7 & 8). False. Mark Antony was a loyal adherent of Julius Caesar and was one of his most trusted lieutenants. There was no rivalry leading to war between these two men. After Julius Caesar was assassinated, there was a rivalry between Mark Antony and Octavian (later Augustus) which resulted in civil war. The author's confusing Julius Caesar with Octavian is a salient error given this is basic history.

* On page 88 the author writes, "...he supervised the 200 men of his platoon in setting up their camp,...". I don't believe that a platoon comprised 200 men. Platoons are much smaller. This misapplication of basic terminology calls into question the author's ability to accurately assess the military memoirs that are his sources.

It's disappointing that a book that seems to be so well researched contains such fundamental errors that a reader is led to question its overall accuracy. The storytelling is superb but the history is sloppy.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent work, November 26, 2008

By 

James D. Crabtree "Doc Crabtree" (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Napoleon in Egypt (Hardcover)

Illustrated with maps, diagrams and photographs this book looks at Napoleon's ambitious overseas adventure... his invasion of Egypt while he was serving the Republic as a general.

Fresh from his campaign in Italy, Napoleon collected a large fleet, transports and a small army, all with the consent of the Directory. His objective was to take over Egypt, which was nominally a part of the Ottoman Empire, and in doing so spread the ideals of the Revolution and to threaten British holdings in India.

The author does an excellent job of discussing the practical problems involved in collecting the invasion force, the initial campaign for Egypt, Napoleon's attempts to rebuild that ancient country's social structure in accordance with his ideals of liberty and fraternity and his scientific mission to explore the land of the Pharoahs. The book is not only well-researched but it is also a gripping read. I feel that it could have done without intimate details of Napoleon's love life, but that may be just me. Otherwise, this is an excellent military and social study.