Customer Reviews

Napoleon and His Collaborators: The Making of a Dictatorship

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After the drama of the French Revolution, the study of French political history just sort of dissolves. Considering that one of the key goals of the men of Brumaire was to depoliticize French society, this can be considered to be a sign of their triumph. Woloch's useful book discusses how Napoleon set up a technocratic, conservative regime in which organs outside of Napoleon increasingly lost their independence. We have intelligent accounts of key figures like Cambaceres, Berlier and Boulay de la Meurthe. As Napoleon moves from conspirator to consul to first consul to counsel for life to Emperor, several themes emerge from this book.

One cannot help but be reminded of the Animal Farm logic of the proceedings or recall how Hitler hoodwinked the conservative elite who levered into power. Yet Woloch is too good a historian to invoke such a vulgar comparison. Napoleon in this account was conservative, vain, desirious of power and increasingly arbitrary in using it. But he was also hard-working (unlike Hitler), genuinely courageous, and infinitely less ideological than most dictators. He was contemptuous of public debate, but for most of his reign he would tolerate and listen to opposing advice, as long as it was tactfully presented and dealt with issues that he did not find absolutely vital (such as his own person). His police regime was one of harsh censorship, a muzzled press, and a system of "preventive detention." But the jury trial still survived, and his prison system was not especially vicious and bloodthirsty. Woloch devotes a whole chapter to the bureaucratic commissions who occasionally, but insufficiently, succeeded in mitigating the rigors of this system. His bureaucrats were generously compensated at the expense of Europe, but they were reasonably competent and efficient until the last few years.

Another theme that comes up is that Napoleon was not a man of the left. The Coup of 18th Brumaire was directed against the neo-Jacobins, Napoleon consistently compromised with amenable royalists and emigres rather than with Jacobins and democrats. One of the key moves in establishing his power was the mass deportation of Jacobins after an assassination attempt in December 1800 which actually came from disgruntled royalists. He tried to flatter the old nobility, was thoroughly elitist and he avoided any attempt to bring the larger population into the political picture. The result was a regime where Napoleon appeared to possess unquestioned power, but which collapsed in the wake of military defeat.

The result is a work that is thoroughly competent, if not very original. Compared to Woloch's first book on the post-Thermidor Jacobins, it does not so much fill a void as update our knowledge. More could have been said about the fragility of the society and about the larger social context of its support. The Napoleonic entourage was a rather grey lot, so there are few illuminating details. (Though there is the priceless account of how Cambaceres, now archchancellor of the empire, wrote in a panic to Napoleon asking him for approval to deport his troublesome old stepmother from Paris). Only does the last chapter really come to life. In particular, we see after Waterloo Napoleon forced to abdicate, and a commission of five parliamentarians meeting to consider what to do. It is heartbreaking to see the honorable, courageous Carnot betrayed by the opportunist Fouche as the Bourbons are invited back again. Carnot and other regicides are forced into exile, as well as Fouche by an ungrateful dynasty. Quite frankly, this isn't fair.

This book by Isser Woloch proves to be well researched and somewhat interesting. This book is basically a short political history of Napoleonic civil government from the coup of 18th Brumaire to Napoleon's final fall in 1815. Its reflective on how gradually Napoleon asserted his power and how diverse his civilian followers were and how well they served him. It was interesting to read how Napoleon was able to exploits his revolutionary followers and turned them into imperial servants.

In some way, this is a short history of Napoleon's civilian leaders, who did much to aid his Empire as Napoleon's military leaders. This book does not provide a complete coverage of this subject. It reads very much as an introductionary project and serves to provides incentive for interested readers to read more on the subject.

I only had one major complaint about this book and maybe it just me but I found the book to be ill-written. While interested in the subject, the writing proves to be bit boring and dry. The narrative was for me a least, rather dreary in style. So while I enjoyed the information in the book, I didn't exactly enjoyed reading the book.

However, since there isn't that many books on subject like this alone, I would have to recommended it for any Napoleonic library. The writing grind on you but ultimately an informative reading.

I found this to be an entertaining and well researched volume. Isser Woloch adds to his reputation as a Napoleonic scholar and master of his sources.

In this volume, he makes a thorough examination of the transformation of an authoritarian but nevertheless limited consulship into the empire of Napoleon; "the dictatorship that dare not speak its name". This volume also examines the lives of Napoleon's civil henchmen and the delicate question of how far loyalty to one's leader is loyalty to the state and to the nation.

This is not a military history, but I recommend it to anyone whose interest in Napoleon extends past his role as war leader.

Yours, James D. Gray

This is an excellent book about how Napoleon and those around him rose to power. It is very in depth and took awhile to read but it was well worth it. I highly recommend it to those who want to understand the Brumaire coup. Woolworth does an excellent job of taking the complex process and weaving together a very rich text that has interesting conclusions about the coup. If you are looking for a book that combines internal French politics with the society at the time this will give you a good sense of France. Highly recommended for those studying Napoleon and truly essential for any Napoleonic library.

I think the French revolution was the first time a mature society was shaken to it's foundations since the fall of the Roman republic. This book illustrates what happens when a cultural revolution occurs and in many ways explains the acts of the fascists and communists.

This is a book for someone who wants to know all the persons and events surrounding the rise of Napoleon. However, I found it very dry reading. It conveyed none of the suspense, excitement, or feeling that I had expected.