38th book of 2020. One of the great stories of humanity.
Napoleon’s story is the real world fantasy for any bookish boy who fancies himself smarter than his peers, and as one often guilty of such a label, I enjoyed it. Roberts is unabashedly a fanboy, as “Napoleon represented the Enlightenment on horseback.” Rising out of the chaos of the French revolution, Roberts follows Napoleon’s career battle by battle, through the numerous campaigns and to the inevitable defeat and exile on St. Elba .
The Leader
Some leaders (Grant, Churchill, Jobs) seem to take a distinct but limited set skills and ride them to the top. Napoleon leadership style was multifaceted, and revolutionary beyond the cause he represented. He was focused on logistics and details, such that “An astonishing number of his letters throughout his career refer to providing footwear for his troops.” His wide reading and eye towards history allowed him to inspire generals at an incredibly young age and turn esprit de corps into a weapon to win wars. At the eve of a battle fought against Mamelukes in the shadow of the pyramids he is quoted with the following: “Soldiers! You came to this country to save the inhabitants from barbarism, to bring civilization to the Orient and subtract this beautiful part of the world from the domination of England. From the top of those pyramids, forty centuries are contemplating you.”
Early victories led to what seems like winners bias, as his strategy became less and less apt for his geopolitical landscape as wars progressed. “The casualty rates in battles increased exponentially: at Fleurus they were 6% of the total number of men engaged, at Austerlitz, 15%, at Eylau 26%, at Borodino 31% and at Waterloo 45%." He was never able to attack his true foe in England, and after losing at Trafalgar, never found a way beyond land battles that would be an effective strategy against the ‘nation of shopkeepers’.
A Shaper of History Beyond military victory and defeat, Napoleon brought a new post-feudal system with legal codes and at least a facade of meritocracy to Europe, a topic which I would have appreciated more attention than Roberts gave. Zooming out to the level of centuries, Hobsbawm’s history of Europe summarized the impact as follows: ‘‘In the course of these decades of war, the political frontiers were redrawn several times [but more importantly] French revolution ended the European middle ages: the characteristic modern state which had been evolving for several centuries, governed by a single authority and law, and representing a single sovereign state did not imply this. These changes proved far less reversible than the shifting of frontiers.“
There were tantalizing details, such as Napoleon’s ability to win over markets: “Within a week of [Napoleon’s coup], as a result of the new sense of stability, efficiency and sheer competence, the franc-dollar and franc-pound exchange rate rates had doubled.” It might be that the tight camera focus on Napoleon didn’t allow us to look at France or the Napoleonic empire in any detail beyond the impending coalition and battles that dominated Robert’s narrative until exile. Fascinating characters such as Davout and Tsar Alexander are observed through a strict Napoleonic lens, which deprives the reader of some of the best parts of the saga.
Still highly recommended.