Chapter 26

Ten (Plus) Best Sources for Further Information

In This Chapter

bullet Books and other printed material

bullet Organizations you can join

bullet Web sites you can visit

M ore books have been published about Napoleon than about any other person, probably in excess of 300,000 by now. I wouldn’t doubt that he dominates Web sites and organizations as well. I can’t even begin to summarize the myriad sources available, but in this chapter I at least point you toward a few in the English language that can get you started. The books all have bibliographies, and the Web sites have links.

Books and Periodicals

Following are my recommendations for some of the best items in print about Napoleon.

Reference books

Written by David Chandler and published by Macmillan in 1979 (and reissued in paperback by Wordsworth Military Library in 2001), Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars is an excellent basic reference book on the subject. It has some 1,200 entries, all of which are cross-referenced. To go along with the text, Chandler included many illustrations and maps, as well as a timeline and a daily list of Napoleon’s military movements.

I should point out that a healthy competition for Dictionary will come out in 2006 in the form of the Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, published by ABC-CLIO.

Biographies and Bulletins

Napoleon, written by Vincent Cronin and published by William Morrow in 1972, was issued in paperback by Harper Collins in 1995. Cronin’s book is a classic to which I’m always pleased to return. It has a comprehensive overview and gives a well-rounded look at all aspects of Napoleon’s life. Cronin paints a very personal, and sympathetic, portrait of Napoleon.

Two recent award-winning books are also worthy of consideration:

bullet Steven Englund’s Napoleon: A Political Life (published by Scribner in 2004) has received favorable mention, though some reviewers say that it is a bit on the heavy side, at least for the Napoleonic novice. Englund provides extensive notes but no bibliography or graphics.

bullet Reviewers say that my own offering, Napoleon’s Road to Glory: Triumphs, Defeats and Immortality (published by Brassey’s in 2003), is easy to read and offers complete coverage. It includes extensive notes and a large section of works cited, as well as numerous graphics.

Imperial Glory: The Bulletins of Napoleon’s Grande Armée, 1805–1814 was written by J. David Markham (hey, that’s me!) and published by Greenhill in 2003. This book is the first-ever complete and accurate translation of Napoleon’s Bulletins. In this book, you can read about Napoleon’s military accomplishments, difficulties, and descriptions of his opponents.

Periodicals

First Empire: The International Magazine for the Napoleonic Enthusiast, Historian and Gamer is published in the United Kingdom by David Watkins. You can reach him by e-mail at dw@firstempire.net or visit the Web site www.firstempire.net.

First Empire includes a wide range of material, such as articles on Napoleonic history, historical sites, important museums and collections, games, book reviews, and news of Napoleonic events. It is lavishly illustrated in full color and always includes any necessary maps with its articles.

Organizations

If you’re developing a serious interest in Napoleon, you have lots of company. In this section, I suggest ways you can get connected with people who share your fascination.

The Napoleonic Alliance

The Napoleonic Alliance is a general membership organization dedicated to the study of Napoleon and his times. It holds annual meetings that feature presentations by top scholars and amateur historians on a wide variety of Napoleonic topics.

Various social events and an opportunity to maintain what for some are lifelong friendships make membership in this club well worthwhile. When possible, the conferences feature visits to places that have some connection to Napoleon. (This isn’t always easy, given that Napoleon never actually came to the United States. But the organization visits public and private collections, sites related to relatives or others connected in some way to Napoleon, or simply interesting historical sites in the area.)

The Alliance also publishes a quarterly Gazette that features articles on Napoleonic topics, organizational news, book reviews, news of international events, and other material. The publication is well illustrated, though not in color.

You can visit the Alliance Web site at www.napoleonic-alliance.com. There, you will find articles on Napoleon and information on past and future conferences and tour opportunities. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that for the past two years, I have served as president of the group, and I have also periodically served as editor-in-chief of the Gazette.

The Napoleonic Society of America

The Napoleonic Society of America (NSA) was the first such group to be formed, way back in 1983. The Napoleonic Alliance broke away from the NSA a few years ago, but the two groups have already held one joint conference, and plans are underway for more. They are likely to reunite in the future.

The NSA holds annual conferences, publishes a Member’s Bulletin, and offers annual tours. Its Web site, www.napoleonic-society.com, offers various items for sale, in addition to the types of things offered on the Alliance site.

International Napoleonic Society

The International Napoleonic Society (INS) is not a membership group as such. It was formed by Canadian Ben Weider to promote the academic study of Napoleonic history. People who have made contributions to the field can be nominated as Fellows, and the group currently has in excess of 500 such Fellows around the world. The INS promotes Napoleonic scholarship through the use of literary awards, the prestigious Legion of Merit, and the organization of International Napoleonic Congresses. The INS Web site, www.napoleonic society.com, is available in French and English and is an excellent source of information on Napoleon.

You will be shocked — shocked! — to hear that I have long served as executive vice president and editor-in-chief for INS and am responsible for organizing the International Congresses.

Web Sites

If you aren’t quite ready to join the ranks of the organizatons I mention in the previous section, or even if you’re already a card-carrying member, visiting the following Web sites is a great way to feed your growing interest in Napoleon.

Napoleon Series

The Napoleon Series Web site (www.napoleon-series.org) is not affiliated with any organization. It is pretty much in a class by itself. The site says it has more than 8,500 articles, maps, illustrations, reviews, photographs, and charts. The Napoleon Series sponsors a literary contest, holds an annual fundraiser auction, and promotes Napoleonic activities worldwide. You can also join discussions on its Forum.

Napoleon Foundation

The Napoleon Foundation (www.napoleon.org) in France is dedicated to promoting Napoleonic knowledge of all types. This site, in both English and French, can keep you up to date on art exhibitions, auctions of Napoleonic memorabilia, recently published books (complete with reviews), and just about anything else you can imagine.

There are, of course, countless books and seemingly countless periodicals and Web sites that deal with Napoleon. It’s easy — and fun — to start with the ones I mention here and then branch out to whatever you may enjoy.