Fotografía de autor

Felix Markham

Autor de Napoleon

7+ Obras 454 Miembros 3 Reseñas

Sobre El Autor

Obras de Felix Markham

Napoleon (1963) 362 copias
Oxford (1967) 20 copias
The Bonapartes (1975) 9 copias

Obras relacionadas

Social organization, the science of man, and other writings (1964) — Editor, algunas ediciones41 copias

Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Nombre legal
Markham, Felix Maurice Hippisley
Fecha de nacimiento
1908
Género
male
Nacionalidad
UK

Miembros

Reseñas

Felix Markham wrote two very good biographies of Napoleon. This slim volume (159 pages in the Collier paperback edition of 1965) was written in the 1950s. The more substantial “Napoleon” (292 pages in the NAL edition) was published in 1963. They seem to cover much of the same ground, although I assume (and I need to reread the book to be sure) that “Napoleon” has more detail, especially on the domestic side of Napoleon’s activities.

Thus, despite the title of this volume (and the claim on the back cover that it “places special emphasis on the resurgence of European nationalism in the nineteenth century”), it also covers topics like Napoleon’s seizure of power in France and the development of the Napoleonic Code and the Concordat with the Catholic Church. Perhaps based on the favorable response to his first book, Markham decided to write a second more complete version.

Whatever the case, this book does a very good job of giving a well-rounded assessment of Napoleon not just in terms of his military campaigns and diplomatic achievements but also with respect to his political career, his personality and the highlights of his life. One could read this short paperback and be more than adequately conversant with the significance of Napoleon and his life.

On the battlefield, Napoleon was a strategic and tactical genius. This was still the case in the campaigns of 1812 to 1815, but the many years of war had taken a toll not just on Napoleon but also on his generals and his troops. Napoleon and his generals were fatigued and his armies did not recover from the fearsome losses in the Russian campaign. However, Napoleon may have won at Waterloo if Ney and Grouchy had not made mistakes on the battlefield.

Markham maintains that Napoleon was unique in modern times in his ability to combine military genius with political accomplishment. One has to go back to ancient times to find comparable individuals such as Napoleon’s own idols (Caesar, Alexander the Great). He does not downplay Napoleon’s weaknesses and the millions of deaths that arguably resulted from his pursuit of his ambition, but he also notes that it is the role of God, not the historian, to judge. He also contrasts Napoleon with more recent dictators like Hitler who acquired power not through military genius but through demagoguery.

The quote on the back cover from the review in the Times Literary Supplement accurately sums up the achievement of this book: “To compress the career of Napoleon . . . without allowing the narrative to become a string of facts, is no light task. Mr. Markham’s success is due to his easy command of an immense mass of material, to his sense of proportion and to the clarity of his style. In writing of Napoleon, it is difficult to keep a cool judgment; to censure without violence or praise with restraint. Mr. Markham is reasonable and dispassionate, especially in dealing with those matters which usually raise debate.”
… (más)
 
Denunciada
drsabs | otra reseña | May 6, 2022 |
This was an excellent little volume which despite its short length did a great job of covering Napoleon's rule and the major historical questions that arise from this period of French history. Why was he successful in maintaining power? What were the causes of his military successes? To what extent did his rule maintain the ideals of the French Revolution and in what ways did it go against him? Certainly after his final defeat and exile, Napoleon attempted to build up the myth that he has always been a son of the Revolution and his rule a model of revolutionary principles in practice, but an examination of the facts suggests that this is not the whole story.

The book is well written and easy and engaging to read. It does presuppose some knowledge about the French Revolution (for example it will assume you know who the Jacobins were, what the Directory was, what Sieyes' role in the Revolution was, what the Revolutionary regime's rift with the Church was about, etc.) but otherwise it an excellent introduction to the topic as well as a fine survey of its major themes and questions. Readers looking for more depth and detail on Napoleon himself would probably do well to look for one of the recent major biographies such as Philip G. Dywer's monumental Napoleon: The Path to Power - the first of a detailed multi-volume bio of "that Corsican Ogre."
… (más)
1 vota
Denunciada
iftyzaidi | otra reseña | Mar 30, 2011 |
Brief, readable, informative
 
Denunciada
tredegartrafalgar | Jul 16, 2007 |

También Puede Gustarte

Estadísticas

Obras
7
También por
1
Miembros
454
Popularidad
#54,064
Valoración
½ 3.6
Reseñas
3
ISBNs
20
Idiomas
1

Tablas y Gráficos