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Маршалы Наполеона
В книге рассказывается о жизни двадцати шести знаменитых полководцев, которые получили свой маршальский жезл от Наполеона. Это были люди самого разного происхождения: от аристократов до выходцев из низших слоев общества. Читатель узнает, с чего начинали эти храбрые и честолюбивые люди, как относились к власти, с чем пришли к концу жизни и как вели себя по отношению к человеку, которому были обязаны своим высоким положением. Книга поможет понять влияние Наполеона на людей его поколения и на политическую ситуацию в Европе.
444 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1982
23 people are currently reading
265 people want to read
About the author
R.F. Delderfield
89 books196 followersRonald Frederick Delderfield was a popular English novelist and dramatist, many of whose works have been adapted for television and are still widely read.
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 27, 2020
A good, pleasant read about the individuals who contributed the most to Napoleon's successes, and, for some, failures. Written in chronological order, the book took readers throughout Napoleon's career, with highlights from his Marshals demonstrated along the way. It also provide a general picture about how each Marshal is regarding their personalities and capabilities. It's a relatively short book to cover all twenty six individuals, so there will be more to learn about them, but this for sure is a great book to start.
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September 28, 2015Rather than focusing on Napoleon, this book focuses on the Imperial Marshalate from the very beginning of each members service and gives a touching last chapter that gives the last years of each Marshal. Filled with anecdotal stories, it is a good introduction into the Napoleonic Wars themselves as it follows the more well known commanders and their personalities.
March 16, 2025
“Офицеры, старшие сержанты, рядовые, ученики ремесленников, сын фермера, пивовар, поэт, контрабандист, актер, цирюльник и князь — все они последовали за грохотом барабанов, который вывел их за пределы Франции и вел по городам и весям Европы в течение двадцати пяти лет. Восемь из них умерли насильственной смертью, большинство отступились от человека, вписавшего их имена в историю, и все добились богатства и получили звучные титулы превратившие в пустой звук их революционные принципы. Лишь немногие с честью вышли из предложенных им временем испытаний без шрамов на душах, да и на теле. Но каждый из них внес в историю самого колоритного периода в анналах военного искусства что-то свое. В течение почти двухсот лет, прошедших с той поры, когда их имена были столь же хорошо известны их современникам, как нам известны имена Эйзенхауэра, Монтгомери и Паттона, на них навешивали самые разнообразные ярлыки. Их называли бессердечными, хищными, вероломными, жадными, жестокими и т. п. Но есть лишь одно слово, которое ни один автор не дерзнул применить к кому-либо из них. Это слово — «трус».”
March 7, 2021
This book is a fresh take on the era of Napoleon, focusing on all twenty-six of Napoleon's field marshals. R. F. Delderfield gets this book just right, not getting so bogged down in details that the book becomes ponderous, but making the reader feel like they know the various marshals that served under Napoleon.
R. F. Delderfield has a knack for writing in a very simple and readable style and isn't afraid to make value judgments. Here is a great example. He summarizes the twenty-six marshals this way: "Three things they had in common—ambition, extreme bravery, and the kind of pride that either elevates a man to the pinnacle of success or reduces him to the mental stature of an eight-year-old child."
One of the things that stood out about these guys was, they could be vain, ambitious, double-dealing, and more interested in their own reputation than anything else, but to a man they were all marked by courage. Delderfield writes: "There is only one word that no writer has ever dared to use in respect to any of them. That word is 'coward.'"
Perhaps the most amazing of the marshals was Michel Ney. He fought in umpteen battles, was tasked with organizing the rear guard on the great retreat from Moscow and eventually was down to only a handful of men, but saved the French army during the long retreat, putting himself at risk day after day. He was the last general officer of either side to leave the field of battle at Waterloo.
When the Bourbons were restored, Ney was tried and convicted of treason and executed. A sad postscript to the Napoleonic era. Michel Ney is enshrined by a monument sitting on the banks of the Seine in Paris that you can see (and I have had the privilege of seeing) to this day. At least his bravery was honored after his death. An extraordinary man.
R. F. Delderfield has a knack for writing in a very simple and readable style and isn't afraid to make value judgments. Here is a great example. He summarizes the twenty-six marshals this way: "Three things they had in common—ambition, extreme bravery, and the kind of pride that either elevates a man to the pinnacle of success or reduces him to the mental stature of an eight-year-old child."
One of the things that stood out about these guys was, they could be vain, ambitious, double-dealing, and more interested in their own reputation than anything else, but to a man they were all marked by courage. Delderfield writes: "There is only one word that no writer has ever dared to use in respect to any of them. That word is 'coward.'"
Perhaps the most amazing of the marshals was Michel Ney. He fought in umpteen battles, was tasked with organizing the rear guard on the great retreat from Moscow and eventually was down to only a handful of men, but saved the French army during the long retreat, putting himself at risk day after day. He was the last general officer of either side to leave the field of battle at Waterloo.
When the Bourbons were restored, Ney was tried and convicted of treason and executed. A sad postscript to the Napoleonic era. Michel Ney is enshrined by a monument sitting on the banks of the Seine in Paris that you can see (and I have had the privilege of seeing) to this day. At least his bravery was honored after his death. An extraordinary man.
June 6, 2017
A good one volume history of Napoleon's Marshals. Solid and enjoyable read.
March 29, 2024
Repeats interesting biographical tidbits so much that it becomes a part of the marshal's actual names. For example Soult is called "Soult, who had wanted to be a village baker" throughout the entire book.
January 31, 2015
The organization is topical rather than chronological so the book jumps back and forth in time and often discusses the same historical events in several different places. It takes a bit of reading to get used to this, especially if you're used to following events in order in historical books.
What makes the book worth reading if you are interested in this period is the author's style, which often "breezy" and feels like you're hearing an oral history. It is light and accessible and does paint a portrait of these men as people rather than figures in history.
Not riveting but a good read if you like the subject.
What makes the book worth reading if you are interested in this period is the author's style, which often "breezy" and feels like you're hearing an oral history. It is light and accessible and does paint a portrait of these men as people rather than figures in history.
Not riveting but a good read if you like the subject.
August 8, 2022
Informative and fun, if somewhat simple and broad-brushed.
It's not uncommon for reviewers to note that Delderfield is not what most people would call a scholarly author, in the contemporary sense. Personally I don't find that this detracts from the main merits of this short and highly enjoyable book, the chief of which is that it's a rip-snortingly good read. Compared with, for example, the dry as dust Napoleon's Wars this is a book ten-thousand times more likely to promote further interest and reading in Napoleonic history, even if Esdaile's book is more scrupulously comprehensive and scholarly.
Delderfield's book is more like the many memoirs of the era itself - colourful, exciting, engaging, full of anecdote (a good one new on me was learning that at one battle, amongst a Cossack force of 20,000 cavalry that attacked Marshal MacDonald, there was a contingent of Bashkirs armed with bows and arrows!), and unabashedly partisan, consequently requiring that it be taken with a generous pinch o' salt/snuff - and in my view is none the worse for it.
Indeed, he reflects on these issues briefly in his postscript 'The Sources Of This Book': 'Some of these memoirs are absorbing, some accurate but dull, some lively but unreliable.' Having just read a fairly large tranche of serious, scholarly Napoleonic material Delderfield's relaxed enthusiasm comes as a welcome dose of flavoursome humanity. Reading this book is like being regaled by a knowledgeable, witty, and avuncular 'buff'; if you're interested in the subject, great fun.
Delderfield is clearly attracted, as are most with an interest in this period, to the colour, excitement, romance, grandeur (and alongside these things, fascinated also by the squalor, terror, and horror, naturally) of monumental struggles on epic scales. Such people and events lend themselves readily to the almost surrealistic exaggerations one sees in the works of contemporary cartoonists like Cruikshank and Gillray.
Whilst Delderfield doesn't take his portrayals quite that far - he doesn't caricature them quite so brazenly, tho' he gets close - one does sense a simplification and stylisation, which renders the characters of the marshals in broad brush strokes, perhaps like colourful 'commedia dell'arte' type figures, in the stagey drama of Napoleonic Europe. Broers struggles manfully with this in his depiction of bandits-cum-rebels in his book Napoleon's Other War, which only goes to show that not to see these figures in such lights is perhaps to miss some of these reasons we find them interesting in the first place.
I have deliberately refrained from detailing the lives of the subjects, I'd recommend reading this and the David Chandler helmed Napoleon's Marshals for more info (after which books on the individuals might be the next port of call). But I will say - as Andrew Roberts also effusively noets in his recent TV series on Napoleon - that the energetic release of talent in the Napoleonic meritocracy was an amazing moment: that the second son of a barrel-cooper could rise so high and so fast (Ney), or that another young man could go from private soldier to the founder of a hereditary monarchy still sitting on the Swedish throne (Bernadotte) is surely remarkable, and not unworthy of our interest?
So, yes, do by all means read such more in-depth scholarly works on the Marshals as are out there. But read this as well. It's well-written, comprehensive - an enjoyable overview of Napoleon's life and campaigns as much as the story of the marshals - and most of all, it's fun.
It's not uncommon for reviewers to note that Delderfield is not what most people would call a scholarly author, in the contemporary sense. Personally I don't find that this detracts from the main merits of this short and highly enjoyable book, the chief of which is that it's a rip-snortingly good read. Compared with, for example, the dry as dust Napoleon's Wars this is a book ten-thousand times more likely to promote further interest and reading in Napoleonic history, even if Esdaile's book is more scrupulously comprehensive and scholarly.
Delderfield's book is more like the many memoirs of the era itself - colourful, exciting, engaging, full of anecdote (a good one new on me was learning that at one battle, amongst a Cossack force of 20,000 cavalry that attacked Marshal MacDonald, there was a contingent of Bashkirs armed with bows and arrows!), and unabashedly partisan, consequently requiring that it be taken with a generous pinch o' salt/snuff - and in my view is none the worse for it.
Indeed, he reflects on these issues briefly in his postscript 'The Sources Of This Book': 'Some of these memoirs are absorbing, some accurate but dull, some lively but unreliable.' Having just read a fairly large tranche of serious, scholarly Napoleonic material Delderfield's relaxed enthusiasm comes as a welcome dose of flavoursome humanity. Reading this book is like being regaled by a knowledgeable, witty, and avuncular 'buff'; if you're interested in the subject, great fun.
Delderfield is clearly attracted, as are most with an interest in this period, to the colour, excitement, romance, grandeur (and alongside these things, fascinated also by the squalor, terror, and horror, naturally) of monumental struggles on epic scales. Such people and events lend themselves readily to the almost surrealistic exaggerations one sees in the works of contemporary cartoonists like Cruikshank and Gillray.
Whilst Delderfield doesn't take his portrayals quite that far - he doesn't caricature them quite so brazenly, tho' he gets close - one does sense a simplification and stylisation, which renders the characters of the marshals in broad brush strokes, perhaps like colourful 'commedia dell'arte' type figures, in the stagey drama of Napoleonic Europe. Broers struggles manfully with this in his depiction of bandits-cum-rebels in his book Napoleon's Other War, which only goes to show that not to see these figures in such lights is perhaps to miss some of these reasons we find them interesting in the first place.
I have deliberately refrained from detailing the lives of the subjects, I'd recommend reading this and the David Chandler helmed Napoleon's Marshals for more info (after which books on the individuals might be the next port of call). But I will say - as Andrew Roberts also effusively noets in his recent TV series on Napoleon - that the energetic release of talent in the Napoleonic meritocracy was an amazing moment: that the second son of a barrel-cooper could rise so high and so fast (Ney), or that another young man could go from private soldier to the founder of a hereditary monarchy still sitting on the Swedish throne (Bernadotte) is surely remarkable, and not unworthy of our interest?
So, yes, do by all means read such more in-depth scholarly works on the Marshals as are out there. But read this as well. It's well-written, comprehensive - an enjoyable overview of Napoleon's life and campaigns as much as the story of the marshals - and most of all, it's fun.
April 26, 2019
A useful, if overwrought, narrative history of Napoleon's famous marshals — Ney, Davout, Masséna, Soult and the rest of them, told more-or-less chronologically. It's written in an old-fashioned, cavalier and opinionated style, with the author's judgments about the behavior of particular men or women flying freely and without justification. I definitely wouldn't accept Delderfield's judgments at face value, but for someone with a general knowledge of the period it can be a good overview.
September 11, 2017
Yet another uninspired writer trying to hustle some money by glorifying murder and rape. Oh, the romance, the luxury, the beauty of genocidal maniacs written in first person.
April 7, 2020
A very well written history that provides a shotgun blast of information concerning Napoleon's marshals. Good for an overall picture.
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August 1, 2024Date read very approximate - ~~~1967. I am not sure which edition of his book I read. It was definitely titled "The March of the 26", and must have been published before ~1967.
November 25, 2025
Rudimentary introduction to Napoleon's finest commanders
January 5, 2022
Would have preferred chapter for each marshal rather than the story chronologically but besides that a mostly enjoyable read fun of some interesting facts about Les Gros Bonnets.
January 25, 2015
This is little better than a kid's book--make it high schoolers because it does mention mistresses! The format follows the fortunes of France through its marshals beginning with those who fought in the wars of the Revolution. The author has 233 pages in which to cover twenty-six fellows, so the biographical details will be brief. Several marshals get extra paragraphs when they perform their "greatest hits," such as Massena in Italy, Davout at Auerstadt, and Ney in Russia. I like some of the author's phraseology.
Overall, I had the feeling that the author was a long-time member of the Marshalate Fan Club. There is little about the overall influence of the Marshalate as an institution or how they achieved their successes--just that they were successful (not always). This is a pleasant read, but just as an introduction. There is much more out there.
My copy is the 1984 paperback edition, with white title on red.
Because a second-rate general like Dupont had surrendered to a Spanish rabble it did not mean that the Grand Army had forgotten how to beat Austrians.
...the allies forgot their resolution and attacked the Grand Army while it was under the personal command of its Chief. In a few hours the Russians, Prussians, Austrians, and Swedes were pouring back in confusion....
Overall, I had the feeling that the author was a long-time member of the Marshalate Fan Club. There is little about the overall influence of the Marshalate as an institution or how they achieved their successes--just that they were successful (not always). This is a pleasant read, but just as an introduction. There is much more out there.
My copy is the 1984 paperback edition, with white title on red.
August 11, 2016
Update: I recently pulled this book out to read about the Eylau campaign and I was horrified by Delderfield's mistakes and omissions. He repeated describes Soult's Corps being on the Right and Augereau's on the left and center, the exact opposite of their true locations. Further he completely ignored Davout's arrival and actions a crucial aspect of the battle. Taken together this incredibly poor coverage of the Eylau battle makes me suspect that the work may in fact contain a slew of such errors.
An engaging look into the men whose drive propelled Napoleon. The author manages to portray many of Napoleon's 26 marshals in terms that make us see them as people, interesting people who lived in amazing times. The edition that I read, c1966 with white title and grey-tone cover, is *NOT* written with chapters on each marshal as others have described but rather written with chapters in chronological order and the marshals making appearances if and when appropriate throughout the narrative. And it's a well told narrative, but I worry about its accuracy given the errors I've found within my own limited knowledge.
An engaging look into the men whose drive propelled Napoleon. The author manages to portray many of Napoleon's 26 marshals in terms that make us see them as people, interesting people who lived in amazing times. The edition that I read, c1966 with white title and grey-tone cover, is *NOT* written with chapters on each marshal as others have described but rather written with chapters in chronological order and the marshals making appearances if and when appropriate throughout the narrative. And it's a well told narrative, but I worry about its accuracy given the errors I've found within my own limited knowledge.
August 31, 2008
As a serious discussion of the Napoleonic Wars, this book is FAIL - it's too subjective, too prone to romantic gushing. As an appetiser for more books on the subject, this book is WIN.
Delderfield writes as if he's discussing the plot of a favourite soapie, and he yanks you in with his enthusiasm. The Twenty Six are described with such affection, and their antics are retold with such high humour, that after this book every time I read their names I feel, oh, Berthier, I know him. Murat, the cavalryman, I know him. Ney, Le Rougeaud , yes, I know him.
That feeling is a great place to start, if you are going to be reading more scholarly books later that otherwise would be very dry. Just for that, this book deserves its five stars.
Delderfield writes as if he's discussing the plot of a favourite soapie, and he yanks you in with his enthusiasm. The Twenty Six are described with such affection, and their antics are retold with such high humour, that after this book every time I read their names I feel, oh, Berthier, I know him. Murat, the cavalryman, I know him. Ney, Le Rougeaud , yes, I know him.
That feeling is a great place to start, if you are going to be reading more scholarly books later that otherwise would be very dry. Just for that, this book deserves its five stars.
March 25, 2014
The story of Napoleon's twenty-six marshals, from the stalwart Masséna to the treacherous Bernadotte to the Polish Prince Poniatowski.
+ fascinating look at men navigating one of the most tumultuous periods of European history
+ history is very wet (as in not 'dry', and if 'wet history' is not an actual term, it should be!); reads like a novel
+ narrative skillfully woven together, making it easy to track the lives of twenty-six very disparate people
+ drowned the day he became marshal
+ started a dynasty of Swedish kings
+ executed of treason after trying to start a revolt in Naples after Napoleon's fall
+ fascinating look at men navigating one of the most tumultuous periods of European history
+ history is very wet (as in not 'dry', and if 'wet history' is not an actual term, it should be!); reads like a novel
+ narrative skillfully woven together, making it easy to track the lives of twenty-six very disparate people
+ drowned the day he became marshal
+ started a dynasty of Swedish kings
+ executed of treason after trying to start a revolt in Naples after Napoleon's fall
June 24, 2015
Avoid. Written in a bizarre style, not academic so one would presume at least scholarly presentation of facts. Instead, weird statements like ".....not fit to tie Ney's shoelaces" or something to that effect, characterize the tone of this book. For a review of the 26 Marshals, "Swords Around a Throne" the best!!!
October 3, 2014
akhirnya tamat juga....everybody knows Napoleon was the master of Europe..but without their aids, he's nothing.... mengenal lebih dekat dengan 26 Jenderal Napoleon yang membantu peperangan Napoleon dari Madrid hingga Moskva...
August 31, 2018
I love his stories and writing style. He makes many of his characters "lovable rogues" and teases the reader into the story to become unnoticed observers of their life's and times.
My favourite Napoleonic book, fact or fiction is "The Seven Men Of Gascony"...….
My favourite Napoleonic book, fact or fiction is "The Seven Men Of Gascony"...….
February 13, 2011
Interesting book on all of Napoleon's Marshalls. one chapter per marshall and each showing the depth of character of them and their service to Napoloen. Very interesting reading
August 12, 2011
A fun read for those with some knowledge of the Napoleonic Wars, but don't expect anything more.
August 8, 2016
One of the finest books you can read as an introduction to the Napoleonic wars and the men who followed Napoleon to the end. Well written and brings the era to life. A great book.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews