Napoleon: For and Against

by Pieter Geyl

Napoleon, franse, geschiedschrijving

Genres: History, Biography

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Dutch historian and Historiographer. His main focus was Dutch history and the birth of the Dutch as a nation.

Geyl also was one of the first promoters of the "Greater-Netherlands" idea, which goal is a unification of the Netherlands and Flanders in one country.

During the second world war he was forbidden to publish and was interned for a couple of years.

Reviews

[Luccas Hallman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I do not grudge them, nor do I grudge the entire Napoleonic regime, the credit which here again accrues to them from the comparison [with Hitler]. But if we are to be true to our own standards, if we want to live up to our determination that no retrogression in civilization shall be dated from our time, we must not in contemplating the past react less sensitively than did the men then living. The case of the persecution of the Jews remains singular: for the rest we must be alive to the fact, when we compare them then and now, that although there is a difference in degree, there is none in principle.”

[Rob Markley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent perspective of French history writing or at least how historians distort and manipulate to their own agenda. Incidental almost that this tells us a lot about Napoleon too. Brilliant effort

[Cosma Catalin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of pros and cons for the famous Napoleon . It is hard to fallow , it doesn't go in a chronological order. You need to have a strong knowledge of the Napoleonic era . Overall a good book if you are a history buff :)