拿破仑一世传（上下卷）

The Life of Napoleon I

by J. Holland Rose, 北外英语系 (Translator), 廣東外國語學院英語系《拿破崙一世傳》翻譯小組 (Translator)

这是英国人研究拿破仑的经典著作之一，典型特征是资料比较丰富，追求真实性，同时有一定的历史考据。

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published December 27, 1902

About the author

John Holland Rose (1855-1942) was an influential English historian who wrote famous biographies of William Pitt the Younger and of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. He also wrote a history of Europe, entitled The Development of the European Nations among other historical works. He was Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at the University of Cambridge between 1919 and his retirement in 1934.

Reviews

[Antigone · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy of Rose's work is quite old. Published by Macmillan in 1907, it's a two-volume compilation bound in emerald linen and topping out at a hefty 1018 pages. The book is in surprisingly good condition due, no doubt, to the fact that it has existed for over a century as a good intention. Several of the pages had not been cut, which indicates no owner had read it through until it arrived in the hands of yours truly - causing me to feel at certain stages as if, perhaps, I should be making a better effort to get out more.

John Holland Rose's opus holds an esteemed place in the canon of Napoleonic literature, and it's easy to see why. His is a diligently researched biography focusing primarily on warfare and diplomacy. All the battles are here, relayed in full and from a variety of perspectives. The alliances, the treaties and the tenor of the endless negotiations that took place as Bonaparte's France stretched its martial muscle throughout a stupefied Europe are addressed with a keen and comprehensive eye. The skill this author brings to aligning his material to fit within its overarching chronology is genuinely impressive. Napoleon had a very large and complicated influence on the world of his day. Many are the episodes that tempt a tangent. Rose resists to great degree - his star selected, he drives straight on to the horizon. This makes for a solid and manly feat of words, though decidedly stripped of those glorious asides that hold such fascination for me. In fact, I'm not so sure he shouldn't have titled the thing The Military Life of Napoleon I since that seems to be all he considered germane. (While certainly the most recognizable, it was hardly the only chapeau our Emperor wore.)

I will say, too, that I had to remind myself frequently of the age in which this author wrote. Books in his time were not so widely distributed; nor was the possibility entertained that they might someday be. Hence Rose does not allow for a readership beyond Great Britain, and because of this finds it reasonable to pepper many of his passages with possessives. The British government is "our" government, British troop movements are those "we" made, the allied forces are "us." This doesn't really get in the way until Napoleon's star begins to fall following the Russian campaign. Then a bit of bias peeks forth, a tinge of schadenfreude shading the commentary here and there, and by the time Waterloo rolls around we're greeted with some definite gloating. The defensive posture he takes on the subject of the British choice to imprison Bonaparte on St. Helena (acting as if we should all be grateful he wasn't handed over to Blucher for execution), and the manner in which he turns into a complete apologist for Sir Hudson Lowe was sincerely beyond the pale and more than I should have been asked to bear. I mean, seriously. How can one go on and on about the serenity of the British temperament with regard to the custodial treatment of Napoleon and still include a footnote like this?

"A British soldier was missed from the garrison; and as this occurred at the time when Napoleon remained in strict seclusion, fear was felt that treachery had enabled him to make off in the soldier's uniform. The mystery was solved a few days after, when a large shark was caught near the shore, and on its being cut open the remains of the soldier were found!"

You were all a tad paranoid at the time, Mr. Rose, and it wouldn't have done the country any harm to just come out and admit it. We've all seen the map. We know how far you felt you had to ship him for safety's sake.

[Oznasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This brief review will make more sense if I explain how I came to this book.

A few months back I read Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' which I particularly enjoyed. His depiction of battles made me feel I was there because over many pages I had come to know the protagonists and could feel the excitement and danger through them.

Reading 'War and Peace' immersed me in the horrors of the battle but it didn't explain to me why it was happening. I had very little knowledge of the history of that time. I understood that Napoleon followed close on the heels of the French Revolution which was, I thought, based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. So, what was this man Napoleon doing marching so many soldiers thousands of miles to invade Russia so soon after that revolution?

When I discovered this book, via Project Gutenberg, I thought it might help to address the gaps in my knowledge. By time I was about fifty pages into it (with another 750+ to go) I realised that this book presumed a certain amount of prior knowledge that I didn't have. Most of the characters and events in this story meant very little to me. I put it aside.

I discovered a course, 'French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars' available from Liberty University for free, via iTunes U. Once I got into this course I restarted 'The Life of Napoleon' and while I don't claim total understanding, I was able to continue and eventually read the whole book. If I was doing it again, I would keep notes on all the characters because at times I found myself forgetting who was who and which side they were on. I might add that Wikipedia helped me to get information on characters I was not familiar with.

The book does give a lot of useful background information but I got sick of reading about battles, in many cases one after another. To me one seems much the same as the next. Perhaps this style of writing appeals to a military scholar of which I now realise there are many. I discovered one website that is so full of praise for Napoleon as a warrior, claiming he was the greatest warrior of all time. They also point out that he did a lot of good. Apparently much of French law today is still based on that which was introduced by Napoleon. I say it wasn't worth it. Around three million died in battles that involved Napoleon. What a record! I am not totally against the taking of life. If someone had the good sense of applying the guillotine to Napoleon when he was young, think how many other lives would have been saved. Even at the end he didn't want to give up. That's why the British imprisoned (though I use the word loosely) him on one of the world's most remote islands after they defeated him at Waterloo. And they were still paranoid that he might escape and start it all over again.

John Holland Rose, who wrote this book, does get a few lines in Wikipedia. I was not aware of him before but apparently he was a respected English historian. One minor point in relation to the style of writing is his use of the possessive pronoun 'our' so often when referring to English soldiers etc. He seems to assume that the book will only be read by the English.