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Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt
Little more than two hundred years ago, only the most reckless or eccentric Europeans had dared traverse the unmapped territory of the modern-day Middle East. Its history and peoples were the subject of much myth and speculation—and no region aroused greater interest than Egypt, where reports of mysterious monuments, inscrutable hieroglyphics, rare silks and spices, and rumors of lost magical knowledge tantalized dreamers and taunted the power-hungry.
It was not until 1798, when an unlikely band of scientific explorers traveled from Paris to the Nile Valley, that Westerners received their first real glimpse of what lay beyond the Mediterranean Sea.
Under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Army, a small and little-known corps of Paris's brightest intellectual lights left the safety of their laboratories, studios, and classrooms to embark on a thirty-day crossing into the unknown—some never to see French shores again. Over 150 astronomers, mathematicians, naturalists, physicists, doctors, chemists, engineers, botanists, artists—even a poet and a musicologist—accompanied Napoleon's troops into Egypt. Carrying pencils instead of swords, specimen jars instead of field guns, these highly accomplished men participated in the first large-scale interaction between Europeans and Muslims of the modern era. And many lived to tell the tale.
Hazarding hunger, hardship, uncertainty, and disease, Napoleon's scientists risked their lives in pursuit of discovery. They approached the land not as colonizers, but as experts in their fields of scholarship, meticulously categorizing and collecting their finds—from the ruins of the colossal pyramids to the smallest insects to the legendary Rosetta Stone.
Those who survived the three-year expedition compiled an exhaustive encyclopedia of Egypt, twenty-three volumes in length, which secured their place in history as the world's earliest-known archaeologists. Unraveling the mysteries that had befuddled Europeans for centuries, Napoleon's scientists were the first to document the astonishing accomplishments of a lost civilization—before the dark shadow of empire-building took Africa and the Middle East by storm.
Internationally acclaimed journalist Nina Burleigh brings readers back to a little-known landmark adventure at the dawn of the modern era—one that ultimately revealed the deepest secrets of ancient Egypt to a very curious continent.
It was not until 1798, when an unlikely band of scientific explorers traveled from Paris to the Nile Valley, that Westerners received their first real glimpse of what lay beyond the Mediterranean Sea.
Under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Army, a small and little-known corps of Paris's brightest intellectual lights left the safety of their laboratories, studios, and classrooms to embark on a thirty-day crossing into the unknown—some never to see French shores again. Over 150 astronomers, mathematicians, naturalists, physicists, doctors, chemists, engineers, botanists, artists—even a poet and a musicologist—accompanied Napoleon's troops into Egypt. Carrying pencils instead of swords, specimen jars instead of field guns, these highly accomplished men participated in the first large-scale interaction between Europeans and Muslims of the modern era. And many lived to tell the tale.
Hazarding hunger, hardship, uncertainty, and disease, Napoleon's scientists risked their lives in pursuit of discovery. They approached the land not as colonizers, but as experts in their fields of scholarship, meticulously categorizing and collecting their finds—from the ruins of the colossal pyramids to the smallest insects to the legendary Rosetta Stone.
Those who survived the three-year expedition compiled an exhaustive encyclopedia of Egypt, twenty-three volumes in length, which secured their place in history as the world's earliest-known archaeologists. Unraveling the mysteries that had befuddled Europeans for centuries, Napoleon's scientists were the first to document the astonishing accomplishments of a lost civilization—before the dark shadow of empire-building took Africa and the Middle East by storm.
Internationally acclaimed journalist Nina Burleigh brings readers back to a little-known landmark adventure at the dawn of the modern era—one that ultimately revealed the deepest secrets of ancient Egypt to a very curious continent.
286 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
199 people are currently reading
815 people want to read
About the author
Nina Burleigh
16 books57 followersNina is an award-winning author and journalist and documentary producer with wide-ranging interests including politics, history, conservation, exploration and science. She has written seven books and has been published in the New Yorker, Time, New York and People, among many other journals and rags. She publishes a national political substack called American Freakshow. She has occasionally shellacked her hair for television, including Good Morning America, Nightline, and various programs on CNN and C-Span, as well as flogged books on NPR and countless radio outlets.
The daughter of author and artist Robert Burleigh and Berta Burleigh, a teacher who emigrated to the USA from Iraq in the 1950s, Nina was born and educated in the Midwest, has traveled extensively in the Middle East and lived in Italy and France. She covered the Clinton White House for Time and reported and wrote human interest stories at People Magazine from New York. She is an adjunct professor at New York University and has lectured in Norway, Mexico, Italy and around the US..
Her first novel, Zero Visibility Possible, will be published in 2024, the first in a trilogy of dark satires about characters grappling with aspects of climate change, conspiracy theories and disinformation.
Her nonfiction books include The Trump Women: Part of the Deal, a lively study of the women in Trump's world; Unholy Business, a true tale of how modern science is being used to support the curious world of biblical relic trade and forgery; her book about Napoleon's scientists in Egypt, Mirage, was selected by the New York Times as an editors' choice and won the Society of Women Educators' Award in 2008.
The daughter of author and artist Robert Burleigh and Berta Burleigh, a teacher who emigrated to the USA from Iraq in the 1950s, Nina was born and educated in the Midwest, has traveled extensively in the Middle East and lived in Italy and France. She covered the Clinton White House for Time and reported and wrote human interest stories at People Magazine from New York. She is an adjunct professor at New York University and has lectured in Norway, Mexico, Italy and around the US..
Her first novel, Zero Visibility Possible, will be published in 2024, the first in a trilogy of dark satires about characters grappling with aspects of climate change, conspiracy theories and disinformation.
Her nonfiction books include The Trump Women: Part of the Deal, a lively study of the women in Trump's world; Unholy Business, a true tale of how modern science is being used to support the curious world of biblical relic trade and forgery; her book about Napoleon's scientists in Egypt, Mirage, was selected by the New York Times as an editors' choice and won the Society of Women Educators' Award in 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
June 12, 2014
The stories recounted in this book are fascinating and it's sobering to realize how readily men's lives were thrown away because of Napoleon's delusions. I found the author's style sensationalist at times. She was also occasionally incorrect with small details. As an art historian, the one that leapt out to me was her discussion of a famous painting of Napoleon at Jaffa as by Jacques-Louis David, The painting in question is by Baron Gros. If such an obvious art historical error was made, what errors might have occurred in fields other than my own?
The sufferings of the scientists who Napoleon led to Egypt were extraordinary, and it is interesting to read of their discoveries and the lengths many went to for their studies.
The sufferings of the scientists who Napoleon led to Egypt were extraordinary, and it is interesting to read of their discoveries and the lengths many went to for their studies.
August 10, 2011
Napoleon’s core of scientific adventurers in Egypt is arguably the greatest singular event to straddle those two reductive “Ages” of European history—ie the Enlightenment and the Romantic. It is also a complete disaster. What a ride! Of course, Mirage is great as an audiobook for road trips b/c the actor takes relish with all those French names... I mean relish in the most literal sense.
With a few tweaks, Mirage would also serve well as a turn-based strategy game. I'm thinking Risk meets Oregon Trail (of the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium fame).
Your Engineers capture: Hathor Temple.
Retrieve: Dendera zodiac.
Skill points needed = 15.
You don't have enough points!
Send to: Cairo for more Engineers.
Attack: Marmaduke Horde
Fight points needed = 64
You don't have enough points!
Your bones shall add sands unto the desert.
With a few tweaks, Mirage would also serve well as a turn-based strategy game. I'm thinking Risk meets Oregon Trail (of the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium fame).
Your Engineers capture: Hathor Temple.
Retrieve: Dendera zodiac.
Skill points needed = 15.
You don't have enough points!
Send to: Cairo for more Engineers.
Attack: Marmaduke Horde
Fight points needed = 64
You don't have enough points!
Your bones shall add sands unto the desert.
July 7, 2008
In 1798, the young French Republic is at war with just about everyone in Europe who doesn’t want the French brand of revolution to spread. The nation needs a victory somewhere and Napoleon, never one to pass up an opportunity, decides to take the French Army to Egypt to secure a base by which grow an empire.
In addition to ships and men to mount this expedition, Napoleon takes a group of 150 scientists along to document this strange land that belongs to no European power and has little factual documentation that didn’t originate from the Crusades centuries earlier.
The “invasion” is a disaster from the get go. The French raid Malta for gold and then lose it at sea. They arrive in Alexandria and no one local takes them seriously. Unprepared for the desert and dressed for Europe, the French quickly succumb to the heat, the sand fleas, the gnats, the sand-induced eye infections, and mosquitoes. All this before they even face their first battle.
They slaughter the Mamelukes outside of Giza and try to rule from Cario. The locals don’t like these hairy white men that don’t bathe and live in filth and the French don’t like these non-Christian sexually deviant people who are ignorant of public sanitation and uncivilized.
Such a match made in Hell can only get better. Napoleon launches an utter failure of a offensive against the British never getting close to his target of Syria. His army collapses due to the plague as the British destroy his entire navy in port.
Like the Rudy Giuliani or George W, Bush of his day, he was never one to let reality get in the way of his vision and was quite unscrupulous when it came to saving his own skin. Under the cover of darkness, he abandons his stranded army in Egypt for France because because “France needs him more.”
His underlings, who are really pissed about this, deal as best they can for the next few years before the British, quite mercifully, allow what’s left this army to return home.
This is the background for this book that is about the scientists, their activities, and the birth of modern Archeology.
They were treated as second-class citizens by the soldiers and only because it was Napoleon leading this mission did they live to see Egypt. The General fancied himself a scientist of sorts and accorded them military escorts and private accommodations once Cairo fell. This didn’t go over well with the Army but they couldn’t complain too much.
The point is that the scientists were the first post-Enlightenment academics to visit Egypt with the purpose of cataloguing everything they could. Those that signed on to this adventure weren’t sure on the final outcome but they felt their careers would be immeasurably advanced by being the “first” in recent memory to come to the Nile and its environs.
With most of their gear sunk in the harbor at Alexandria, they had to make due and they did such a great job that they were improvising all kinds of materials for the Army to use that they weren’t going to receive anytime soon from France.
The scientists explored insects, the local flora, the climate, the phenomenon called a mirage, and the remains for the Pharaonic civilization. Their drawings were unparalleled and their research exacting for its time.
Hoping to get a leg up on their contemporaries, they mailed off findings and reports back to Paris that never made it due to British interception. Undeterred by the lack of response, they established their own Academy in Cairo and proceeded as an official scientific institution of inquiry and discovery.
As the French situation deteriorated, so did the physical conditions of the scientists. Their research was increasingly forced to be pragmatic for the French cause; ways to build a Suez canal, medical care for soldiers, and supplying water for the locals.
Eventually, the French capitulated to the British and, as part of the negotiations, they asked for the findings of the scientists, having followed their developments throughout the occupation.
Negotiations ensue and the British get the Rosetta Stone but not after the French had copied the contents. This is what leads to the cracking to the Egyptian glyphs by the French years later and making the mystical legible.
Upon their return, the “Egyptians”, as these scientists call themselves, find the world has blown past them. With most of them unable to find work as they once had and obsessed by visions of the desert, they began to put their works together. What results is a multi-volume book, begun in1802 and finished in 1828 called “the Description of Egypt” that became a runaway smash and cause a sensational in the fashion and design worlds for anything Egyptian.
It wasn’t the reaction the scientists expected but it seemed to be welcome nonetheless.
A good read about a great topic.
In addition to ships and men to mount this expedition, Napoleon takes a group of 150 scientists along to document this strange land that belongs to no European power and has little factual documentation that didn’t originate from the Crusades centuries earlier.
The “invasion” is a disaster from the get go. The French raid Malta for gold and then lose it at sea. They arrive in Alexandria and no one local takes them seriously. Unprepared for the desert and dressed for Europe, the French quickly succumb to the heat, the sand fleas, the gnats, the sand-induced eye infections, and mosquitoes. All this before they even face their first battle.
They slaughter the Mamelukes outside of Giza and try to rule from Cario. The locals don’t like these hairy white men that don’t bathe and live in filth and the French don’t like these non-Christian sexually deviant people who are ignorant of public sanitation and uncivilized.
Such a match made in Hell can only get better. Napoleon launches an utter failure of a offensive against the British never getting close to his target of Syria. His army collapses due to the plague as the British destroy his entire navy in port.
Like the Rudy Giuliani or George W, Bush of his day, he was never one to let reality get in the way of his vision and was quite unscrupulous when it came to saving his own skin. Under the cover of darkness, he abandons his stranded army in Egypt for France because because “France needs him more.”
His underlings, who are really pissed about this, deal as best they can for the next few years before the British, quite mercifully, allow what’s left this army to return home.
This is the background for this book that is about the scientists, their activities, and the birth of modern Archeology.
They were treated as second-class citizens by the soldiers and only because it was Napoleon leading this mission did they live to see Egypt. The General fancied himself a scientist of sorts and accorded them military escorts and private accommodations once Cairo fell. This didn’t go over well with the Army but they couldn’t complain too much.
The point is that the scientists were the first post-Enlightenment academics to visit Egypt with the purpose of cataloguing everything they could. Those that signed on to this adventure weren’t sure on the final outcome but they felt their careers would be immeasurably advanced by being the “first” in recent memory to come to the Nile and its environs.
With most of their gear sunk in the harbor at Alexandria, they had to make due and they did such a great job that they were improvising all kinds of materials for the Army to use that they weren’t going to receive anytime soon from France.
The scientists explored insects, the local flora, the climate, the phenomenon called a mirage, and the remains for the Pharaonic civilization. Their drawings were unparalleled and their research exacting for its time.
Hoping to get a leg up on their contemporaries, they mailed off findings and reports back to Paris that never made it due to British interception. Undeterred by the lack of response, they established their own Academy in Cairo and proceeded as an official scientific institution of inquiry and discovery.
As the French situation deteriorated, so did the physical conditions of the scientists. Their research was increasingly forced to be pragmatic for the French cause; ways to build a Suez canal, medical care for soldiers, and supplying water for the locals.
Eventually, the French capitulated to the British and, as part of the negotiations, they asked for the findings of the scientists, having followed their developments throughout the occupation.
Negotiations ensue and the British get the Rosetta Stone but not after the French had copied the contents. This is what leads to the cracking to the Egyptian glyphs by the French years later and making the mystical legible.
Upon their return, the “Egyptians”, as these scientists call themselves, find the world has blown past them. With most of them unable to find work as they once had and obsessed by visions of the desert, they began to put their works together. What results is a multi-volume book, begun in1802 and finished in 1828 called “the Description of Egypt” that became a runaway smash and cause a sensational in the fashion and design worlds for anything Egyptian.
It wasn’t the reaction the scientists expected but it seemed to be welcome nonetheless.
A good read about a great topic.
July 13, 2013
An interesting but poorly organized account of Napoleon's ill conceived invasion of Egypt. While the subject matter was interesting and the prose engaging, the author frequently repeated herself, and many tidbits of information were repeated almost verbatim in several chapters. There was an attempt, I think, to find a satisfying middle ground between a chronological account of the invasion and a biographical account for each of the scientists involved. Regardless of organization, I learned a lot about the time, and the author's excellent use of primary source material painted a vivid picture of Egypt at the turn of the nineteenth century.
May 31, 2008
I found this to be a great introduction into the scientific and political climate of the time period. I had no real knowledge of what Egypt was like at this time, so I was particularly interested in how the people lived, and how the soldiers and scientists adjusted, not just what finds and developments they were making. I would definitely recommend as a supplement to a history or archeology class.
April 15, 2013
Despite what I do for a living, I get easily bored with history books. Not this one. A great cast of characters and a great setting. It answered one of my biggest questions as a tourist to the British Museum -- how did the Rosetta Stone end up in England if Napoleon discovered it? As for Napoleon, he comes off looking worse than expected, his Egyptian expedition a bigger disaster than I'd imagined.
March 7, 2018
I really don't like Napoleon.
February 6, 2022
I do not recommend Bonaparte Tours for visiting Egypt. I thought Edouard, my tour guide in Paris in 2018 was a dick, but this guide, Napoleon, despite his smaller stature, is a bigger one. First off, he tells people that have to go, they have no choice. "It'll be a glorious adventure!" he says. To where? No one knows. He doesn't tell anyone the destination until halfway there: "It's Egypt! So what if sane Europeans don't go there! It'll be great! Trust me!". Once there, not only are there no reservations made, but the Egyptians weren't expecting anyone. They were taken completely by surprise and offered no hand to help. When a welcoming committee of Mamalukes came to greet us, Napoleon had them slaughtered. So did not sign up for this. It was not mentioned on the itinerary. Also not mentioned on the itinerary was the heat. Had I known, I would have never have taken the Alpine wool attire. And the bugs! And worst was the diseases-- dysentary, opthamalia, and the plague. Had I known about this, I would have chosen Lewis and Clark Tours instead. Throw my lot in with cholera and broken axles instead. At least there's trees and water and things to eat on that tour. Instead, with Napoleon in charge, many travelers got sick and died or were killed, not to mention the hosts. Then Napoleon offers an excursion to Syria, where more disasters awaited: killing Turks with bayonets, euthanizing fellow passengers. It was a terrible time. To add insult to injury, he abandoned everyone and snuck back to France! Lewis and Clark only lost one person on their tour-- to appendicitis. Napoleon lost over 15,000 to all number of horrible things. It took two more years to get home. I hear that Bonaparte Tours is offering specials to Russia and Spain. Do. Not. Do. It.
Fortunately, I am an arm-chair traveler living in 2022 reading about all of this in Nina Burleigh's "Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt". Burleigh crams this little-known Napoleon escapade into 248 pages, and thank goodness, too. I don't think I could take a page more. It really was a terrible time, and Napoleon emperorally screwed everyone, except himself, over on this jaunt for glory. In addition to 50,000 soldiers and sailors, he conscripted 151 scientists and artists to record everything they see. Burleigh organizes her book based on the different roles the scientists played, and it more or less works, even if just tangentially. But it is a great insight to this time and how this rotten expedition changed our understanding of the world-- from finding the Rosetta Stone to exploring ancient cultures to laying the precursors for the theory of evolution. The scientists worked tirelessly collecting, categorizing, theorizing, speculating, dissecting, storing, and gazing, and it was their passion that sustained them through this ordeal. The soldiers did not have such passions to fall back on. The most interesting parts about this book was about the Egyptians and the Mamalukes and their way of life at the turn of the 19th century. The Mamalukes were a slave caste comprised of slaves purchased from the Balkans and Caucasus regions. They served as the warriors and protectors of Egypt and held a tremendous amount of wealth and power, and one of the most powerful Mamalukes was a woman who negotiated with the French. Later, they did, unfortunately, sign up for Bonaparte's excursion into Spain.
Overall, this was an interesting book, even if the author repeated herself a lot. It reminded me of Candice Millard's "The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey"-- a book that makes you happy that you are reading about an experience rather than living it.
Fortunately, I am an arm-chair traveler living in 2022 reading about all of this in Nina Burleigh's "Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt". Burleigh crams this little-known Napoleon escapade into 248 pages, and thank goodness, too. I don't think I could take a page more. It really was a terrible time, and Napoleon emperorally screwed everyone, except himself, over on this jaunt for glory. In addition to 50,000 soldiers and sailors, he conscripted 151 scientists and artists to record everything they see. Burleigh organizes her book based on the different roles the scientists played, and it more or less works, even if just tangentially. But it is a great insight to this time and how this rotten expedition changed our understanding of the world-- from finding the Rosetta Stone to exploring ancient cultures to laying the precursors for the theory of evolution. The scientists worked tirelessly collecting, categorizing, theorizing, speculating, dissecting, storing, and gazing, and it was their passion that sustained them through this ordeal. The soldiers did not have such passions to fall back on. The most interesting parts about this book was about the Egyptians and the Mamalukes and their way of life at the turn of the 19th century. The Mamalukes were a slave caste comprised of slaves purchased from the Balkans and Caucasus regions. They served as the warriors and protectors of Egypt and held a tremendous amount of wealth and power, and one of the most powerful Mamalukes was a woman who negotiated with the French. Later, they did, unfortunately, sign up for Bonaparte's excursion into Spain.
Overall, this was an interesting book, even if the author repeated herself a lot. It reminded me of Candice Millard's "The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey"-- a book that makes you happy that you are reading about an experience rather than living it.
January 9, 2025
Napoleon waltzed off to Egypt in 1798 with imperialistic goals. He took a bevy of “savants” of many different disciplines with him. He told only a very few where they were going, yet people were competing left and right for the opportunity to sail with him to a mysterious destination. In Egypt, they encountered camel bites (sometimes rabid), scorpion bites, snake bites, internal leech bites (from drinking infested water), bronchial infections, worms of all types, venereal diseases, the plague, dysentery, and ophthalmia. After only a year, Napolean snuck back to France, stranding his military and scientists (but only after he’d sent a case of sugar, wine, coffee, and spirits to a waiting French ship under the code label “Pour Monsieur Smith,” assuring himself of luxuries on the way home.
The folks he abandoned were stuck there another two years. You have to admire the scholars’ dedication to science. One of them was captured while trying to return to France and locked in a dim, damp dungeon for nearly two years. While there in appalling conditions, he wrote a groundbreaking geological treatise—using lumps of burned coal and writing in the margins of a Bible.
The interest in Egyptian antiquities that they created led to the “rape of the Nile,” as European nations hauled off as much loot as they could, destroying a lot of it along the way. “Scholars from different political and geographical points of view have debated the following questions over the years: Did the scholars play any role in increasing or ameliorating the mistrust between Islam and the West that so plagues the modern world? Did they help bring Egypt out of the Middle Ages (or have no effect)? Was their book a bridge between the two cultures, or merely a Western stamp of cultural lordship over an Eastern territory?” Interesting read!
The folks he abandoned were stuck there another two years. You have to admire the scholars’ dedication to science. One of them was captured while trying to return to France and locked in a dim, damp dungeon for nearly two years. While there in appalling conditions, he wrote a groundbreaking geological treatise—using lumps of burned coal and writing in the margins of a Bible.
The interest in Egyptian antiquities that they created led to the “rape of the Nile,” as European nations hauled off as much loot as they could, destroying a lot of it along the way. “Scholars from different political and geographical points of view have debated the following questions over the years: Did the scholars play any role in increasing or ameliorating the mistrust between Islam and the West that so plagues the modern world? Did they help bring Egypt out of the Middle Ages (or have no effect)? Was their book a bridge between the two cultures, or merely a Western stamp of cultural lordship over an Eastern territory?” Interesting read!
July 18, 2025
History of France: Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt
The beginning of the nineteenth century found France experiencing economic and class struggles as a direct result of the Revolution, as well as a new political and ideological order. The French government underwent several changes during the First Republic, following the fall of Louis XVI and the monarchy, including the National Convention, the Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction, the Directory, and finally the Consulate. However, France continued to decline economically and lost important territories such as Canada and the Indies. This is a very confusing time in French political history. What a mess! Who would rescue France and lead it back to power?
The answer came in the unlikely form of a war hero by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon had just led a military expedition to Egypt in 1798 in order to establish a French presence in the Middle East. He conquered the Ottoman province and, more importantly, launched modern Egyptology through discoveries made by his army.
Nina Burleigh gives a thrilling account of Napoleon’s expedition in her book Mirage, including the 151 “savants” that he took along- geologists, mapmakers, naturalists, artists, and musicologists. These scholars not only discovered the Rosetta Stone, they also compiled a 24-volume encyclopedia, Description de l’Égypte ($90 on Amazon), about the natural history of Egypt’s people, Pyramids, daily life, species, and agriculture. This encyclopedia led to a worldwide “Egyptomania” and the acquisitions of: Cleopatra’s Needle in NY, the Luxor Obelisk in Paris, the mummies at the Metropolitan, British, and Louvre museums. (I love, love, love this book; it is a fascinating read!)
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte engineered a coup and took power in France. He signed a Concordat with the Pope to restore the catholic religion, which had been abolished since the Revolution. In 1804, Napoleon became Emperor of the French, but there are differing historical accounts regarding who performed the actual crowning! According to my French history professor, Mme Kessler, at the Sorbonne University in Paris, Napoleon was crowned by Pope Pius VII.
However, most American references claim that Napoleon took the crown from the Pope and placed it in on his own head ! The contemporary French painter Ingres sketched the ceremony of Napoleon’s wife, Josephine, being crowned Empress, and then proceeded to paint a very large tableau which hangs in the Louvre Museum.
Napoleon created a new court of officers for the French army, as well as a court for the bourgeoisie nobles. He subsequently reported many military victories in Austerlitz, Iéna, Eylau, and Wagram. Reliefs of these victories can be seen on the Arc de Triomphe and in paintings which surround his tomb in the Invalides in Paris. By 1811, Napoleon ruled over 70 million people across an empire that included Europe and maintained these alliances through family appointments: brothers Louis in Holland, Joseph to Spain, and Jerome to Westphalia; sisters Caroline to Naples and Elisa to Etruria. He even created a new aristocracy in France and allowed the return of the nobles who had been forced into exile by the Revolution.
Of course, there are numerous victories through military campaigns that Napoléon led, which I am not including in this post. Further Reading: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler, or Napoleon on the Art of War by Jay Luvaas.
Napoleon brought about many postive changes to France, becoming the “maître de l’Europe occidentale”. He created a new currency the Banque de France along with une nouvelle monnaie “le franc”, created “le Code civil”. He also founded many new schools, the Legion d’Honneur and divided the state into individual “departments” facilitate governance.
Unfortunately, Napoleon experienced a significant defeat in Leipzig in 1813, abdicated his throne in 1814, and was sent into exile on the island of Elba. He returned to France for a brief period and was once again defeated at Waterloo after being captured by the British and sent to prison at Sainte-Hélène, where he died at the young age of 51. Even in his short reign as Emperor, Napoleon is honored as a hero for restoring France to power.
There is much evidence of this honor to Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris through paintings, statues, and monuments:
1) The Vendome Column : in Place Vendome stands a bronze plated column from 1,250 cannons captured from Austrian and Russian troops during the Battle of Austerlitz, considered one of Napoleon’s greatest victories
2) #3, rue D’Antin: Napoléon and Josephine were married on the 2nd floor of this mansion when it was the office of the Mairie.
3) Church of Saint-Sulpice: the “Temple of Victory” at the time, General Napoleon was honored here at a banquet. Directly behind the church is rue Bonaparte.
4) Luxembourg Palace: where Napoleon and Josephine lived for a time.
5) Site of Tuileries Palace: between the Arc du Carrousel and the Jardins du Tuileries. Napoléon lived here for 14 years.
6) Rue de Rivoli: Napoleon created this large street to ease the heavy traffic of rue Saint-Honoré, one block over. This rue runs from place de la Concorde to the place du Palais-Royal. It is named for one of Napoléon’s victories in Italy.
7) Notre-Dame de Paris: where Napoleon and Josephine were coronated as Emperor and Empress of France. A triumphal arch and golden statues of Charlemagne were erected outside the cathedral with elevated platforms of scarlet canopies for their thrones.
8) Arc de Triomphe de L’Etoile : Napoléon ordered a new monument dedicated to the Grand Armée built on one of the old city gates in Paris. At the time there were 5 roads leading to villages outside of Paris. Today there are 8 grand boulevards including Champs-Elysées. Names of the battles won by Napoléon are engraved around the arch’s top and 386 generals and the names of those who died in action are underlined.
9) Hotel National Des Invalides & Napoleon’s Tomb : Napoléon requested a crypt to be buried in of black marble. After his death on Saint-Helene, Napoléon’s coffin was moved to a few locations and eventually was placed in the Invalid Dome. Napoléon’s body is encased in six coffins of: zinc, mahogany, lead, ebony and oak.
Fortunately, the 19th century brought about many positive changes in France: political, literary, artistic and scientific. I will address these in my next blog ” History Review France: La Première Moitie du XIX Siècle, Littéraire France Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac”.
Works Cited
Burleigh, N. (2007). Mirage: Napoleon’s scientists and the unveiling of Egypt. New York: Harper.
Clark, Priscilla P. Literary France. The Making of a Culture ( University of California Press, 1987)
The beginning of the nineteenth century found France experiencing economic and class struggles as a direct result of the Revolution, as well as a new political and ideological order. The French government underwent several changes during the First Republic, following the fall of Louis XVI and the monarchy, including the National Convention, the Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction, the Directory, and finally the Consulate. However, France continued to decline economically and lost important territories such as Canada and the Indies. This is a very confusing time in French political history. What a mess! Who would rescue France and lead it back to power?
The answer came in the unlikely form of a war hero by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon had just led a military expedition to Egypt in 1798 in order to establish a French presence in the Middle East. He conquered the Ottoman province and, more importantly, launched modern Egyptology through discoveries made by his army.
Nina Burleigh gives a thrilling account of Napoleon’s expedition in her book Mirage, including the 151 “savants” that he took along- geologists, mapmakers, naturalists, artists, and musicologists. These scholars not only discovered the Rosetta Stone, they also compiled a 24-volume encyclopedia, Description de l’Égypte ($90 on Amazon), about the natural history of Egypt’s people, Pyramids, daily life, species, and agriculture. This encyclopedia led to a worldwide “Egyptomania” and the acquisitions of: Cleopatra’s Needle in NY, the Luxor Obelisk in Paris, the mummies at the Metropolitan, British, and Louvre museums. (I love, love, love this book; it is a fascinating read!)
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte engineered a coup and took power in France. He signed a Concordat with the Pope to restore the catholic religion, which had been abolished since the Revolution. In 1804, Napoleon became Emperor of the French, but there are differing historical accounts regarding who performed the actual crowning! According to my French history professor, Mme Kessler, at the Sorbonne University in Paris, Napoleon was crowned by Pope Pius VII.
However, most American references claim that Napoleon took the crown from the Pope and placed it in on his own head ! The contemporary French painter Ingres sketched the ceremony of Napoleon’s wife, Josephine, being crowned Empress, and then proceeded to paint a very large tableau which hangs in the Louvre Museum.
Napoleon created a new court of officers for the French army, as well as a court for the bourgeoisie nobles. He subsequently reported many military victories in Austerlitz, Iéna, Eylau, and Wagram. Reliefs of these victories can be seen on the Arc de Triomphe and in paintings which surround his tomb in the Invalides in Paris. By 1811, Napoleon ruled over 70 million people across an empire that included Europe and maintained these alliances through family appointments: brothers Louis in Holland, Joseph to Spain, and Jerome to Westphalia; sisters Caroline to Naples and Elisa to Etruria. He even created a new aristocracy in France and allowed the return of the nobles who had been forced into exile by the Revolution.
Of course, there are numerous victories through military campaigns that Napoléon led, which I am not including in this post. Further Reading: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler, or Napoleon on the Art of War by Jay Luvaas.
Napoleon brought about many postive changes to France, becoming the “maître de l’Europe occidentale”. He created a new currency the Banque de France along with une nouvelle monnaie “le franc”, created “le Code civil”. He also founded many new schools, the Legion d’Honneur and divided the state into individual “departments” facilitate governance.
Unfortunately, Napoleon experienced a significant defeat in Leipzig in 1813, abdicated his throne in 1814, and was sent into exile on the island of Elba. He returned to France for a brief period and was once again defeated at Waterloo after being captured by the British and sent to prison at Sainte-Hélène, where he died at the young age of 51. Even in his short reign as Emperor, Napoleon is honored as a hero for restoring France to power.
There is much evidence of this honor to Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris through paintings, statues, and monuments:
1) The Vendome Column : in Place Vendome stands a bronze plated column from 1,250 cannons captured from Austrian and Russian troops during the Battle of Austerlitz, considered one of Napoleon’s greatest victories
2) #3, rue D’Antin: Napoléon and Josephine were married on the 2nd floor of this mansion when it was the office of the Mairie.
3) Church of Saint-Sulpice: the “Temple of Victory” at the time, General Napoleon was honored here at a banquet. Directly behind the church is rue Bonaparte.
4) Luxembourg Palace: where Napoleon and Josephine lived for a time.
5) Site of Tuileries Palace: between the Arc du Carrousel and the Jardins du Tuileries. Napoléon lived here for 14 years.
6) Rue de Rivoli: Napoleon created this large street to ease the heavy traffic of rue Saint-Honoré, one block over. This rue runs from place de la Concorde to the place du Palais-Royal. It is named for one of Napoléon’s victories in Italy.
7) Notre-Dame de Paris: where Napoleon and Josephine were coronated as Emperor and Empress of France. A triumphal arch and golden statues of Charlemagne were erected outside the cathedral with elevated platforms of scarlet canopies for their thrones.
8) Arc de Triomphe de L’Etoile : Napoléon ordered a new monument dedicated to the Grand Armée built on one of the old city gates in Paris. At the time there were 5 roads leading to villages outside of Paris. Today there are 8 grand boulevards including Champs-Elysées. Names of the battles won by Napoléon are engraved around the arch’s top and 386 generals and the names of those who died in action are underlined.
9) Hotel National Des Invalides & Napoleon’s Tomb : Napoléon requested a crypt to be buried in of black marble. After his death on Saint-Helene, Napoléon’s coffin was moved to a few locations and eventually was placed in the Invalid Dome. Napoléon’s body is encased in six coffins of: zinc, mahogany, lead, ebony and oak.
Fortunately, the 19th century brought about many positive changes in France: political, literary, artistic and scientific. I will address these in my next blog ” History Review France: La Première Moitie du XIX Siècle, Littéraire France Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac”.
Works Cited
Burleigh, N. (2007). Mirage: Napoleon’s scientists and the unveiling of Egypt. New York: Harper.
Clark, Priscilla P. Literary France. The Making of a Culture ( University of California Press, 1987)
July 8, 2009
I wanted to like this book more than I did. It's filled with colorful characters adrift in unfamiliar surroundings, forced to improvise, explore, and keep from turning on each other. Juicy anecdotes abound, and the writing is smooth and engaging. The narrative moves along efficiently, balancing portraits of individual scientists with a broader account of the French expedition to Egypt. In the end, though, the details never seemed to fully cohere into an argument for the significance of the French scholars' activities - of why or how the expedition should figure in our understanding of later developments. Additionally, we don't get a sense of how the events in Egypt might shed light on the normal scientific practices and assumptions of Napoleonic France, or of the responses to French science from Muslim thinkers. This is a pleasant read, but it leaves the reader wanting something more substantial.
March 1, 2017
A fairly unsanitized unromantic sketch of the French invasion of Egypt in 1798. Imperialism, and frankly wars/invasion in general, are gross barbaric ugly affairs. Contrasted the military march against the backdrop of almost manic scientific fervor, and the clashes between civilian and military.
Very readable and because it takes a fairly wide sweeping overview of many of the principle scientists involved in the invasion, I think it might be a good place to start if you plan to do deeper reading on the period.
Some passages could be prone to repetition, but otherwise it had a very engaging and easy to follow tone and voice. Overall, not what I was expecting (honestly I picked it up think it would be about more particulars of archaeology) but I learned some stuff that I've only ever read about in passing before or had not encountered in world history classes before so I'm quite glad I picked it up.
Very readable and because it takes a fairly wide sweeping overview of many of the principle scientists involved in the invasion, I think it might be a good place to start if you plan to do deeper reading on the period.
Some passages could be prone to repetition, but otherwise it had a very engaging and easy to follow tone and voice. Overall, not what I was expecting (honestly I picked it up think it would be about more particulars of archaeology) but I learned some stuff that I've only ever read about in passing before or had not encountered in world history classes before so I'm quite glad I picked it up.
January 28, 2014
Very disappointing.
This book is about the scientists and scholars that accompanied Napoleon in his quest to invade Egypt in 1798, not about the invasion itself.
Sadly, the author has a typical orientalist view of the French invasion, or "expedition", to Egypt. According to her, the French, regardless of all their crimes and brutality that they have committed in Egypt, are civilized and enlightened because they had fancy French names, and eat baguettes and croissants. While the Arabs who were generous to them were naive, and the ones that fought back to protect their homeland were backward extremists and zealots.
Well, maybe the part about the baguettes wasn't true, but you get the idea. I just stopped half way through, and couldn't finish it.
This book is about the scientists and scholars that accompanied Napoleon in his quest to invade Egypt in 1798, not about the invasion itself.
Sadly, the author has a typical orientalist view of the French invasion, or "expedition", to Egypt. According to her, the French, regardless of all their crimes and brutality that they have committed in Egypt, are civilized and enlightened because they had fancy French names, and eat baguettes and croissants. While the Arabs who were generous to them were naive, and the ones that fought back to protect their homeland were backward extremists and zealots.
Well, maybe the part about the baguettes wasn't true, but you get the idea. I just stopped half way through, and couldn't finish it.
March 17, 2015
The title, mirage, is experienced, but not scientifically explained for the reader. Scientific lists finish the book, again, without the explanations so wanted. To summarize: Napolean brought his troups and savantes to Egypt at the end of the 1700s, he himself a wannabe scientist. Only one out of nine people (soldiers/savantes) survived. The savantes did the most work, but the best invention is the metronome. However the 40 volume book they published in serial form in the early 1800s showed great biological and beautiful discoveries.
April 30, 2008
Again I am reminded of why I fell for French civilization shortly after starting French 1 in high school back in 1970: the French are so un-English! They may have done a lot of "bad" (Napoleon is not really much better than Hitler in many aspects), but their desire to bring their civilization to others while studying and preserving the local civilization is commendable for a colonial power, I suppose. The text is poorly written, but it is written with enthusiasm, which excuses some things.
October 7, 2008
This was a very interesting and informative book on the excursion by the French to Egypt, detailing the various personalities involved and the different sciences represtented to try to unearth the mysteries of Egypt which led to the great "Egyptomania" craze of the 1800s in Europe. I was a bit disappointed that more of the actual discoveries weren't detailed, but seeing as how this was a book about the scientists themselves, that was acceptable.
March 4, 2011
An interesting history focusing on the little known Egyptian campaign of Napoleon's war. A little bit less focus on the campaign than I would have preferred, but a large focus on the para-scientific and scholarly expedition that accompanied the French Army of 36,000 to Egypt. It could have used a bit more background on the scholar's accomplishments before the expedition, but even so, without this book I would have had no idea that Fourier accompanied Napoleon to the desert for three years.
July 28, 2014
A book about the time the French were in Egypt and the scientists that went along with the army. Interesting bio's on engineers, inventors, historians and more. Wrapped in is the individual stories of how they survived the French Revolution, dealt with poor logistical planning by Napolean and life in Cairo at the turn if the 19th century. This was a time when the ancient Pyramids were new, the Sphinx still half way covered by sand and no one knew what to make of the monuments in Luxor.
September 11, 2008
Napoleon rounds up brilliant men and strands them in Egypt. They settle in abandoned Mameluke mansions. Good story, great details about the setting. Not too much science for this non-scientist. Good other details about Mr. Conte, (inventor of Conte crayons) and others you might NEED to know about.
June 27, 2010
A great introduction to the French "occupation" of Egypt, I just wish Burleigh had gone more in depth. In the end the sum feels very shallow, like she just barely scraped the surface. My interest was very much captured; wish there was more.
July 12, 2025
Nina Burleigh’s Mirage is a fascinating blend of history, science, and adventure. It tells the little-known but compelling story of the 167 French scholars and scientists, known as the “savants”, who accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte during his 1798 military invasion of Egypt. While Napoleon’s campaign was ultimately a military failure, the scientific mission turned out to be a landmark in the history of archaeology, cartography, and Egyptology. Burleigh's account brings this strange, ambitious, and contradictory episode to life with rich detail and narrative flair.
At the heart of the book is the contrast between Napoleon’s political ambition and the scholars’ scientific curiosity. While the general sought glory and conquest, the savants were captivated by Egypt's ancient wonders, determined to study and record everything from its plants and animals to its monuments, language, and people. Their work laid the foundation for modern Egyptology and contributed to the broader Enlightenment project of cataloguing human knowledge.
Burleigh skillfully introduces us to some of the more prominent scientists and artists who made this intellectual adventure possible:
1. Gaspard Monge – Mathematician
Monge, a brilliant geometer and one of the founders of descriptive geometry, was one of the leading intellectuals on the expedition. He helped establish the Institute of Egypt, a kind of portable scientific academy based in Cairo. Monge's vision extended beyond academic research—he believed science could modernise Egypt. He also supervised mapping and urban design efforts in Cairo, laying out boulevards in imitation of Paris.
2. Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire – Naturalist
A young zoologist, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire catalogued Egypt’s flora and fauna and compared it to European species. His work contributed to early theories of evolution and helped generate interest in comparative anatomy. He also collected hundreds of animal specimens, which were later studied in France. His observations were some of the first scientific attempts to understand African biodiversity through a modern lens.
3. Dominique Vivant Denon – Artist and archaeologist
Denon was an adventurous draftsman and writer who travelled further up the Nile than almost anyone else during the campaign. He sketched countless ruins, temples, and hieroglyphics. His work was later used in the Description de l’Égypte, the monumental publication that emerged from the mission. Denon’s illustrations helped ignite the 19th-century European fascination with ancient Egypt.
4. Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier – Mathematician and physicist
Fourier is best known today for the Fourier series and his work on heat flow, but during the Egyptian campaign, he acted as secretary of the scientific mission. He helped organise the team’s findings and had a major role in editing and publishing the Description de l’Égypte. Fourier also gathered meteorological data in Egypt, laying the groundwork for climate science.
The book doesn’t shy away from the contradictions and limitations of this expedition. The French came as invaders and occupiers, and while they admired Egypt’s ancient past, they often ignored or disrespected its contemporary society and culture. Burleigh is clear-eyed about the colonial overtones of the mission and its place within the larger project of European imperialism.
What makes Mirage especially engaging is how it combines the sweep of history with the vivid personalities of its subjects. The scientists faced disease, heat, political chaos, and even violence, but they remained driven by a sense of wonder. In their wake, they left behind detailed maps, scientific observations, and an entirely new field of study.
At the heart of the book is the contrast between Napoleon’s political ambition and the scholars’ scientific curiosity. While the general sought glory and conquest, the savants were captivated by Egypt's ancient wonders, determined to study and record everything from its plants and animals to its monuments, language, and people. Their work laid the foundation for modern Egyptology and contributed to the broader Enlightenment project of cataloguing human knowledge.
Burleigh skillfully introduces us to some of the more prominent scientists and artists who made this intellectual adventure possible:
1. Gaspard Monge – Mathematician
Monge, a brilliant geometer and one of the founders of descriptive geometry, was one of the leading intellectuals on the expedition. He helped establish the Institute of Egypt, a kind of portable scientific academy based in Cairo. Monge's vision extended beyond academic research—he believed science could modernise Egypt. He also supervised mapping and urban design efforts in Cairo, laying out boulevards in imitation of Paris.
2. Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire – Naturalist
A young zoologist, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire catalogued Egypt’s flora and fauna and compared it to European species. His work contributed to early theories of evolution and helped generate interest in comparative anatomy. He also collected hundreds of animal specimens, which were later studied in France. His observations were some of the first scientific attempts to understand African biodiversity through a modern lens.
3. Dominique Vivant Denon – Artist and archaeologist
Denon was an adventurous draftsman and writer who travelled further up the Nile than almost anyone else during the campaign. He sketched countless ruins, temples, and hieroglyphics. His work was later used in the Description de l’Égypte, the monumental publication that emerged from the mission. Denon’s illustrations helped ignite the 19th-century European fascination with ancient Egypt.
4. Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier – Mathematician and physicist
Fourier is best known today for the Fourier series and his work on heat flow, but during the Egyptian campaign, he acted as secretary of the scientific mission. He helped organise the team’s findings and had a major role in editing and publishing the Description de l’Égypte. Fourier also gathered meteorological data in Egypt, laying the groundwork for climate science.
The book doesn’t shy away from the contradictions and limitations of this expedition. The French came as invaders and occupiers, and while they admired Egypt’s ancient past, they often ignored or disrespected its contemporary society and culture. Burleigh is clear-eyed about the colonial overtones of the mission and its place within the larger project of European imperialism.
What makes Mirage especially engaging is how it combines the sweep of history with the vivid personalities of its subjects. The scientists faced disease, heat, political chaos, and even violence, but they remained driven by a sense of wonder. In their wake, they left behind detailed maps, scientific observations, and an entirely new field of study.
September 26, 2017
I listened to this book on audio-tape, and for the most part it was interesting. The scientist the author discusses are pretty different, so I think anyone who read the book would find some very interesting and others pretty boring. I learned a lot about Egypt at the time and also Napoleon. It was interesting to see how the scientists went about their work. The author seemed to be particularly anti-Napoleon that felt biased. When he returned to France, that author continuously would describe his actions is derogatory terms that didn't seem justified by the information she presented. I can understand why the scientists wouldn't have been happy, but I can think of many reasons why Napoleon would've been totally justified to return to France. Egypt was more of an imperial goal and war had just broken out between France and many of its neighbors. Why wouldn't he return home? The author was unrelenting though. Everything thing became lines like, "In the days since Napoleon's cowardly abandonment...". She was also very critical of his decision, which he denies, to poison some of his troops that had the plague while the army was in retreat. It is a harsh decision, but I don't necessarily find fault in it. Would it be right to sacrifice the lives of far more troops to potentially save a few of the infected? I just don't think it was as black and white as the author depicted it and he apparent bias against Napoleon tainted parts of the book for me.
The audio book:
The read was pretty good with a few exceptions. Her voice would change pretty drastically when she read quotes and I didn't like it at all. The book would also describe some things in French and not translate it. For example, "Napoleon ironically named it [something in French]." Maybe if I was reading the book it would be obvious what the translation was, but just hearing it I usually had no clue.
The final verdict is that the book is good and interesting if you have a particular interest in Egypt, science, or Napoleon. I am soon to visit Egypt and France so I was very interested. Some people might lose interest.
The audio book:
The read was pretty good with a few exceptions. Her voice would change pretty drastically when she read quotes and I didn't like it at all. The book would also describe some things in French and not translate it. For example, "Napoleon ironically named it [something in French]." Maybe if I was reading the book it would be obvious what the translation was, but just hearing it I usually had no clue.
The final verdict is that the book is good and interesting if you have a particular interest in Egypt, science, or Napoleon. I am soon to visit Egypt and France so I was very interested. Some people might lose interest.
July 6, 2019
As of a couple hundred years ago the area known today as the Middle East was mostly unknown to Europeans except for myths and speculation. This was especially true of Egypt which was of particular interest to the western world with reports of ancient civilizations, mysterious monuments, undecipherable hieroglyphics, as well as it being a gateway to the silks and spices of the far east. That changed in 1798 when France's Napoleon Bonaparte took an army and about 150 of Paris's brightest scientific minds including astronomers, mathematicians, naturalists, physicists, doctors, chemists, engineers, botanists, artists, etc. into Egypt. Most would never see France again. This was the first large-scale interaction between the Christian west and the Muslims in the modern era. The scientists went about collecting and categorizing what they found from the Pyramids to local insects and even the Rosetta Stone that allowed the modern world to finally decipher the ancient written language of hieroglyphics and gain understanding of this ancient culture. But while these tremendous accomplishments were happening, many of the troops as well as the scientists succumbed to diseases and wounds from warring tribes. Much of what they did accomplish was ultimately taken by the British (much of it is in British museums today) in return for allowing the survivors safe passage home to France. This was a fascinating read about a little-known western incursion to explore and document an ancient civilization. Having seen the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphynx I was told that the nose was supposedly shot off by Napoleon's soldiers. If true, it must have been as part of this expedition. Great read for anyone interested in the Middle East, exploration, the Napoleonic era, or related topics.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2025
The more you read the more you know. The more you know the more you read.
In 1798 Napoleon went to Egypt with 50,000 soldiers and sailors and 150 Savants. The savants were artists, engineers, mathematicians and scientists. I did not know any of this. Nor the price the soldiers and sailors paid for the "privilege". Opthalmia, the plague, malaria, unfriendly natives. Many of the savants and I'm sure some of the only 10,000 soldiers and sailors who returned to France alive suffered for the rest of their lives. Napoleon stranded them there for 3 years when things got too hot from the fighting and the disease. The English were at war with the French and the Mamluks and Ottomans also beat up on the French.
Upon their return, the savants wrote and illustrated a book. All of this created Egypt fever which helped lead to the looting of Egypt's history. The Rosetta Stone, originally taken by the French, was demanded in ransom by the British and despite being asked for its return by the Egyptians, it remains in England. I guess the French had revenge since one of their savants, working from drawings of the stone, Jean-Francois, Champollion, translated the stone in 1822.
Well worth the read. Ya gotta love history!
In 1798 Napoleon went to Egypt with 50,000 soldiers and sailors and 150 Savants. The savants were artists, engineers, mathematicians and scientists. I did not know any of this. Nor the price the soldiers and sailors paid for the "privilege". Opthalmia, the plague, malaria, unfriendly natives. Many of the savants and I'm sure some of the only 10,000 soldiers and sailors who returned to France alive suffered for the rest of their lives. Napoleon stranded them there for 3 years when things got too hot from the fighting and the disease. The English were at war with the French and the Mamluks and Ottomans also beat up on the French.
Upon their return, the savants wrote and illustrated a book. All of this created Egypt fever which helped lead to the looting of Egypt's history. The Rosetta Stone, originally taken by the French, was demanded in ransom by the British and despite being asked for its return by the Egyptians, it remains in England. I guess the French had revenge since one of their savants, working from drawings of the stone, Jean-Francois, Champollion, translated the stone in 1822.
Well worth the read. Ya gotta love history!
November 27, 2025
What an odyssey… not only the expedition, but the process of researching and writing this history. It’s an amazing cast of characters; the savants, the soldiers, the Mamelukes and the harem girls: a kaleidoscope that always keeps the story enticing, even as it seems doomed and horrific.
Burleigh toggles back and forth in time… in some ways to good effect, but sometimes it can be disorienting, and a few times it’s awkwardly repetitious. But it describes a noble ambition, in the expedition itself, in the various scientific discoveries it sparked, that propelled enlightenment, and in the resulting, massive encyclopedia of Egypt created by the savants in 23 oversized volumes over the next 26 years… a brilliant achievement.
Burleigh toggles back and forth in time… in some ways to good effect, but sometimes it can be disorienting, and a few times it’s awkwardly repetitious. But it describes a noble ambition, in the expedition itself, in the various scientific discoveries it sparked, that propelled enlightenment, and in the resulting, massive encyclopedia of Egypt created by the savants in 23 oversized volumes over the next 26 years… a brilliant achievement.
December 18, 2025
I knew Napolean had gone to Egypt with an army and that he absconded to France on a small craft after the English destroyed the French fleet near Alexandria, but I didn't know much more. That the French expedition included over 100 academics and scientists, so who had renowned careers before and after. Militarily. it was a slow disaster, although the French easily took control from Mamalukes (sp?) the Egyptian elite fighters who charged on horseback to modern rifles. But the French never really were secure in Egypt, in part because there was no prospect of getting home., and eventually the Turkish and the British sent forces in and forced the French to surrender. t is a strange tale that somehow didn't slow Napolean down. I guess news was slow back then.
December 22, 2022
I bought this book after seeing it while purchasing Burleigh's book about Amanda Knox (The Fatal Gift of Beauty). When buying it I did not know about Napoleon's failed campaign in Egypt or that he took over 150 "savants" (scientists, engineers, artists, and doctors) with him. It turned out to be an interesting, quick and accessible read, although I would have liked a little more detail on all aspects of the expedition and the findings of the scientists and engineers. It has definitely whet my appetite to read more about Napoleon Bonaparte and about Egypt, both ancient Egypt and the plunder that occurred in the 19th century.
October 8, 2023
Even though this is supposedly about Napoleon's scientists it still does a good job of covering Napoleon's Egyptian campaign 1798-1801.
While I found the scientific aspects interesting, it also paints a rather unflattering portait of Napoleon. He made several pretty significant mistakes, one of the big ones was not promptly unloading his ships and moving them to safer waters. He also executed several thousand prisoners who had surrendered, something that I had not been aware of.
Several historical figures in science and math took part in this expedition, and it is fun to read about them.
While I found the scientific aspects interesting, it also paints a rather unflattering portait of Napoleon. He made several pretty significant mistakes, one of the big ones was not promptly unloading his ships and moving them to safer waters. He also executed several thousand prisoners who had surrendered, something that I had not been aware of.
Several historical figures in science and math took part in this expedition, and it is fun to read about them.
June 24, 2025
2.5 stars ... fascinating material, so I stuck it out, but the writing made it tough going. First of all, there's an organizational/editing issue. There's so much bouncing around that it can be hard to follow any sort of a chronology. And the author has a bad habit of repeating certain pieces of information multiple times, sometimes nearly verbatim, in multiple places. Secondly, there's a lot of irrelevant information that often seems to have been added just for shock value (why do we need to know about nuns cutting off their noses during the Crusades?). I stayed with it for the scientists, but I'm not sure I'd recommend that anyone else do so.
November 18, 2019
Bringing a journalist's eye to this somewhat recent slice of history, Burleigh paints a vivid picture of the highs and the lows of the French scientific invasion of Egypt under its famous emperor, Napoleon. One can easily debate the efficacy of late 18th/early 19th century science in contributing to, or destroying, an understanding of Egyptian antiquity. However, less debatable seems to be the intrepidness of the "savants" that Napoleon employed to carry out the expedition as they suffer from unfamiliar environments and the treachery of their leader and his army. A very interesting piece.
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