Napoleonic Era: Where do I start?

[Incodcito]

I wanna read up on the Napoleonic Era, but I have no idea where to start. Any ideas?

Unrelated note, where should I start on Dutch history?

 

[LightSpectra]

Well this is fairly obvious; Bonaparte was born in 1769, joined the French army in 1785, first made a name for himself in 1793, won his first field command in 1797, was exiled in 1814 and 1815, and died in 1821. Pick and choose any date you please.

 

[Dachs]

Lessee. As far as English-language stuff goes...for diplomatic and political history, Paul W. Schroeder's The Transformation of European Politics 1763-1848 offers the best discussion of Napoleon (in my opinion, anyway). The usual military-history text for Napoleon is David G. Chandler's The Campaigns of Napoleon. Both are very large and kind of encyclopedic. The late Gunther Rothenberg wrote several excellent monographs on Napoleonic-era military history, especially with regards to the Habsburg military. For the Prussians, Peter Paret's books The Cognitive Challenge of War, Clausewitz and the State, and Yorck and the Era of Prussian Reform are all very good. That's the literature with which I'm most familiar, anyway: I'm sure Verbose, privatehudson, and Cheezy could all make recommendations for France, Sweden, the UK, and Russia!

This is of course if you're looking for academic history. Libraries are usually lousy with hobby-historian books on the Napoleonic period, and they're usually of decent quality (as far as hobby-historians go, anyway!).

 

[Masada]

For an academic readable Dutch history probably Israel, brilliant overview, if dated.

 

[Kentharu]

Lessee. As far as English-language stuff goes...for diplomatic and political history, Paul W. Schroeder's The Transformation of European Politics 1763-1848 offers the best discussion of Napoleon (in my opinion, anyway). The usual military-history text for Napoleon is David G. Chandler's The Campaigns of Napoleon. Both are very large and kind of encyclopedic.

I would recommend reading Durant's The Age of Napoleon first, mainly because Schroeder focuses almost exclusively on the diplomatic and political history of this period and hardly mentions any of the military facts. He does this because he assumes that the reader has a cursory knowledge of these facts, which in your case, is not so. A general history like Durant (skipping all the arts stuff) would be best, or really any general history about Napoleon (I can't think of another off the top of my head). After reading Durant, Schroeder will clarify many things for you.

Just remember, Napoleon is not a hero.

 

[Dachs]

Durant is a general historian with an indifferent understanding of military history; Chandler is much better, if you can get him.

 

[Incodcito]

Well this is fairly obvious; Bonaparte was born in 1769, joined the French army in 1785, first made a name for himself in 1793, won his first field command in 1797, was exiled in 1814 and 1815, and died in 1821. Pick and choose any date you please.

... smartass

 

[privatehudson]

I like reading where possible accounts from each side of the conflict, but for general overviews on a campaign or aspect of the wars I usually turn to Osprey books since they are fairly concise and well researched. Apart from those the only real books I have that cover the whole period are by Haythornthwaite on Napoleon and Wellington's military machines. I can recommend a few books on specific aspects of the war though depending on what you might be interested in.