I have read Napoleon and His Collaborators and I thought it was excellent. Woloch explores how Nap came to power and explains how he formed a government of moderates and either purged, isolated or won over to his cause extremists of both the left and right. His narrative of these events is concise, well-written and apparently accurate and well-researched. Woloch's study of the various bodies of government - the Tribunate, Senate, Legislative Corps and Council of State - is first-rate. He examines the reasons for their creation and their functions, and identifies some of the personalities who served on them and explains how they were appointed. Woloch also provides a very useful and insightful study of the transition from Consulate to Empire, and the part that a number of people and bodies played in elevating Nap to the position of Emperor.

Woloch analyses Nap's initiatives that were 'erosions on liberty', such as preventive detention, prisoners of state, censorship and police activities. He explores how Nap approached these matters, how other government figures viewed them, and examines the checks that were put in place - such as the annual review of all prisoners of state.

To me the most fascinating sections of the book are those devoted to an examination of some of the key figures in Nap's government, most of whom have received little study in the English-speaking world. These include Boulay de la Meurthe, Berlier, Cambaceres, Defermon, Mole, Mollien, Real, Regnaud and Thibaudeau. Each of these had important roles and had interesting and often quite distinct backgrounds, and Woloch's study of them gives us great insight into the type of people who served under Nap and examines both how and why they did so. More familiar figures such as Carnot, Fouche and Talleyrand also appear.

The book closes with a brief examination of Nap's fall, the restoration of the Bourbons and the hundred days, exploring how Nap's main allies reacted in these turbulent times.

Personally I found that Woloch's study was remarkably fair and balanced, a task that has often proved difficult to achieve when dealing with this sort of subject matter. He makes the occassional one-line 'off the cuff' judgement on some people that I find unreasonable and unnecessary, but these do not detract from the overall balance and quality of the work. I feel that Woloch provides great insight into how Nap's government was formed, especially on how he was able to draw a variety of skilled and differing men to his side and forge a central one-party government. The reader will come away with an appreciation for how Nap's government was organised and how it operated. Above all Woloch succeeds in highlighting the working relationships, dynamics and tensions that existed between Nap and his foremost associates. Key figures such as Cambaceres, Boulay, Berlier and Thibaudeau were men of intelligence and principle, who had supported the fundamental elements of the Revolution, including liberty. They served Nap loyally, yet at times were also not afraid to challenge his more harsh proposals that threatened liberty, though they were sometimes overly meek in voicing their views. They were an important (but not always successful) moderating influence upon Nap, who at times struggled to reconcile their liberal values with the sometimes more security and centralist-minded views of their master.

Overall I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in the formation and workings of Nap's government, of the main men who took part in it, and of the study, implementation of and conflicts between a variety of important values and needs in early 19th Century France.

Regards,
Chris