David A. Bell. Napoleon: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.xx +160 pp. Maps, images, notes, bibliography, and index. $8.96 U.S. (pb). ISBN:978-0199321667.
Reviewed by Donald M.G. Sutherland
"David Bell has written an excellent introduction to Napoleon, one that will have easy appeal to undergraduate audiences because of its thorough coverage and clear exposition. His aim is to provide a basic introduction and to make Napoleon more accessible than the specialist tomes of Philip Dwyer and Patrice Gueniffey…. As a basic introduction, the book works very well. The second aim is more thought provoking. Bell also wants to link Napoleon to the Revolution.... The argument that the seeds of final defeat were planted at Trafalgar or, alternatively, in the glories of 1805-08 has a certain elegance to it, but it privileges hindsight and narrative....Bell has very little to say about other measures of strength like tax arrears and obedience to conscription. Amazingly, the French paid their taxes and answered the call to arms even in the dark days of 1813. Nor was political opposition much to worry about once the police exposed the Cadoudal Plot in 1804. In 1810-11, there were just 300 political prisoners incarcerated in eight state prisons throughout the Empire. Interestingly, many of these were priests opposed to the Concordat... This could not have been very easy book to write. “A Very Short Introduction” means that the author must make some difficult decisions about what to include. Understandably, Bell has chosen to emphasize the military and diplomatic aspects of Napoleon’s reign. Fortunately, this means we hear little of the Emperor’s love life, and we are spared the tedious denunciations of the ambitious traitor to the Revolution...."