"Fighting for Napoleon" Topic

"I would like to thank you, madame, for having me here today. It's always a pleasure to talk about my work in such a fine setting. As you probably know, Fighting for Napoleon has just been released by Pen and Sword. This historical study is a labour of love and a family affair. My own ancestor, Jean Lambert Wilkin, served in the French artillery and fought at the battle of Austerlitz. Admittedly, he deserted in 1808 after four years of service…

Fighting for Napoleon is probably the first book in English entirely based around the correspondence of ordinary soldiers serving in the French army between 1799 and 1815. My father and I found more than 1,500 letters in the archives of Liège (Belgium). What makes this extraordinary body of sources essential is its lack of hindsight and its humility. Soldiers didn't write for posterity and had no illusion of being important. They only wanted to keep alive a tenuous link with their family. French men wrote about everything. Battles, murders, food, uniforms and travelling were all common subjects. This correspondence tells us far more about the ordinary life in the French army than memoirs. French soldiers didn't shy away from telling horrific stories of mutilations or brutal raids on civilian communities in Spain to their loved ones. This violence is not to be mistaken with coldness or inhumanity. French soldiers clearly had a different moral compass and felt that mistreating civilians was an inevitable part of warfare. All the aspirations of young men are represented in these letters. Money and family were important topics, but not as much as love. Far away from their fiancées, soldiers tried their best to keep the flame of romance alive. This is not to say that they didn't seek romance with local girls or paid for sex…"

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Full review here
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Amicalement
Armand

This is one of the books my wife got me for Xmas. It is now in my to be read pile.

Crud, just something else I'm going to have to buy.

Strange pricing at Amazon UK. Sixteen-odd quid for the hardback. Ok, I get that. But fifteen-odd quid for Kindle edition?

I have it and it is another 'arrow in the quiver' of our collective knowledge-well worth having.

Most of the extracts are very short but they are fascinating to read and very revealing. Recommended.

" This correspondence tells us far more about the ordinary life in the French army than memoirs."

The authot seemingly did not read any of the numerous memoires which just describe the ordinary life of a French soldier in the French army.

Have you seen or read the book? Posting a comment such as you have here tends to indicate that you have not.

That does not speak well of your historical viewpoint at all.

I started to read this book, very interesting – a lot of those letters are mirrored in memoires and other letters of French soldiers as well, such as intercepted in the Russian campaign of 1812.

A lot of nice detail can be found and that a lof of conscripts (not unsurprisingly) hated their military life and tried to get out of it.

Thanks for your guidance my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand