"Book Review: Napoleon in America by Shannon Selin." Topic

"What if Napoleon had escaped after Waterloo? Some people ask me.
"He'd have gone to America" I say. It's an easy question to answer because the motives of the emperor at that time were still clear and his power of choice was still his own. Most people do not ask, what if Napoleon had escaped from St Helena.
Napoleon lead a life of escapes. First from Corsica and obscurity, then from temporary fame to immortality, then from Elba and ignominy, but he could not escape from St Helena and due to the impossibility of constructing a plausible escape, Shannon Selin cleverly does not focus on any wild scheme of escape plan in her book Napoleon in America.

It is book of giant scope. More so than one might assume. Naively we ask "what if Napoleon escaped?" But that is just the beginning, for this one event would effect every statesman in Europe. All well and good to say what if Napoleon got away, but then we must ask, what would the reaction be?

A thousand cans of a thousand worms are let open by this one action, and Selin demonstrates a cool mastery over each response. Creating a highly believable, authentic and not too far fetched or overblown scenario that is almost at the other extreme understated rather than implausible…"

Full review here
link

Amicalement
Armand

If you do a walking tour of the French Quarter in Nawlins, they'll show you the house set aside for him. Trying to imagine him with chicory coffee and beignets, shooting the breeze.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Love it.

Norrrrlins. Bin there, before that storm…loved it.

Great folk.

How lucky they were to largely keep out of most European dynastic wars until 100 years ago today, to the day!

OK this "War of 1812", I accept, but….whatever account I read…not one mention of any US unit at the Berezina, Smolensk, or Borodino.