Literary Award

The newly formed International Napoleonic Society, under its President Dr. Ben Weider, has recently announced its 1995 Literary Award. This honour is given to the book which, in the opinion of the Award Committee, has done most to further our knowledge and understanding of the Napoleonic period in a particular year.

The Society is pleased to announce that the winner of the 1995 Literary Award of the Society is David Chandler for the reappearance of his book The Campaigns of Napoleon, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd., London. The 1995 Literary Committee was headed by Mr Philip Haythornthwaite. The announcement by the Society reads thus:

The Campaigns of Napoleon has proven to be the most durable, authoritative and respected one-volume work on this topic to be published in the English language. It is not an exaggeration to say that an entire generation of aspiring scholars of Napoleonic history have enhanced their understanding of the field with Chandler's volume. Now that The Campaigns of Napoleon has reappeared this year, it provides the Society with an opportunity to recognise a truly distinguished tome written by a truly distinguished scholar.

I am sure that the readers of First Empire will join me in congratulating David Chandler for this award. David is Honorary President of the Napoleonic Association, and I am sure that all members will be pleased to hear of his acheivement. On a personal note, my interest in the penod did not really take off until the day I discovered a copy of The Campaigns of Napoleon in the school library. The book provided me with the background information for my pocket money-generated Airfix wargames army. That and a film called Waterloo! Ah, those were the days!