Utusan Publications, 1999, ISBN 967-61-0898-7, 311 pages

This is a reprint of a 1914 work that quotes original documents from French and Arab sources as a way of understanding Napoleon's views towards Islam. It is divided into four parts plus appendices, roughly divided into French Administrative Letters 1798-99, Arab Correspondence, Napoleon's actions in Cairo, and Napoleon's views on religion. Everything is extensively footnoted, a bonus for scholars.

As these are original source documents, the writing style can be tedious to read, even if it is packed with information. The intent, according to the "Special Observation" at the beginning of he book is:

"philosophic and social: we are researching the theories of Islam put out and applied by Bonaparte during his Egyptian expedition. The persistence of the Islamic idea in the mind of the Emperor is most extraordinary, but the issue lies outside the scope of this study..."

Remember that this was written early in 1914--World War I had not yet occurred and France still had considerable colonial territories with Muslim populations. Napoleon and Islam is more a reminder about lenient French treatment of the past, written for the 1914 era, than a year 2000 treatise looking back 200 years.

The document and correspondence remain the same, so there is some excellent source material of French Administrative practices. There is no analysis of battles, and few descriptions about uniforms, weaponry, tactics, or anything else military. What few there are tend to be concerned with administration.

For example, page 238 holds an anecdote about Napoleon's chilling sense of military "justice." In Cairo, a woman had been murdered in her house across from a French headquarters. Crowds gathered and accused two French soldiers, and when arrested, their sabers were found to be stained with blood.

"But they protested their innocence of the murder, told that at the time, they were coming back from a café, that on the way, harassed by stray dogs such as then swarmed the streets of Cairo, they had killed some of them with their sabers."

The French court martial exonerated them, but Bonaparte arrived at this moment, and although convinced of their innocence, sacrificed them to the hatred of the Turks, using his authority to have them shot. A few days later, the true murderer, a house servant, confessed to the crimes.

These are the type of anecdotes you'll find relating to military affairs, as well as ideas on controlling territory, uniform ideas, and the idea of a combined 100,000-man Franco-native army to conquer India.

If you want to learn about Napoleon's views of Islam, and visa-versa, Napoleon and Islam is a good place to start.

More information: tamiyoltd@yahoo.com

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