Napoleonic Sourcebook Empires, Eagles & Lions Reader Survey 1995 by Dana F. Lombardy Here is your chance to influence thefuture direction and look of EE&L. If youare interested in how we chronicle theNapoleonic era, please fill out the surveyform on the opposite page. If you don'twant to tear the page out of the magazine,make a photocopy and return it in thereply envelope provided with this issue. Special Offer to Survey Participants As an added incentive, everyone who fills out the survey can order two books published by The Emperor's Press at a25% discount as our way of saying "thank you" for taking the time to answer the questions. (See the reply envelope for specific titles available and ordering instructions.) Deadline to return the surveys (and order the two books at a 25% discount) is March 31, 1995. Napoleonic Book Reviews Reviews of new books appear in "Napoleonic Library" (see page 46), and these focus on the specific features of a release and outline what the author is attempting to present. We leave out there viewer's personal opinions to allow the readers to make their own judgments about a book that appears in "Napoleonic Library." Occasionally, we will print additional book reviews with detailed evaluations of publications, both new and old. In this column, we will periodically offer appraisals of books from a variety of sources. The purpose here is to recommend titles you may either have missed or been unaware of, and to suggest a possible re-evaluation of a particular book you may have passed up. Starting A Napoleonic Library We have been polling knowledgeable people for their suggestions on books that would be good for starting or including in a Napoleonic library. This theme will continue in future Sourcebook columns. We also plan to research and propose titles that are most useful in a particular category, such as uniform guides, and why. The titles below were not chosen by consensus, but rather are individual opinions. Each person's credentials as well as their professional interest in the Napoleonic period should be kept in mind when considering the books they recommend. All opinions expressed are those of the person listed, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staffof EE&L. These lists will no doubt lead to further debate about primary sources, there liability of information, and question established beliefs and assumptions about the Age of Napoleon. Recommended Books The first list comes from Colonel JohnElting, U.S. Army (retired), author ofSwords Around A Throne and numerousother books on Napoleonic and militaryhistory. He recommends two books byDonald Graves on the War of 1812 (alsosee the review of Red Coats & GreyJackets by Donald Graves in the last issueof EE&L, page 12): Merry Hearts Make Light Days (TheWar of 1812 Journal of Lt. John Le Couter,104th Foot), Ottawa: Carleton UniversityPress, 1993. The Battle of Lundy's Lane. Baltimore:Nautical & Aviation Publishing Co., 1993. Since the War of 1812 in North Americasometimes gets overlooked, Col. Elting feltthat these two titles deservedconsideration. We hope to receive more suggestions by Elting in the near future. Peter M. Holmes, owner of "Napoleonand His Times" fine book store and mailorder service in Minneapolis (see ad page45), recommends these as the first tenbooks a beginning collector should buy(all quotes are by Mr. Holmes): Churchill, Winston, The Age ofRevolution. "A stupendous book whichcaptures the excitement and romance ofthe Napoleonic epic. For Churchill,Napoleon was 'the greatest man of actionborn in Europe since Julius Caesar."' Tulard, Jean, Napoleon: The Myth of theSaviour, London, 1984, 470 pages,illustrated. "A first-rate biography, endingwith an utterly incomprehensible and veryFrench_ 'Conclusions' chapter. But thereal value of this work lies in its 100-pagecritical bibliography, the most valuable inany English-language book." Cronin, Vincent, Napoleon Bonaparte,New York, 1972. "The 'pro' side." Barnett, Corelli, Bonaparte, New York,1978. "The icon' side." Caulaincourt, Armand Augustin, WithNapoleon in Russia and No Peace withNapoleon together the complete memoirsof Napoleon's Equerry, the Duke ofVicenza, New York, 1935-36, 2 volumes,422 pages and 286 pages. "Generallyregarded as the single greatest memoir ofthe period. Like Boswell's Johnson, youhave the uncanny feeling Napoleon isthere!" Marbot, Jean Baptiste Marcellin, TheMemoirs of Baron Marbot. "Although theauthor was clearly blessed with 'more thantotal recall,' these are the most colorful andexciting military memoirs of the period." Esposito and Elting, A Military Historyand Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars."Classic study done for West Point [U.S.Military Academy]. The best militarystudy, and contains a very usefulbibliography." Anon., A Soldier of the 71st. "The bestBritish memoir from the Napoleonic Wars.Available in an inexpensive 1977 reprint." Tulard, Jean (editor), L'Histoire deNapoleon par In Peinture, Paris, 1989,320pages, large folio. "280 breathtakingreproductions of contemporary paintings. Nothing brings the age to life like thisbook." Elting, Col. John, swords Around AThrone: Napoleon's Gr ande A/ mee "Nopraise is too high for this brilliant work thebest thing ever written on Napoleon'sarmy." Major Kevin F. Kiley, U.S. Marine CorpsReserve, owner of "Garde lmperialeMiniatures" (see ad page 45), alsosuggests ten titles for beginning aNapoleonic library. Four of the books alsoappear in Peter Holmes' list above: Elting'sSwords Around A Throne, Esposito andElting's Atlas, Cronin's Napoleon, andMarbot's Memoirs. The other six booksrecommended by Major Kiley are: Elting, Col. John, NapoleonicUniforms. "918 Knotel plates of the armiesof the French Republic and the GrandeArmee. Foreign troops included.Unsurpassed." Parquin, Charles, Napoleon's Victories."Probably the best of the memoirs by acaptain of Chasseurs a Cheval." [See article on Parquin's memoirs in EE&L #8,page 26.] Chandler, David, Napoleon's Marshals. Phipps, The Armies of the First FrenchRepublic. Lachouque, Henri, Anatomy of Glory. de Brock, Antoine, Avant-Postes duCavalerie Legere. "A great book by anoutstanding Guard cavalryman (2ndLancers)." Upcoming Surveys We are in the process of collecting information and samples from most of the nearly 100 companies listed last issue that offer Napoleonic products or services["Napoleonic Sourcebook: Holiday Shopping Guide," page 1416]. As we accumulate enough material to bet horough, we will publish surveys by specific category such as videos, music,toy soldiers, militaria and collectibles, board games, etc. Reader feed back is solicited. Pleasesend all thoughts and ideas (on books as well as other topics for "Napoleonic Sourcebook") to Dana F. Lombardy 5667 Stone Road #570, Centreville, VA 22020-1618. Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 10 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by Emperor's Headquarters This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com