Proctor Jones, author of the phenomenal NAPOLEON: An Intimate Account of the Years of Supremacy 1800-1814, has created his own publishing imprint 'Proctor Jones Publishing' for books on the Napoleonic Wars. The first book will be a translation of the Memoirs of Baron Fain, entitled NAPOLEON: How He Did It. Leading French Napoleonic scholar Jean Tulard (Member of the Institute of France, professor at the Sorbonne, etc) introduces the book saying:- 'Here are the finest memoirs written on the organization of Napoleon's cabinet and the work of the Emperor at the height of the Empire. From 1796 Fain is never far from Napoleon, by night or by day. He takes down orders and letters in dictation, and organizes his archives when he is not writing. What Napoleon appreciates in him is that Fain is greedy neither for honours nor for money. In 1813 he takes Meneval's place as the Emperor's personal secretary. Everything passes through Fain ... If Fain is noteworthy, it is because in his memoirs he describes with precision and accuracy the functioning of the imperial cabinet. His book ends with a portrait of Napoleon which avoids idealisation without descending to malicious tale-telling ... With these memoirs it becomes evident that Fain was one of the great figures of the period, remaining modestly in the shadows, and that his testimony is of the essence.' Dr. Jones' plan for the new publishing imprint is to provide important eye witness source material of the Napoleonic epoch, in English, to assist young scholars who are beginning their studies and research into this period. He claims that an enormous amount of material which looks as if it were passed as important source material has actually been written by detractors of Napoleon whose authority is questionable. Jones says 'in the face of today's international problems the earlier ideas of Napoleon Bonaparte as first council and emperor of the French are important to investigate. For example, Napoleon early on understood the economic advantages of a united Europe. Had his ideas been followed, it is highly possible that the reasons for the wars of 1870, 1914, and 1939 would not have existed.' The first three of Dr. Jones' books will illustrate the manner in which Napoleon worked. He says 'they illustrate his far reaching and constructive intellect. In his genius he also maintained himself as an approachable human being. He listened, he took advice, he acted without hesitation. In his administrative affairs as in the execution of his military planning, he went over the ground thoroughly seeking the paths to successful implementation of his plans. As he said himself, he then spent even more time to understand that would happen if his planning failed.' Dr. Jones is the Honorary President of the Napoleonic Alliance (USA) and a member of the Souvenir Napoleonien in Paris. He has a large library of works on Napoleon's life and history, and a collection of memorabilia, including wallpaper from the room in which Napoleon died. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 81 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Greenhill Books 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