inscription
We sometimes try to forget history, but history will not forget us.
- Alan Shawn
I dare say my soul is a complete stranger in my pilgrimage.
- Francis Bacon
Of course, my friend, he's like a giant
Across this small world, and we little people
Hovering between his legs, poking her head out
To our unglorious graves
People are sometimes the masters of their own destiny
- -
There was a day--there was a moment
The earth is Gaul, and Gaul is yours
If at that time, I didn't wait to enjoy too much
You let go of this unlimited power
The good name that brought you in one stroke
Would be better than the name of Marengo
And in a long sunset
It will gild your decline
Your sins are just passing clouds
- Byron
One of the things he often regretted most was that he could not draw upon orthodox principles as the basis of his power. Few people were as deeply aware as he was. Power without this foundation was in danger, on the verge of collapse, and vulnerable to attack.
- Metternich
Ambition was the driving force of his mind and the eternal essence of his will, so close that it could not be distinguished from him, sometimes even to the point of being unconscious.
--Tyner
Preface
For more than 200 years, Napoleon had been a hot topic. His legendary life was a glorious tragedy in the minds of most people. Those who loved him compared him to the reincarnation of the great Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C. Those who hated him denounced him as the forerunner of the greatest demon of the 20th century, Adolf Hitler.
Alan Shaum, a Ph.D. student at the University of Dorham in the United Kingdom and a researcher at the Hoover Institute for War, Revolution, and Peace, had taught French history at the University of Southern California, the University of California, and the University of Oxford. He completed the Battle of Trafalgar: Countdown Before the Battle of 1803 - 1805 and Napoleon's Hundred Days Dynasty, these two important works about Napoleon, were not enough. In the end, he decided to write such a complete biography for Napoleon.
Alan Shaum established a new perspective in this book, bluntly pointing out the little-known personality flaws of Napoleon, and did not hide the sharp contrast between the frequent mistakes in the battle planning of Napoleon and his appearance of winning thousands of miles away, as well as the devastating tragedies caused by those endless battles. Alan Shawn traveled all over the world. From the perspective of an American, he presented a different version of Napoleon from the perspective of future generations. He was wise and studious, sometimes stubborn; He had a unique eye for wisdom, and sometimes he was too ambitious. He was magnanimous and sometimes headstrong. He was a person who was favored by the people, yet he was betrayed by everyone…He was a great person, and everyone was watching him. He was also a lonely person, standing alone. Alan Shawn also found a lot of evidence to uncover the mystery of Napoleon's mysterious death in St. Helena.
It should be said that Alan Shawn's book was the first new biography that could dissect Napoleon's personal life fairly and impartially. As the first translator of this book, I sincerely hope that my work can help others understand a period of history and a person-a real Napoleon.
preambular
In September 1991, a few weeks before we arrived at Borodino, a farmer plowing a horse-drawn plow turned up two bodies: One was the general's remains, and the other was the remains of an infantryman. Baron de Menevar wrote to me on February 26, 1996. The remains were facing Russia, and the generals were either Compere or Martal, both of whom had died in that battle. The infantry skeletons were still holding their rotten rifles and bayonet tightly. The guide at the Borodino Museum told the baron that they had discovered dozens of human remains dating back to September 7, 1812. On a visit to Erau in September 1993, my baron friend stepped over another recently discovered set of remains-all of which reminded us: Past historical events are not far from us; We may sometimes try to forget history, but history will not forget us.
History has always fascinated me, but history is not just a lifeless chronicle of events such as the reign of kings, battles, and treaty years; Such a statement was all-encompassing, but it lacked human association. It lacked attention to the men and women who created these historical events and the entire atmosphere around them. To correct such undiscerning opinions and statements, a sense of reality and understanding must be infused-that is, the reader must view the life of Napoleon Bonaparte as the life of his own generation, and must consider his personal values, family, friends, companions, problems, personality, and goals.
Ten years ago, when I began to study Napoleon, I was amazed to discover: No biography covered all aspects of his life. I also found that most exciting biographies tend to concentrate on certain episodes of his life-whether it was his military campaigns, or his foreign policy, or his statecraft and political improvements-and thus reveal only one aspect of the character. There have been thousands of such research works over the past 150 years, most of which are now out of print. There were also thousands of articles about Napoleon and his empire. Needless to say, the decision to spend several years of my life undertaking the arduous task of writing a complete biography of a person who has a large amount of primary and secondary research and source information was not an easy decision.
I started studying Napoleon in the summer of 1987. It could be said that the beginning was indirect work. I studied his attempt to invade the United Kingdom, the Franco-Spanish joint fleet being severely damaged by Nelson's fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Battle of Austerlitz. Later, I wrote Napoleon's Hundred Days, which involved Napoleon's exile to the Mediterranean island of Elba. He landed on the southern coast of France and marched toward Paris. He regrouped and fought fiercely against the anti-French coalition forces, and his final defeat at Waterfall.
It wasn't until I finished Napoleon's Hundred Days that I reluctantly decided to write a biography of Napoleon's life rather than some fragments. I felt, and I still feel, that a complete biography of a man like Napoleon, encompassing all aspects of his life and character, with all the new research and historical archives, was very much needed.
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