Biography, Napoleon Bonaparte 拿破仑传记
本帖最后由 yearshappy 于 23-11-2018 11:43 编辑[*]Napoleon Bonaparte: The Glory of France. Prod. Greg Goldman. A&E Television Networks, 1997
[*]Napoleon; prod. David Grubin, 2000
3. Napoleon: a concise biography by David Bell,2015, Oxford University Press (coupled with Napoleon: a biography by Frank McLynn, 1997)
本帖最后由 yearshappy 于 21-11-2018 17:59 编辑
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKme9ezLZLQ
FKme9ezLZLQ
本帖最后由 yearshappy 于 13-12-2018 10:44 编辑
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notes[*]Napoleon = all things to all people = the greatest military commander ever + a preeminent head of state (glorified France): brilliant mind; amasing leadship // his genius & ego spiraled out of control
[*]birth: an island located off the coast of France. father - a prominent attorney; mother - also noble birth, into labor when attending church services in a cathedral then quickly walking away gave birth on a sofa home
[*]his mother instilled in him a feeling of being special believing in her childcould do anything ---> Napoleon, self-importance, a sense of honor, pride,
[*]his military talent: Corsicans fought with France for independence - the little boy was always in fights, manhood encouraged. 9yo received a scholarship to study at a Military Academy in France. also showed leadership; as a Corsican, he was looked down on as a second class by the boys from finest families in France --> fuel to achieve
[*]his brain capacity - study military, politics, philosophy, his brain like a sponge sucked all this up. 15yo continued study ina prestigious militery academy. studied what made Alexander the Great great. 16yo became an officer; 24yo a general; then sent in prison contemplated suicide.
[*]a lifelong student of warfare; saved revolution; fought Austria in Italy; conquered Eygpt took scientists with him to understand Egyptian science & Egpt history
[*]he had it all so fast. Power does corrupt. An absolute power corrupts absolutely
birth place
本帖最后由 yearshappy 于 21-11-2018 18:00 编辑
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notes
[*]In 3 years ruled Europe.
[*]He loved power. Loved his mother (tough & determined). Father dreamed his children one day becoming noble men. ‘if only father can see it’
[*]15 yo encountered French civilisation, quiet & solitary, always alone, dreamed becoming great (wrote the history of his island.; wrote novels), didn’t know much French, 'proud, ambitious, He’ll go far in favourable circumstances. '
[*]His mother was a realist but had a faith for her son. Napoleon condemned his father giving in France too quick; then at 24yo he chose France side rather than his island after French revolution ‘it’s better to eat than to be eaten.’
[*]‘Great man becomes great because they have been able to master luck. ‘ (use paintings/newspapers to build his reputation)
[*](general)He took scientists with him à (emperor)listened to no one believed him infallible.
[*]He requested to reside in London and was rejected by the British. 46yo, lots of memoirs produced, died 51yo = extraordinary that one man could have achieved so much in such a short period of time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo2sVG9vrxw
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Uo2sVG9vrxw 本帖最后由 yearshappy 于 21-11-2018 18:01 编辑
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yearshappy 发表于 20-11-2018 22:28
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birth place
his mother instilled in him a feeling of being special believing in her child could do anything ---> Napoleon, self-importance, a sense of honor, pride
I was very impressed by Napoleon's mother when read the "Novel". A great mum. She was concerned about his ambition but still supported him unconditionally. She coordinated excellently with many of her "selfish" children.
本帖最后由 yearshappy 于 23-11-2018 11:48 编辑
MICHELLE07 发表于 22-11-2018 16:52
I was very impressed by Napoleon's mother when read the "Novel". A great mum. She was concerne ...
Shall we have an essay on 'the role of the mother in Napoleon's biography'? :lol:qiang:zan I, too, have lots of thoughts on her and will come back to this topic when i finish off the books.
本帖最后由 yearshappy 于 23-11-2018 12:20 编辑
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reading two books at once
本帖最后由 yearshappy 于 13-12-2018 11:48 编辑
[*]Napoleon's life (1769-1821) --> endlessly fascinating (European warfare, French Revolution, civic equality, peraonal charisma, military glory/massive wars of conquest/dramastic victories, as his own rise and fall as spectacular and swifty)
[*]connected to some of the most controversial and constantly reinterpreted evevnts in world history - first and the foremost, the French Revolution
[*]also extraordinarily well-documented a life (predecessors & successors // highlights, significance, observation, remarks, neglectance)
[*]20s, acquisition of the greatest military commander, (27yo married,1810/41yo divoice)
[*]30, ruler of France
[*]40, dominated Europe
[*]45, in exile on the island of Elba (Italy) with the title of emperor- Bourbon dynasty (Louis XVIII) in place
[*]46-51 exile as a prisoner, died at 51
The Corsican, 1769-1796 (1-27yo)
[*]father, realist; mother, srong-willed
[*]at age of 9, attended an austere military bording school; 5 ys without returning home
[*]scholars have speculated endlessly about the effects of the boarding school experince on his character: resilience, self-sufficiency, a habit of intensive reading 'books, ... my only friend!' At age of 17 (1786) went back to Corsica to take care of his family (his father died)
[*]24yo, the currents of revolutioay politics temained difficult to navigate, Robespierre, reign of terror
The General, 1796 - 1799 (27-30yo)
[*]inspired by Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. However, dictatorship was not welcomed particularly by right-wings (Caesar became dictator) against military republic. On returning to France, he ostentatiously adopted civilian clothing and became a member of the elite National Institute, the successor to the learned sicentific and literary academies of the Old Regime.
[*]marching to Eygpt, harch conditions, he shared discomforts with his soldiers sometimes had no food for a whole day
[*]the traditional hierarchies were badly damaged by the Revolution - opened the door to new forms of social mobility and political power// the man met his hour!!!
The First Consul, 1799-1804 (30-35yo)
[*]he established the Consulate, authoritarian rule but also of energetic state-building (institutions n priciples applying till today), brought up political stability which exactly met the need of then France (previously a solid decade of rebolutionary turmoil).
[*]He valued the Revolution's commitment to the rule of reason and to forms of civic equality that would allow men of talent to raise themslves in society.
[*]he, with his instinct and genius for propaganda, exploited these achievements for everything they were worth (sculptors, paintings, songs, poems)
本帖最后由 yearshappy 于 13-12-2018 14:49 编辑
The Emperor, 1804-1812 (35-43yo)
[*]after 1805, Napoleon came to believe that he could make all of Europe into a Consular France writ large, with the sort of unity unseen since the days of Rome. He remarked 'we need a European law code, a European supreme court, a single currency, the same weights and measures, the same laws; I must make all the peoples of Europe into a single people, and Paris, the capital of the world.
[*]... so, ... are now just family estates of the Buonapartes; imperial expansion
[*]the empire's growth far outpaced its capacity to extend its administration, integrate new territories, and absorb new subjects, 'brutal coloniers'
Downfall, 1812-1815 (43-46yo)
[*]when he .. into Russian territory in 1812, he brought along some potentially disturbing reading: Voltaire's History of Charles XII.
[*]he put a brave face, saying 'Gentlemen, remember the words of a Roman emperor ..' ; Genghis Khan
[*]in 1813, 'A man like me, does not give a shit about the lives of a million men'
[*]In France , the tightly controlled press; few knew about the losses in Russia
[*]the reasons for his failure: chance, personality, the nature of the war; the monarchs of Britian, Russia, and Prussia didn't recognize his legitimate sovereign
[*]he tried to kill himself by taking poison
[*]Bourbon Restoration lack of understanding of changes: far too much had changed since 1789, the introduction of civic equality, the large-scale transfer of land from the Church and noble emigres, in large part, to the peasantry; Louis XVIII believed, he was the chosen of God, and rather than accepting the constitution FROM the people, he GRANTed to them
Epilogue: 1815-the Present
[*]since 1815, last 6 yrs of his life on St Helena until 1821, probably with the stomach cancer (suspected poison), died at the age of 51.
[*]his passion and glory as an inspiration for soldiers, generals, Americas/Latin American countries; influnece on Germany n Italy; in France, the laws and institutions he created still largely stand
[*]Marxist school put more emphasis on the 'bourgeois revolution' of 1789
[*]What a novel his life was!
Futher Reading
[*]in the academic world, he is not even a cottage industry - he is heavy industry
[*]biographies: two of the best Alan Forrest's Napoleon (London: Quercus, 2011); Napoleon: Soldier of Destiny by Michael Broer (London, 2014)
[*]focus on political aspect
[*]the most comprehensive scholarly biography of his ...
[*]Primary Sources
[*]Introduction: best of all: Colin Jones, The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon (London: Allen Lane, 2002)
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