By itself, Napoleon's mid-1815 defeat at Waterloo, barely four months after he had escaped from Elba, was so dramatic that historians often neglect the events leading up to the climactic clash between insurgent French and Allied forces. In the engrossing chronicle at hand, however, Schom (Trafalgar, 1990, etc.) offers a detailed record of the so-called Hundred Days—a period roughly coinciding with Louis XVIII's absence from occupied Paris. Schom is also at pains to dispel any romantic notion that Napoleon was other than a self-absorbed despot whose vaulting ambition cost France dearly. Having landed near Cannes on March 1st, Napoleon moved north on the capital to reclaim his imperial throne. The military apart, precious few Frenchmen welcomed his return. Bled by more than a decade of constant conflict, the country yearned for peace. By the start of June, in fact, the usurper had been obliged to place cities throughout the nation under martial law, leaving him shy of troops to fight against the Anglo-European coalition massing for an invasion along the Belgian frontier. As Schom makes clear, though, Napoleon might well have prevailed in the three-day engagement at Waterloo had it not been for the battlefield insubordination of three senior commanders (marshals Grouch, Ney, and Soult). While the author does a splendid job of recounting the high and low points of Napoleon's second coming, his lively narrative's real power derives from the human-scale perspectives provided by incisive profiles of the emperor's friends, foes, and family. Schom includes finely etched portraits of, among other colorful characters, Klucher, Carnot, FouchÇ, Napoleon's four brothers, Talleyrand, and the Duke of Wellington. A master annalist's vivid reconstruction of a turning-point in world history. (Eight pages of illustrations—not seen.)
Pub Date: Sept. 14, 1992
ISBN: 0-689-12097-4
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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