A useful addition to Napoleonic history, but readers well versed in that history will follow the battles and diplomatic...
An exploration of the years between Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and his exile to Elbe.
As Price (Modern European History/Bradford Univ.; The Perilous Crown: France Between Revolutions, 1814-1848, 2007, etc.) demonstrates, Waterloo was no more than an anticlimax to Napoleon’s career; it really ended when he left for Elbe. Ultimately, he was undone by confusing troop movements, too many generals leading lots of different armies and a complex assortment of politicians, czars, kings and other leaders. Just about everyone in Europe was involved in trying to defeat Napoleon after his Russian debacle. The author clearly examines their varied objectives, from the restoration of the Bourbons to installation of a puppet government to regency led by Marie Louise, Napoleon’s wife and the daughter of the Austrian leader, Francis II. Some readers will have difficulty deciphering the maps, following the numerous different armies in battles and recognizing the constantly changing players—the biggest of which was Klemens von Metternich, who offered mediation after the Russian retreat. Price questions his motives, wondering whether he truly wanted peace or was laying a trap for Napoleon, who feared succumbing to a dishonorable peace, which he felt would cause the French to rise in revolt. His bête noire was being attacked by the mobs of Paris, and he famously said of public opinion, it “is an invisible, mysterious power that nothing can resist; nothing could be more changeable…but it never lies.” Napoleon’s frequent reports from Paris were expressly designed to keep tabs on opinion, but he often failed to listen. Taxation, conscription, censorship and the collapse of trade turned the people against him.
A useful addition to Napoleonic history, but readers well versed in that history will follow the battles and diplomatic machinations better than those with a narrower scope of historical and geographical knowledge.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-19-993467-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
HISTORY | MILITARY | WORLD | GENERAL HISTORY
BOOK REVIEW
The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist (1900–45) collected his work from WWII in two bestselling volumes, this second published in 1944, a year before Pyle was killed by a sniper’s bullet on Okinawa. In his fine introduction to this new edition, G. Kurt Piehler (History/Univ. of Tennessee at Knoxville) celebrates Pyle’s “dense, descriptive style” and his unusual feel for the quotidian GI experience—a personal and human side to war left out of reporting on generals and their strategies. Though Piehler’s reminder about wartime censorship seems beside the point, his biographical context—Pyle was escaping a troubled marriage—is valuable. Kirkus, at the time, noted the hoopla over Pyle (Pulitzer, hugely popular syndicated column, BOMC hype) and decided it was all worth it: “the book doesn’t let the reader down.” Pyle, of course, captures “the human qualities” of men in combat, but he also provides “an extraordinary sense of the scope of the European war fronts, the variety of services involved, the men and their officers.” Despite Piehler’s current argument that Pyle ignored much of the war (particularly the seamier stuff), Kirkus in 1944 marveled at how much he was able to cover. Back then, we thought, “here’s a book that needs no selling.” Nowadays, a firm push might be needed to renew interest in this classic of modern journalism.
Pub Date: April 26, 2001
ISBN: 0-8032-8768-2
Page Count: 513
Publisher: Univ. of Nebraska
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2001
Harari delivers yet another tour de force.
A highly instructive exploration of “current affairs and…the immediate future of human societies.”
Having produced an international bestseller about human origins (Sapiens, 2015, etc.) and avoided the sophomore jinx writing about our destiny (Homo Deus, 2017), Harari (History/Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) proves that he has not lost his touch, casting a brilliantly insightful eye on today’s myriad crises, from Trump to terrorism, Brexit to big data. As the author emphasizes, “humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better. Every person, group, and nation has its own tales and myths.” Three grand stories once predicted the future. World War II eliminated the fascist story but stimulated communism for a few decades until its collapse. The liberal story—think democracy, free markets, and globalism—reigned supreme for a decade until the 20th-century nasties—dictators, populists, and nationalists—came back in style. They promote jingoism over international cooperation, vilify the opposition, demonize immigrants and rival nations, and then win elections. “A bit like the Soviet elites in the 1980s,” writes Harari, “liberals don’t understand how history deviates from its preordained course, and they lack an alternative prism through which to interpret reality.” The author certainly understands, and in 21 painfully astute essays, he delivers his take on where our increasingly “post-truth” world is headed. Human ingenuity, which enables us to control the outside world, may soon re-engineer our insides, extend life, and guide our thoughts. Science-fiction movies get the future wrong, if only because they have happy endings. Most readers will find Harari’s narrative deliciously reasonable, including his explanation of the stories (not actually true but rational) of those who elect dictators, populists, and nationalists. His remedies for wildly disruptive technology (biotech, infotech) and its consequences (climate change, mass unemployment) ring true, provided nations act with more good sense than they have shown throughout history.
Harari delivers yet another tour de force.Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-51217-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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