I have been thinking of creating this blog for sometime.
Statue of Napoleon at Les Invalides (Wikimedia Commons)
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), First Consul of France 1800–1804, Emperor of France 1804–1814 & March–July 1815, soldier, general, brilliant strategist, enlightened ruler, usurper, visionary, power-hungry autocrat, inspirational leader, ahead of his time. He is probably all of these things and more, depending on your reading of history and what particular propaganda, pro- or anti- Napoleon has influenced you.
Le Serment de l'armee fait a l'Empereur (Wikimedia Commons)
No matter your personal attitude, it is evident that the man had a huge and lasting impact and provides a continuing fascination to this day. One only has to consider the number of books about him and/or the period that bears his name that have been published and continue to be. Not to mention the numerous reforms, scientific discoveries and ideas from that time that are still with us, or impacting us, today.
Mort de Napoleon (Wikimedia Commons)
I like to, somewhat flippantly, call myself "a chauvinist in the original sense of the word". I have had an interest/fascination/obsession with Napoleon and the Napoleonic era for over forty years. My grandfather, who died long before I was born and so I sadly never met, had collected much about the period. My interest was stimulated as a boy by a gift of du Garde Peach's Ladybird book The Story of Napoleon. David Howarth's Waterloo followed soon afterwards, along with several boxes of Airfix 'Battle of Waterloo' 1/72nd figures. My father too had an interest in the period so, when we began planning wargaming, at Dad's suggestion, in the late 1970s (first game 1980), it was the Napoleonic period that was to be the starting point (and remained the primary focus).
My ability to be active in wargaming has drifted in and out somewhat, due to the time and resources available to spend on it, but my 'study' of Napoleon has been steady. In more recent times, fuelled by the ready access to reasonably priced books, not to mention internet resources, it has increased asymptotically.
In my professional life, which focusses on applied research related to agricultural systems, I like to say that "I know enough to be dangerous in many areas". It is completely the opposite when it comes to my hobby. Seventy per cent of my figures are Napoleonic and around 3/4 of the books that I own are of the period. In this case I am a Napoleonic 'specialist'. I know enough of a few other, selected periods to be somewhat dangerous!
So, this blog is going to 'service' my Napoleonic obsession. I intend to post book reviews, interesting articles, points of discussion, links to items on other blogs or websites; anything Napoleonic here. Posts about Napoleonic wargames will appear either here, or on the Avon Napoleonic Fellowship, with links made between the two.
Hopefully my self-indulgence will be of some interest to other Napoleonic devotees.
A note: the title image for the blog, "Reddition d'Ulm, 20 octobre 1805" by René Théodore Berthon (1776–1859) was downloaded from Wikimedia commons and has been included on the blog under its public domain licence.
