Skip to main content

Napoleon 22 Zenith

"There must be a superior power that dominates all other powers." N. on France
Epitome of the beneficent dictatorship . . . general laws for all of the continent as opposed to specific laws. . . united Europe . . . Napoleonic code . . . very pragmatic, waiting for the proper time to introduce the code to match the feeling of the conquered people . . . Westphalia, Spain, Poland, Balkans all so backward that they remained feudal--until Napoleon dragged them into modernity . . . popular with elites . . . hierarchical and uniform administration of law . . . vast improvement . . . "To large numbers of people, Napoleon represented the ideas of progress, meritocracy and a rational future." . . . The French Revolution without the guillotine . . . defender of Western civilization against Asiatic hordes of Russia . . . Napoleon 40 in 1809. . . Josephine without a son . . .  annul marriage . . . Marries Marie Louise, daughter of King of Austria, first by proxy and then at the Louvre . . .  fitting because N. was a great supporter of the visual arts (David, Gerard, Gericault, Girodet, Ingres, etc. . . . launched a neo-classical style in painting, architecture, etc. . . . Classical architecture also revived . . . still trying to isolate Britain economically through the Continental System . . . Russians hate it as it cuts lucrative trade with Brits . . . Napoleon at his zenith had an empire larger than Charlemagne's, and second only to Rome.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin . . . finished

 Follows Sadie and Sam (Mazer) from childhood to mid-thirties when both are feeling old and a bit out of it in the gaming world.  Characters are well-rounded, develop throughout the novel in interesting way.  Plot is involved but sensible.  Not a single, "Oh, come on!" moment.  The book could have been faster paced. Odd, since the main topic is video games which are not for their speed of engagement and Gabrielle Zevin clearly knows her video games. Recommended by Michael Connelly in an interview.  He also has Bosch pick up the book in his novel, Resurrection Walk, as Bosch tails a possible witness to a crime as she moves through a bookstore. Sadie and Sam do not get together at the end, which is good.   Marx killed by homophobic nutcase who really wants to kill Sam, but Sam isn't there. Marx is father of Sadie's child. 

The Franchise Affair, Josephine Tey--opening pages

Blair, a lawyer in Milford, gets a strange call.  His practice is wills and similar--nothing criminal.  A woman tells him that Scotland Yard is accusing her of abduction and implores him to come out to help her, even if later on he passes the case to someone else.  The woman says she has called him because he is "her type," meaning respectable and conservative.  He agrees.