Skip to main content

Napoleon 28 Defiance 29 Elba

France in trouble; N. calls for patriotism to defend it against Allies, led by Brits. . . . Disappointed that there is no guerrilla movement in France similar to what he faced in Spain . . . "Public opinion is an invisible, mysterious power." . . . Only 120,000 answer call to arms to defend France,  . . . Minimum age and height requirements ignored . . . high taxes . . .  N. knows he faces long odds .  . . "I fought too many wars." . . . The advantage of a smaller army is that N. is in complete control . . . the people who turn on him had turned on him before, yet N. had never imprisoned, let alone executed, any of them. (Talleyrand, Fouche, etc.) . . .  Armistice discussions here and there, but N. won't give up Belgium . . . Allied armies ener Paris on April 1, 1814 . . . Parisians, unlike Russians, show no interest in burning down Paris . . . N. fights on until Marmont betrays him by turning his entire army over to the Allies

29 Elba  Treaty and exile to Elba . . . N. takes high road and doesn't subject France to any more war . . . attempts suicide . . . abdicates when suicide fails . . . Praises the English! . . .  Elba for 10 months--N reorganizes defences, distributed $ to the poor, installed water system that works today, read voraciously, walked coastline, grew mulberry trees, reformed tax system, built a hospital, repaired barracks, organized trash collection, planted vineyards, paved roads.  Irrepressible energy.

Josephine dies at 50 . . . Bourbons make an endless series of errors .  . . N watches closely for opportunity to return to power . . . February 1815--eye on Paris! . . .  Lands with a very small force in southern France . . . takes mountain road north . . . dangerous, single file "Route Napoleon." Stone Eagles along it now . . . 190 miles in 6 days . . . He's back!

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 Secret, Book and Scone Society

Cozy mystery with a "women are superior creatures" underpinning. The four women have all had their struggles, which we will learn about one-by-one, but they all remain/emerge wiser, kinder, smarter, etc. than the men in the novel, most of whom are corrupt, narrow-minded, unfeeling and potentially violent. (Nora's encounter with the paramedic-hunk is the exception, though it occurs to me that he may be the murderer.) Even Estelle, who uses sex to get what she wants, is portrayed positively.  The men are comically manipulated by her curves.  In one scene, she goes skinny-dipping with a married man but is rescued by her buddies before she actually has sex with the guy. Nora, our main character, is told by her female friends that she is beautiful despite her scars. No male says this to Nora because males are just too crass to see beyond surface beauty.  I hope I'm wrong and the book is more nuanced. If not, then this author is a one-and-done writer for me.