excellent: R. I ,a ulan, 'La chere a l'Ecole Militaire au temps de
Bonaparte', Revue de l'Institut Napoleon (1959) pp.18-23 and General
Gambier, 'Napoleon Bonaparte a l'Ecole Royale Militaire de Paris', Revue
de l'Institut Napoleon (1971) pp.48-56. On the reliability of Des Mazis see
R. Laulan, Revue de l'Institut Napoleon (1956) pp.54-6o.
The general military context is established in Albert Bateau, La vie
militaire sous !'ancien regime, 2 vols (Paris 1890) and Spenser Wilkinson,
The French Army before Napoleon (1830). The fortunes of the Bonaparte
family while Napoleon was at school can be fo llowed in L. de Brotonne,
Les Bonaparte et leurs alliances (Paris 1901) and Fran�Yois Collaveri, La
franc-mafonnerie des Bonaparte (Paris 1982) - on which subject see also
J.M. Roberts, The Mythology of Secret Societies (1972) and J.L. Q!toy
Bodin, L 'Armee et Ia Franc-Mafonnerie: au declin de Ia monarchie sous Ia
Revolution et !'Empire (Paris 1987).
Those interested in more detail on Napoleon's unprepossessing father
should read Xavier Versini, M. de Buonoparte ou le livre inacheve (Paris
1977). His mother has attracted more attention, and estimates of her vary
wildly. Apart from Larrey already mentioned there are the fo llowing:
Clement Shaw, Letizia Bonaparte (1928); Augustin Thierry, Madame
Mere (1939); Gilbert Martineau, Madame Mere (Paris 198o); Clara
Tschudi, Napoleon's Mother (19oo); Alain Decaux, Letizia mere de
l'empereur (Paris 1983); Fran�Yois Duhourcau, La mere de Napoleon (Paris
1921); Monica Stirling, A Pride of Lions (1961); Lydia Peretii, Letizia
Bonaparte (Paris 1922). The generally unfavourable consensus is con
tested in Marthe Arrighi de Casanova, Letizia mere de Napoleon a he
calomniee (Brussels 1954). Lucien, Napoleon's bane but occasionally his
unwitting salvation, left some partially reliable memoirs: Memoires de
Lucien Bonaparte, Prince Canino, ecrits par lui-meme (Paris 1836). For
Cardinal Fesch there is J.P.F. Lyonnet, Le Cardinal Pesch, 2 vols (Paris
1841) and Helene Colombani, Le Cardina l Pesch (Paris 1979).
On the more general culture that helped to fo rm Napoleon see
Norwood Young, The Growth of Napoleon, A Study in Environment (1910)
and F.G. Healey, The Literary Culture of Napoleon (Geneva 1959). His
personality is studied in J. Holland Rose, The Personality of Napoleon;
David Chandler, 'Napoleon as Man and Leader', Consortium on
Revolutionary Europe Proceedings (1989), I, pp.581-6o6; Harold T. Parker,
'The formation of Napoleon's personality; an exploratory essay', French
Historical Studies 7 (1971) pp.6-26. Adler's views are in Social Interest
( 1938).
This may be the place to mention the often highly unreliable memoir
literature which starts to be a 'source' fo r Napoleon's life at this point.
marcin
(Marcin)
#1