Bourrienne's, Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte (1923), mostly ghosted by
Maxime de Villemarest, are mainly transparent nonsense and provoked a
72o-page rejoinder when first published in French: Boulay de la
Meurthe, Bourrienne et ses erreurs (Brussels 1930); Laura Permon Junot,
later duchess of Abrantes, is not far short of Bourrienne on unreliability.
The Abrantes Memoirs (1929), which could be subtitled 'The Memoirs of
an Opium Addict' both on account of their fantastic, pipe-dreaming
quality and because Laura became such an addict, won fo r her the
nickname Abracadabrantes. Peter Gunn, Napoleon's Little Pest ( 1 983) is a
lively account of her. Roederer, Bonaparte me disait (Paris 1942), on the
other hand, is a genuine memoir and testifies to the influence of Rousseau
on Napoleon. Cf. also Roederer's Journal (1909). Chaptal, Mes Souvenirs
(Paris 1893), unreliable fo r the Empire period after 1804, are sound
enough here.CHAPTER THREEIn addition to works already cited, the fo llowing deal with the fo rmative
early years: Bertram Ratcliffe , Prelude to Fame, an account of the early lift
of Napoleon up to the battle of Montenotte (1981); Spenser Wilkinson, The
Rise of General Bonaparte (1991); Jean Thiry, Les annees de jeunesse de
Napoleon Bonaparte 1769 -I796 (Paris 1975); Dimitri Sorokine, La
jeunesse de Napoleon (Paris 1976); H. D'Estre, Napoleon, les annees obscures
(Paris 1942).
Jean Tulard, Itineraire de Napoleon (Paris 1992) is invaluable for
establishing the exact dates of the various comings and goings between
Corsica and the mainland. Eleven letters from Napoleon in the years
1789-92 were printed in Revue des Deux Mondes, 15 December 1931. See
also ]. Savant, Napoleon a Auxonne (Paris 1946); M. Bois, Napoleon
Bonaparte lieutenant d'artillerie a Auxonne (n.d.) For the important
relationship with du Teil there is ]. du Teil, Napoleon Bonaparte et les
generaux du Teil (1897). For the financial aspect there is B. Simiot, De
quoi vivait Bonaparte? (Paris 1952). For the impact of the flight of Louis
XVI to Varennes see Marcel Reinhard, La chute de Ia Royaute (Paris
1969).
The principal works influencing Napoleon the artilleryman were: Jean
de Beaumont du Teil, L 'Usage de l'artillerie nouvelle dans Ia guerre de
campagne (Paris 1778); Jacques de Guibert, Essai general de tactique (Paris
1772) and Defense du systeme de guerre moderne (Paris 1778); Pierre
Bourcet, Principes de Ia guerre des montagnes (Paris 1786). The importance
of artillery in this period can be fo llowed in B.P. Hughes, Firepower;