A little boy suddenly finds himself separated from his family, his sunny island, and his world. The harsh school, a military school, Brienne in the chilly Champagne region.
Then it’s Paris with its lights, its temptations, the royal palace and its women, courtesans, actresses, prostitutes, a bit of everything at once. The young Napoleon, whose name the French still cannot pronounce, finds himself a teenager in this capital where… Then the revolution grips a young lieutenant. He hesitates between France and Corsica. It will be Toulon and then a sort of disgrace in 1795. He is a general, he is 26 years old.
In four years, it will be the coup d’état, but we’re not there yet. General Bonaparte is considered a Jacobin. The book ends with this decision of the Committee of Public Safety; the future directors have dismissed him.
They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Max Gallo, as is his habit, paints us a portrait of Napoleon. He seems to follow him, share his thoughts and thus from the Champagne mists to the cicadas of Provence, we follow a child, a teenager, then a young officer full of ambition. A lively and captivating book.
Thierry Jan
