THE BOOKMAN

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 103, 2 May 1914, Page 13

THE BOOKMAN

THE GREAT NAPOLEON "The Life of Napoleon I." By John Holland Rose, Lfct.D., Reader in Modern History, the University of Cambridge. Sixth edition revised. London : G. Bell and Sons, Ltd. "Napoleon." By Herbert Fisher, M.A., F.8.A., . Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University. Home University Library. London : Williams and Norgate. Though nearly a century has passed since the downfall of_the great Napoleon, he,--still remains incomparably the most commanding and the most picturesque figure of modern times. The mass of literature that has gathered round his name is already without a parallel in profane history —it was stated about three years ago that a complete bibliography would include 40,000 items ,■ yet tins pace of production, which has been more rapid during the last twenty years than ever before, shows no sign of slackening. It is to the credit of the nation which presented the one insuperable obstacle to the complete domination of Europe by this amazing man that it should have recently made two of the most authoritative, impartial, readable, and accessioie contributions to this immense collection. Dr. J. Holland Kose's biography, which first appeared in 1901, was at once accepted as the highest authority on the subject in the English language. It was then lr two large octavo volumes which cost 18s, but the use of thin though perfectly opaque paper, and the omission of most ot the illustrations but not of the still more valuable maps, has enabled the publishers, without any reduction in the size of the type, to compress the sixth edition into a single by no means unwieldy volume of- 1100 pages. 'lhe size and quality ox the worK, which can thus be sold in New Zealand for 7s, makes this sixth edition one of the cheapest books ever ottered to the public. The investigations of blue-books and despatches by Dr. Rose have not been permitted to impair the human interest of the great story that he has to tell. They have rather enabled him to embellish it and heighten its eitect by the fresh light that he throws upon the motives and the machinations of the protagonists. No dramatist ever brought a, tragedy to a more inevitable or a, more appropriate denouement than that to which —despite his almost superhuman powers —Napoleon was led by v more than commensurate ambition. The story as Dr. Rose unfolds it is as thrilling as though he had never opened a blue-book. His role is not that of apologist or detractor, but of historian; and with such perfect fairness does he hold the scales of justice that one is disposed to resent the occasional references to "our policy," "our army," etc., as identifying .the judge with one party to the conflict in a manner for which substance of the narrative supplies no foundation whatever. "Superlatively great in all that pertains to government, the quickening of human energies, and the art of war" —such is Dr. Rose's final judgment upon Napoleon's powers. Yet, even apart from the moral aspect, he keeps his admiration short of idolatry, as one striking example will suffice to show. Referririg to Napoleon's great I disaster at Leipzig, the centenary of which was recently celebrated in Germany,' as laying the foundation of German unity, Dr. Rose saye : "The plain truth is that he was out-gener-alled by the Allies. The assertion may seem to savour of profanity. Yet if words have any meaning, the phrase is literally correct." Courage must be credited to Dr. Rose as one of the qualities which havg combined to i produce a fascinating book. In some respects Mr. Fisher had a harder task than Dr. Rose, for it is notoriously difficult to write a small book on a big subject. Compression makes a dull book; and compression can only be avoided by a nice sense of proportion and a relentless policy of rejection. The vivid, impressive, and entertaining^ history of Napoleon which Mr. Fisher has managed to present in 240 duodecimo pages of Wge type makes his little book quite a model of its kind. There is not a dull page in the volume, which is adorned with epigram, anecdote, and humour as freely as though there was no inexorable limit of space. A good example of Mr. Fisher's epigrams is the statement that "the French army does not owe to Napoleon any military patents but that of victory. ' His picture of Napoleon among the doctors of Islam at Cairo is admirable. Napoleon had taken the Bible and the Koran with him on his expedition to the East, both being frankly included in the "political" section of his library. At Cairo it was of course the Koran that had its turn. "To these solemn guardians of Moslem orthodoxy," says Mr. Fisher, "the anxious theologian from Corsica would gravely expose the state of his devout and trembling soul, would propound questions of Holy Writ, and express his extreme veneration for the Prophet. It was represented to the Arab' teachers that but for two obstacles, wine and circumcision —the first prescribed and the second enjoined by the express text of the Koran —there was good ground for expecting a general conversion of the French in Egypt. And since 'the acute atheism of the Republican Army was as yet unaffected by Catholic practice, it was indicated that the precious seed would "fall upon a virgin soil." An error on page 68 of Mr. Fisher's book should be corrected in a second edition. The battle of Aboukir is there stated to have occurred on 25th August, though it appears from the following page that Napoleon had left Egypt on the 21st. The correct date of the battle is 25th July. In conclusion, we may say that the vplue of an excellent little book is increased by the welcome addition of an appendix containing some of Napoleon's maxims.