Bonaparte's Sons

This is the first of six books which follow the fortunes of Alain Lausard across the Napoleonic Age in war. The books are well crafted, but not inspired on on individual basis. Still, they each tell a good story in a competent manner. The true worth of the books, however, are revealed in their totality. The device of one central character across the entire expanse Napoleonic Wars provides a variety of writing efficiencies in character development and it allows the author time to reveal the events in the background and the plotting in the foreground. Following the progress of Lausard from his jail cell to the Legion of Honor at Jena, and on to further spiritual growth through the tragedy of Eylau, many conflicts arise that are very exciting for the Napoleonic reader. Will Lausard, for instance, be reconciled to the humiliation of of the Revolution? Will he rise on his merits? Will he improbably be one of the few to survive all the major battles and campaigns? What fates will keep him alive? Will he rise to Marshal of France? We he become whole and will he provide a human example of the historical transformations of the age? These looming questions are wonderful sources of reading interest and it all unfolds in a competent retelling of the famous anecdotes of the era and the great human achievements of the age. Any one of the books is far less valuable alone than as a part in of the ensemble. In the totality of the work can be found a real value, wherein it it is clear the whole is far more valuable than the sum of the parts. The protagonist Lausard has many internal conflicts and rises in the Army as a dragoon despite his disdain for rank and glory. He grows and survives as his true intelligence and character constantly redeem him in the crisis of the outward conflicts around him. He rises to Sergeant and is widely respected by his fellow soldiers because he fights for them and not for glory itself. The road map of major events follows the obvious Napoleonic cannon. This first volume culminates on the "fertile plains" of Italy as the French transform from a band of misfits into a force worthy at the Battle of Rivoli to cause the Holy Roman Empire to begin its retreat into history. It is up to the reader to know what is generally going on. I recommend, as always, a syntopical reading with more a sweeping, factual telling of the campaigns from the strategic perspectives. This book and its companions are a valuable addition to the literature. However, I do not think the real dramatic interest can be obtained and enjoyed without a grasp of the ultimate context and major figures. You have to already know the big picture to get the marrow.

Fans of Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" series will undoubtedly enjoy Richard Howard's "Bonaparte's Sons". The novel follows the adventures of Alain Laussard, a disgraced nobleman rotting in the depths of a Parisian prison after the tumultous period following the French Revolution. Laussard, along with a mixed bag of fellow convicts is then recruited into one of Bonapartes elite cavalry units, and sent to the front lines of the 1797 Italian campaign. While the novel itself lacks the stylistic flair of Cornwell or C.S Forrester, it remains an enjoyable work. Readers however, should be prepared for cliched one-dimensional characters (even in the case of the main protagonist), and a fairly routine military story. That being said, the novel contains plenty of action, and a relatively impressive attention to historical detail (though at times Howards research becomes a little too evident, for example do we really need to know the precise speed of a projected cannon ball?). As a writer Howard is not quite in the same league as O'Brian, Forrester or Cornwell, but fans of Napoleonic war literature will definetly enjoy this novel as an entertaining and imaginative read.

I spotted this series in a catalogue, and was eager to try out the first volume. Since the story is told from the French perspective, it's a refreshing change from the solidly anglophile array of historical adventures, in English, covering the Napoleonic period: on land, Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" novels and a couple of C.S. Forester's tales; on sea, the Hornblower novels of Forester and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Mathurin books. Richard Howard is not in the same league as Cornwell, Forester, or O'Brian. (A better French-viewed Napoleonic tale is Patrick Rambaud's "The Battle", published in English in 2000). But the book is a worthwhile, entertaining read, ideal for a long airplane, train, or bus trip, or by the poolside or seaside. It begins in the fall of 1795, with the French Directory scouring the prisons of Paris for its armies on the Rhine and in Northern Italy. The main character is part of a squadron of dragoons who are trained and sent to join Bonaparte at the start of his Italian campaign in April 1796. This colorful gang of thieves and cutthroats -- a Napoleonic "Dirty Dozen" -- gradually evolves into an effective fighting unit, acquitting itself ably at the climactic battle of Rivoli in January 1797 and a subsequent raid behind Austrian lines. The author does not stint in his description of the grisly, unglamorous aspects of warfare of this era: harsh discipline, pillaging, the harrowing fate of the wounded, the carnage and confusion of battle. However, I didn't get a good sense of just what role the dragoons, and cavalry in general, played in Bonaparte's army and how they contributed to victory. The book is interspersed with chapters showing Bonaparte himself taking command of the Army of Italy and leading it to breathtaking triumph; this works well, but then stops, and only picks up again in the final chapter. I wish the publisher had provided a map or two, and some historical comments (which are much appreciated in the Sharpe books). Also, some biographical notes about the author would have been interesting: Is he the same Richard Howard whose new translation of "The Charterhouse of Parma" has recently been published in the Modern Library series? Visually, the front covers of the first two volumes of the series, "Bonaparte's Sons" and "Bonaparte's Invaders", are stunning. They reproduce details from marvelous 19th century paintings. The one on the third book, "Bonaparte's Conquerors", does not, and the difference is striking and disappointing.