Title says it all. The whole time period, including Napoleon's wars and everything else going on in Europe.
I've heard picrel is good but haven't read it yet (I ordered a copy recently thanks to a rec on here). There's also Andrew Roberts' superlative biography.
>>24690262Dunno war and peace? Never read it tho
Colonel Chabert is one of my favourites>Ne me parlez pas de cela ! répondit le vieux militaire. Vous ne pouvez pas savoir jusqu’où va mon mépris pour cette vie extérieure à laquelle tiennent la plupart des hommes. J’ai subitement été pris d’une maladie, le dégoût de l’humanité. Quand je pense que Napoléon est à Sainte-Hélène, tout ici-bas m’est indifférent. Je ne puis plus être soldat, voilà tout mon malheur. Enfin, ajouta-t-il en faisant un geste plein d’enfantillage, il vaut mieux avoir du luxe dans ses sentiments que sur ses habits. Je ne crains, moi, le mépris de personneDavid G. Chandler's book is really good obviously and very well written Napoleon's Great Adversaries: Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army by Rothenberg is great and well writtenI'm reading it atm because I'm building up a collection of Austrians for the 1809 war but it's still great reading for anyone I thinkThe Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon by Rothenberg is also great
Also do not read Max Gallo's books no matter what you do
>>24690781Why is th->Gallo's early career was in journalism. At the time he was a Communist (until 1956). In 1974, he joined the Socialist Party.oh
what am I in for? speak to me about this book if you read it.
>>24691053I'd say it's the third best after Gueniffey and Castelot. The best all around biography avalaible in English. But if you had to read only a single one on the man in your lifetime I'd wait for Gueniffey's second volume to be finished. He's been working on it for like 12 years and should be released soon (tm), though I'd imagine you'd have to wait a year or two for it to get translated. The first volume is by far the best one about his rise.But this one is good. It's the first I read and I was satisfied with it. Though I don't really remember having a concrete idea of who the man himself really was.
>>24690262Let me advise you to skip the boring crap and just read the Sharpe's Rifles series by Bernard Cornwell, the Master and Commander series by Patrick O'Brien, and the Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forester.If what you specifically want is the boring crap, but the best possible version of that, then you want a book called, "Campaigns of Napoleon" by David G. Chandler, and any other work by the same author, he has about a dozen other works, some about Marlborough too. Last time I checked, even a used copy could run you damn near $75, so you might want to start with one of the lesser works for a bit cheaper before you make a major fucking financial investment into a book you only THINK you want until you get into it. Be honest with yourself. Do you want boring crap or cool adventure stories?
>>24691053Starts very slow but it gets better and more engaging as it goes. I actually listened to the audio version several times, it's well-written and engrossing and riddled with all sorts of anecdotes that I think make the book and tell the story of the man and the times. It's a particularly excellent introductory book to Napoleon, despite it's massive size. But that's also why it's a little slow at the beginning.
>>24691053currently listening to this, and about halfway through, it's pretty good
>>24690262Nothing beats this big bitch right here. It has the most beautiful battle maps you will ever see
