What do you think?
Rate this book
The Corsican: A Diary of Napoleon's Life in His Own Words
Excerpt from The Corsican: A Diary of Napoleon's Life in His Own Words
Lentuedbrienne, andwaahappy.mymindwasbo ginningtoworkdwasanxionatolearmtoknomtoget on;ldevomedbooh. Iaoonbecamethetalkoltbe school. Lwasodmind.envied;lwaaoonadouaolnv powmdenioyedmmwiodty.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Lentuedbrienne, andwaahappy.mymindwasbo ginningtoworkdwasanxionatolearmtoknomtoget on;ldevomedbooh. Iaoonbecamethetalkoltbe school. Lwasodmind.envied;lwaaoonadouaolnv powmdenioyedmmwiodty.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresHistory
537 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2003
13 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Napoléon Bonaparte
1,535 books527 followersNapoleon I, originally Napoleon Bonaparte and known as "the Little Corporal," a brilliant strategist, overthrew the directory in 1799 and proclaimed first consul and later emperor of the French and king of Italy from 1804; his military and political might gripped Continental Europe, but after a disastrous campaign in Russia in winter 1812, people forced him to abdicate in 1814 and exiled him to the island of Elba, whither he escaped and briefly regained power before they ultimately defeated him at Waterloo in 1815 and he lived on Saint Helena, yet his code still forms the basis of civil law.
Josephine de Beauharnais wed Napoleon I Bonaparte in 1796 and from 1804 served as wife and empress of the French to 1809; her alleged infertility caused annulment of the marriage in 1810.
Near Austerlitz on 2 December 1805, Napoleon decisively defeated the armies of Alexander I, czar of Russia, and of Francis II, emperor of Austria.
Napoleon I Bonaparte later adopted French soldier and statesman Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Josephine, as viceroy and then heir apparent to the throne of Italy in 1806.
A mother bore Charles Louis Napoleon III Bonaparte, a nephew of Napoleon I Bonaparte, in 1808.
Trained in mainland as an artillery officer, he rose to prominence as a general of the revolution and led several successes against the arrayed coalitions. In late 1799, Napoleon staged a coup d'état and installed for five years. In the decade of the 19th century, he turned the armies and dominated almost everyone through extensive alliance systems and a lengthy streak of major victories, epitomized through battles, such as Austerlitz and Friedland. He appointed close friends and several members of his family as monarchs and important government figures of dominated states.
Napoleon developed relatively few innovations, although virtually all large modern armies accept his doctrines that placed artillery into batteries and elevated the corps as the standard unit. From a variety of sources, he drew his best tactics, and he scored several major victories with a modernized army. Academies over the world study this widely regarded greatest commander of history. Aside from achievements, people also remember Napoleon for the establishment that laid the bureaucratic foundations for the modern state.
This leader significantly affected modern history. He, a general during the revolution, ruled as premier of the republic, mediator of the Swiss confederation, and protector of the confederation of the Rhine.
The invasion marked a turning point in fortunes of Napoleon. The wrecked grand army never recovered its previous strength. In October 1813, the sixth coalition at Leipzig then invaded. The coalition triumphed over Napoleon in April 1814. After less than a year, he returned and controlled the government in the hundred days prior to his final demise on 18 June 1815. Napoleon spent the six years under British supervision.
Josephine de Beauharnais wed Napoleon I Bonaparte in 1796 and from 1804 served as wife and empress of the French to 1809; her alleged infertility caused annulment of the marriage in 1810.
Near Austerlitz on 2 December 1805, Napoleon decisively defeated the armies of Alexander I, czar of Russia, and of Francis II, emperor of Austria.
Napoleon I Bonaparte later adopted French soldier and statesman Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Josephine, as viceroy and then heir apparent to the throne of Italy in 1806.
A mother bore Charles Louis Napoleon III Bonaparte, a nephew of Napoleon I Bonaparte, in 1808.
Trained in mainland as an artillery officer, he rose to prominence as a general of the revolution and led several successes against the arrayed coalitions. In late 1799, Napoleon staged a coup d'état and installed for five years. In the decade of the 19th century, he turned the armies and dominated almost everyone through extensive alliance systems and a lengthy streak of major victories, epitomized through battles, such as Austerlitz and Friedland. He appointed close friends and several members of his family as monarchs and important government figures of dominated states.
Napoleon developed relatively few innovations, although virtually all large modern armies accept his doctrines that placed artillery into batteries and elevated the corps as the standard unit. From a variety of sources, he drew his best tactics, and he scored several major victories with a modernized army. Academies over the world study this widely regarded greatest commander of history. Aside from achievements, people also remember Napoleon for the establishment that laid the bureaucratic foundations for the modern state.
This leader significantly affected modern history. He, a general during the revolution, ruled as premier of the republic, mediator of the Swiss confederation, and protector of the confederation of the Rhine.
The invasion marked a turning point in fortunes of Napoleon. The wrecked grand army never recovered its previous strength. In October 1813, the sixth coalition at Leipzig then invaded. The coalition triumphed over Napoleon in April 1814. After less than a year, he returned and controlled the government in the hundred days prior to his final demise on 18 June 1815. Napoleon spent the six years under British supervision.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 12, 2020
"A man must have accomplished all that I have, to realize fully the difficulty of doing good. It sometimes needed all my power to succeed. If it was a question of extending the Tuileries gardens, of repairing the sewers, of carrying through a public improvement, all my energy was necessary; I had to write six, ten letters a day, and get hot and angry. I have spent as much as 30 millions on sewers which nobody will ever thank me for."
He's forty-seven. He's been on the island of St. Helena for a little less than a year, but he sees where this is going. Any agency he may have had with regard to conquest, influence, and his own physical liberty is dust on the wind. All that's left to maneuver is his legacy and how history remembers him. Ever the pragmatist, he's well aware that what you or I or any stranger on a future street corner will recall are the battles - Jena, Austerlitz, Wagram, the Russian campaign, Waterloo. (He would be surprised, I suspect, at the enduring recollection of Josephine.) But what he knows for a fact is that we will not remember this:
"You want to know the treasures of Napoleon? They are enormous, it is true, but in full view. Here they are: the splendid harbor of Antwerp, that of Flushing, capable of holding the largest fleets; the docks and dykes of Dunkirk, of Havre, of Nice; the gigantic harbor of Cherbourg; the harbor works at Venice; the great road from Antwerp to Amsterdam, from Mainz to Metz, from Bordeaux to Bayonne; the passes of the Simplon, of Mont Cenis, of Mont Genevre, of the Corniche, that give four openings through the Alps; in that alone you might reckon 800 millions. The roads from the Pyrenees to the Alps, from Parma to Spezzia, from Savona to Piedmont; the bridges of Jena, of Austerlitz, of the Arts, of Sevres, of Tours, of Lyons, of Turin, of the Isere, of the Durance, of Bordeaux, of Rouen; the canal from the Rhine to the Rhone, joining the waters of Holland to the Mediterranean; the canal that joins the Scheldt and the Somme, connecting Amsterdam and Paris; that which joins the Rance and the Vilaine; the canal of Arles, of Pavia, of the Rhine; the draining of the marshes of Bourgoing, of the Cotentin, of Rochefort; the rebuilding of most of the churches pulled down during the Revolution; the building of new ones; the construction of many industrial establishments for putting an end to pauperism; the construction of the Louvre, of the public granaries, of the Bank, of the canal of the Ourcq; the water system of the city of Paris, the numerous sewers, the quays, the embellishments and monuments of that great city; the public improvements of Rome; the reestablishment of the manufactories of Lyons. Fifty millions spent on repairing and improving the Crown residences; sixty millions' worth of furniture placed in the palaces of France and Holland, at Turin, at Rome; sixty millions' worth of Crown diamonds, all of it the money of Napoleon; even the Regent, the only missing one of the old diamonds of the Crown of France, purchased from Berlin Jews with whom it was pledged for three millions; the Napoleon Museum, valued at more than 400 million."
And in this he is correct. We give it no account.
Published in 1910, R.M. Johnston's work is an attempt to create a diary in Napoleon's own words. It's a slap-dash affair of chronological quoting from correspondence and commentary without the least effort expended to house those "entries" in context. One would be well and truly lost without a prior knowledge of events and the personalities involved. Hence I cannot recommend it to anyone - even on the dullest of days or the most isolated of desert islands. (There may be something in the odd military dispatch for the martially-directed, though I offer no guarantee.)
My advice: Forget the book. Remember the sewers.
He's forty-seven. He's been on the island of St. Helena for a little less than a year, but he sees where this is going. Any agency he may have had with regard to conquest, influence, and his own physical liberty is dust on the wind. All that's left to maneuver is his legacy and how history remembers him. Ever the pragmatist, he's well aware that what you or I or any stranger on a future street corner will recall are the battles - Jena, Austerlitz, Wagram, the Russian campaign, Waterloo. (He would be surprised, I suspect, at the enduring recollection of Josephine.) But what he knows for a fact is that we will not remember this:
"You want to know the treasures of Napoleon? They are enormous, it is true, but in full view. Here they are: the splendid harbor of Antwerp, that of Flushing, capable of holding the largest fleets; the docks and dykes of Dunkirk, of Havre, of Nice; the gigantic harbor of Cherbourg; the harbor works at Venice; the great road from Antwerp to Amsterdam, from Mainz to Metz, from Bordeaux to Bayonne; the passes of the Simplon, of Mont Cenis, of Mont Genevre, of the Corniche, that give four openings through the Alps; in that alone you might reckon 800 millions. The roads from the Pyrenees to the Alps, from Parma to Spezzia, from Savona to Piedmont; the bridges of Jena, of Austerlitz, of the Arts, of Sevres, of Tours, of Lyons, of Turin, of the Isere, of the Durance, of Bordeaux, of Rouen; the canal from the Rhine to the Rhone, joining the waters of Holland to the Mediterranean; the canal that joins the Scheldt and the Somme, connecting Amsterdam and Paris; that which joins the Rance and the Vilaine; the canal of Arles, of Pavia, of the Rhine; the draining of the marshes of Bourgoing, of the Cotentin, of Rochefort; the rebuilding of most of the churches pulled down during the Revolution; the building of new ones; the construction of many industrial establishments for putting an end to pauperism; the construction of the Louvre, of the public granaries, of the Bank, of the canal of the Ourcq; the water system of the city of Paris, the numerous sewers, the quays, the embellishments and monuments of that great city; the public improvements of Rome; the reestablishment of the manufactories of Lyons. Fifty millions spent on repairing and improving the Crown residences; sixty millions' worth of furniture placed in the palaces of France and Holland, at Turin, at Rome; sixty millions' worth of Crown diamonds, all of it the money of Napoleon; even the Regent, the only missing one of the old diamonds of the Crown of France, purchased from Berlin Jews with whom it was pledged for three millions; the Napoleon Museum, valued at more than 400 million."
And in this he is correct. We give it no account.
Published in 1910, R.M. Johnston's work is an attempt to create a diary in Napoleon's own words. It's a slap-dash affair of chronological quoting from correspondence and commentary without the least effort expended to house those "entries" in context. One would be well and truly lost without a prior knowledge of events and the personalities involved. Hence I cannot recommend it to anyone - even on the dullest of days or the most isolated of desert islands. (There may be something in the odd military dispatch for the martially-directed, though I offer no guarantee.)
My advice: Forget the book. Remember the sewers.
October 5, 2020
Purely Napoleon's own words written in his diary. He is not explaining the context of anything he is writing, he presumes the reader is aware of current events of the early 1800s. Therefore, knowing something of his time would increase the value of this book. Weeks, or months, or years at a stretch are missing. What is there is impressive enough, but will make one want to read more. I said recently to my friend who recommended this that I now need to read a good 1,000 page book on Napoleon. He responded that shelves of 1,000 page books have been written on Napoleon and nobody is that interesting. No, I think Napoleon might actually be that guy.
July 4, 2025
Napoleon's Gallic Wars equivalent is so, so good; seeing into the mind of these great men in their own private, often unplanned words — sometimes grand, sometimes so incredibly human, something hilariously sassy and downright bitchy — is always a treat. You can see the picture of the man so many paint in various ways, without any of the added colourings.
September 22, 2020
Takes some deciphering to get through the middle, but the final years are particularly interesting. Would recommend to anyone.
August 2, 2008
The problem with an edited diary of a public figure is the reminder that there is so much missing from the text. R.M. Johnston states in the beginning that these are Napoleon's original words, whether written or spoken, but what it becomes is one sentence from one letter to depict one day. The next sentence is a different one sentence from a different one letter to depict the next different day. While this allows a psychological overview of Napoleon it leaves me absolutely frustrated as I constantly felt I was missing something. One sentence does not give much information, and what about the context? What was written before and/or after that sentence can change my feelings entirely, can change what Napoleon said or meant.
As a historical overview it passes - someone interested solely in his military career might be genuinely pleased. But here we have a very watered down anthology of a man's words based on the opinion of another man who decides how it should go. The little bit showing the confused relationship between Napoleon and Josephine was a nice edition, though his exile on Elba was almost missed entirely (though to be fair I may have stopped paying close attention by that point); to make up for it Napoleon's exile in St. Helena was super dramatic and almost ridiculous at times in how Johnston chose to portray it.
I went in stupidly expecting a more extensive text as it is a thick book.
As a historical overview it passes - someone interested solely in his military career might be genuinely pleased. But here we have a very watered down anthology of a man's words based on the opinion of another man who decides how it should go. The little bit showing the confused relationship between Napoleon and Josephine was a nice edition, though his exile on Elba was almost missed entirely (though to be fair I may have stopped paying close attention by that point); to make up for it Napoleon's exile in St. Helena was super dramatic and almost ridiculous at times in how Johnston chose to portray it.
I went in stupidly expecting a more extensive text as it is a thick book.
January 21, 2017
It's a diary, some entries as dictation, some as letters written. Difficult to read without having to fill in gaps, history book at the ready. ;) But it's interesting to hear Napoleon's "voice" - alternately boastful and petulant, as dictated by the prevailing tide of war. Spoiler alert: he dies at the end.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews