What do you think?
Rate this book
The Corsican: A Diary of Napoleon's Life in His Own Words
""The A Diary of Napoleon's Life in His Own Words"" is a historical book written by R.M. Johnston. The book is based on the diary entries of Napoleon Bonaparte, the famous French military and political leader, who was born in Corsica. The diary entries cover the period from 1784 to 1815, which includes Napoleon's early life, his rise to power, his military campaigns, and his eventual downfall.The book provides a unique insight into Napoleon's life and personality, as the diary entries are written in his own words. The reader gets to see Napoleon's thoughts, feelings, and motivations, as well as his views on the events of his time. The book also includes annotations and commentary by the author, which provide context and background information.Overall, ""The A Diary of Napoleon's Life in His Own Words"" is a fascinating read for anyone interested in history, politics, or military strategy. It offers a rare glimpse into the mind of one of the most influential figures in European history, and sheds light on the events that shaped the modern world.1930. The book, with the exception of the few bracketed passages, is derived entirely from Napoleon's own words, written and spoken and in journal form. What truth this book conveys is not to be sought according to those rules for the treatment of historical documents which it avowedly contravenes, but in such psychological illumination of a great career and character as the method employed has rendered possible. For objectively Napoleon rarely, if ever, speaks the truth; yet subjectively how can he speak otherwise?This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
- GenresHistory
516 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2003
13 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
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