Napoleonic stories from the French side?

[Gramm838]

Does anyone know of any Napoleonic era novels (a la Bernard Cornwell) but written from the French side? I've read all of the Sharpe novels at least twice and it would be interesting to see the events with a different viewpoint.

Surely there must some French novelists who have covered this time period, and which are available in English (my 50 years-ago schoolboy French will struggle to read much French nowadays)...

 

[svalbard]

I read, what I thought was a great novel about Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name. One standout scene were of his engineers building a pontoon bridge across a freezing river as Marshal Ney's corps fought a desperate rearguard action.

Obviously this is of no help to you whatsoever...sorry.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I can't think of anything off the top of my head except for some romance novels, but if you are looking for books that are written in English that were sympathetic to the French side, you might find some books by American authors, seeing as how we were allied to the French for part of that time. Maybe look up the War of 1812, since that's what we call it.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Richard Howard's Alain Lausard Adventures are what you're after; effectively a French Sharpe. Taken from a Parisian prison and into the French dragoons, Alain and his companions have a series of adventures in the Napoleonic wars. Not as well written, or with as interesting characters as Cornwell's novels , they are still enjoyable and tell the war from the other side.

 

[Vince W]

Here's a link to a list of many novels set in that era. Some are from the French perspective.

http://www.historicalnovels.info/Napoleonic.html

 

[svalbard]

Here's a link to a list of many novels set in that era. Some are from the French perspective.

http://www.historicalnovels.info/Napoleonic.html

Looking at that list I am pretty sure it was Patrick Rambaud's The Retreat I read a few years back.

 

[mosaix]

A little OT but in the book 1812 there's a humorous story. Having been defeated Napoleon leaves a few generals to manage the retreat from Moscow and heads back towards Paris.

He reaches a river and says to the ferryman "Have and deserters passed this way?"

"No," replies the ferryman, "you're the first."

 

[MWagner]

The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard by Arthur Conan Doyle is great fun. The stories are akin to Flashman, where the fictional protagonist is witness to great events through the history of the regime, though Gerard isn't a cowardly cad so much as a vain popinjay.

 

[Lew Rockwell Fan]

my 50 years-ago schoolboy French will struggle to read much French nowadays)...

Machine translation produces comical results in some languages, but for French it is probably quite good enough to read a novel. If you decide you want to try that, I have ideas on where you could find recommendations.

 

[Caledfwlch]

I can't think of anything off the top of my head except for some romance novels, but if you are looking for books that are written in English that were sympathetic to the French side, you might find some books by American authors, seeing as how we were allied to the French for part of that time. Maybe look up the War of 1812, since that's what we call it.

The 1812 war was nothing to do with the Napoleonic Wars though - iirc, it kicked off, because a United States, already becoming aggressive & expansionist attacked Canada, hoping to annex it.
A (possibly former) US Army Colonel, who is also a qualified military historian has written an Alternate History novel - Redcoat's Revenge, after having learnt that Horse Guards (British Army HQ in London) asked Sir Arthur Wellesly to sail over and take command of the British Forces fighting the US in 1812 - The Iron Duke declined, as he wanted to finish dealing with Napoleon.
The Novel has him accepting, and taking several battalions of his Veterans from Spain with him. A Lot of book reviewers have been horrified, as apparantly even the real version of the 1812 War was a close thing for the US, and that wasnt something they knew - but add the Iron Duke, and a few thousand Peninsula Vets to add backbone to the British Forces fighting the US Army, and you are seriously looking at either the total annihilation of the United States, or a huge reduction to a rump state, a shadow of its former self.

Most of the US Army in 1812 simply didn't have any combat experience, and had never fought European Troops at the top of their game. And make no mistake - the Peninsula Vets by 1812 were vicious, ruthless, highly disciplined, highly trained, and highly experienced Killing Machines who had spent the last 6 or 7 years turning French Columns and Regiments into bloody horror - The experienced Peninsula Companies could also generally fire 1 extra shot per minute more than any other troops. And of course, unlike many, the Iron Duke seems to have approved of the 95th Rifles, so veteran companies of Riflemen would have made the US Army have an even worse day. the 95th Rifles are effectively the birth of the modern Infantryman, highly mobile, using fire & manoeuvre etc.

 

[MWagner]

The Novel has him accepting, and taking several battalions of his Veterans from Spain with him. A Lot of book reviewers have been horrified, as apparantly even the real version of the 1812 War was a close thing for the US, and that wasnt something they knew - but add the Iron Duke, and a few thousand Peninsula Vets to add backbone to the British Forces fighting the US Army, and you are seriously looking at either the total annihilation of the United States, or a huge reduction to a rump state, a shadow of its former self.

I don't doubt the British army would have destroyed the U.S. army. But I'm not sure that ends the liberation of the U.S. They would be just as rebellious as they had been during the Revolution - likely moreso, as they'd had a taste of self-government. So how many troops would the crown be willing to pay to permanently garrison a vast territory against an uprising by the deeply resentful population? The costs of the war already made it deeply unpopular in Britain, where commercial interests wanted a resumption of normal trade between the two nations.

I think you'd likely have seen a return to the status quo. Perhaps Tecumseh's confederacy survives a while longer.

 

[Caledfwlch]

I don't doubt the British army would have destroyed the U.S. army. But I'm not sure that ends the liberation of the U.S. They would be just as rebellious as they had been during the Revolution - likely moreso, as they'd had a taste of self-government. So how many troops would the crown be willing to pay to permanently garrison a vast territory against an uprising by the deeply resentful population? The costs of the war already made it deeply unpopular in Britain, where commercial interests wanted a resumption of normal trade between the two nations.

I think you'd likely have seen a return to the status quo. Perhaps Tecumseh's confederacy survives a while longer.

I suspect that Canada would have been enlarged by taking in part/some of the US Northern States bordering it as "reparations" followed by the imprisonment of certain individuals and mass transportations etc, of whatever citizenry chose to stay under the new rulers to ensure order was maintained, along with heavy immigration from the UK and UK Allies. british army was nowhere near large enough to suppress the entirety of the US, even the much smaller US of 1812.