The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know ItHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014 M06 3 - 432 pages “A mesmerizing account that illuminates not just the Napoleonic wars but all of modern history . . . It reads like a novel” (Lynn Hunt, Eugen Weber Professor of modern European history, UCLA). The twentieth century is usually seen as “the century of total war.” But as the historian David A. Bell argues in this landmark work, the phenomenon actually began much earlier, in the era of muskets, cannons, and sailing ships—in the age of Napoleon. In a sweeping, evocative narrative, Bell takes us from campaigns of “extermination” in the blood-soaked fields of western France to savage street fighting in ruined Spanish cities to central European battlefields where tens of thousands died in a single day. Between 1792 and 1815, Europe plunged into an abyss of destruction. It was during this time, Bell argues, that our modern attitudes toward war were born. Ever since, the dream of perpetual peace and the nightmare of total war have been bound tightly together in the Western world—right down to the present day, in which the hopes for an “end to history” after the cold war quickly gave way to renewed fears of full-scale slaughter. With a historian’s keen insight and a journalist’s flair for detail, Bell exposes the surprising parallels between Napoleon’s day and our own—including the way that ambitious “wars of liberation,” such as the one in Iraq, can degenerate into a gruesome guerrilla conflict. The result is a book that is as timely and important as it is unforgettable. “Thoughtful and original . . . Bell has mapped what is a virtually new field of inquiry: the culture of war.” —Steven L. Kaplan, Goldwin Smith Professor of European history, Cornell University |
From inside the book
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Page 3
... Europe's major powers and continue, with only short interruptions, for more than twenty-three years, until France's ... Europe — by which I mean both the Europe he lived through as a young officer and the one he came to dominate as ruler ...
... Europe's major powers and continue, with only short interruptions, for more than twenty-three years, until France's ... Europe — by which I mean both the Europe he lived through as a young officer and the one he came to dominate as ruler ...
Page 5
... European history. This state of virtually permanent but restrained warfare seemed entirely natural and proper to the noblemen who led Europe's armies under the Old Regime, for it allowed the aristocratic values of honor and service to ...
... European history. This state of virtually permanent but restrained warfare seemed entirely natural and proper to the noblemen who led Europe's armies under the Old Regime, for it allowed the aristocratic values of honor and service to ...
Page 7
... Europe's rulers, still less on the conduct of war. But during the first three years of the French Revolution (1789 ... Europe's largest and most powerful state. During the same period, the French aristocracy lost its predominant position ...
... Europe's rulers, still less on the conduct of war. But during the first three years of the French Revolution (1789 ... Europe's largest and most powerful state. During the same period, the French aristocracy lost its predominant position ...
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Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It David A. Bell. ignored by mainstream historians, and the centrality of culture to military transformations that have been studied mostly from an operational viewpoint. Because I am ...
Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It David A. Bell. ignored by mainstream historians, and the centrality of culture to military transformations that have been studied mostly from an operational viewpoint. Because I am ...
Page 18
Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It David A. Bell. centrated on France more than on any other country. France stood at the crossroads of the European Enlightenment; its Revolution and the rise of Napoleon were the ...
Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It David A. Bell. centrated on France more than on any other country. France stood at the crossroads of the European Enlightenment; its Revolution and the rise of Napoleon were the ...
Contents
1 | |
21 | |
2 Conscience Commerce and History | 52 |
3 Declaring Peace DeclaringWar | 84 |
4 The Last Crusade | 120 |
5 The Exterminating Angels | 154 |
6 The Lure of the Eagle | 186 |
7 Days of Glory | 223 |
8 Wars Red Altar | 263 |
Epilogue | 302 |
Back Matter | 319 |
Notes | 321 |
Bibliography | 360 |
Index | 397 |
Other editions - View all
The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Modern Warfare David Avrom Bell No preview available - 2007 |
The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know it David Avrom Bell No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
allies aristocratic armed Assembly Austrian battle battlefield Bertaud Bonaparte Brissot British campaign century Charles-François Dumouriez civilian command conflict conscription Convention culture d’Holbach death declared deputies despite Dumouriez eighteenth eighteenth-century Empire enemy Englund Enlightenment entire Europe European Fénelon fight Fontenoy forces France France’s French army French Revolution French Revolutionary Wars German Girondins glory guerrilla Hébertists historians honor human Ibid insisted insurgents Italy Jacques-Louis David Joseph Joseph Bonaparte Joséphine killed king king’s La Vendée Lameth later Lauzun levée en masse Louis Manège March Maurice of Saxony military Mirabeau modern Moniteur Napo Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte National noble officer Old Regime Paris patriote peasants perpetual peace philosophes political population prisoners Prussian Quoted radical ranks rebels remained Revolutionary Robespierre royal sans-culotte soldiers Spain Spanish territory thousand tion took total war troops turned Turreau Valmy Vendéans Vendée victory Voltaire warfare wars wrote