Memoirs of the Duke of Rovigo, to Serve for the History of the Emperor Napoleon

Anne-Jean-Marie-René Savary, duc de RovigoProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.9
Word count
495K words
Chapters
50

Tags

Foreign Language Books World HistoryPolitical and Military Leaders Historical ReappraisalPortrait GalleryPolitical CareerLegendary LivesPower GameAntiheroDocumentary NarrativeModern China

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mémoires du duc de Rovigo, pour servir à l'histoire de l'empereur NapoléonAuthor: Savary, Anne-Jean-Marie-René, duc de Rovigo, 1774-1833,Language: French, Class: DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco, Release Date: Aug 25, 2007

Editor's review

This is the French memoir of the Napoleonic era written by Savary, Duke of Rovigo, a public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg. The author long held important posts in Napoleon's regime, and his narrative carries a distinct eyewitness perspective and a defensive coloring; its primary value is therefore as historical source and viewpoint, not as neutral final judgment. Readers can find firsthand accounts of Napoleon's court, policing and imperial administration, and can observe how a senior official remembered, explained and even beautified his relationship with the Emperor. The book is in French and classified under French history; it suits historical readers with French reading ability for thematic study. When reading, it is advisable to compare the memoir with general histories and other memoirs, distinguishing factual statements, rumors and the author's stance, especially in passages concerning repression, policing and political decisions. For readers studying the political history of the Napoleonic era, the memoir genre or modern French historical sources, this is a basic text worth slow reading and annotation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. First read the preface and table of contents to clarify the period covered, then select readings by event topic
  2. Prepare a character list and timeline, checking major Napoleonic events as you read
  3. Mark separately the author's explanations of his own conduct and compare them with general history accounts
  4. For key passages, excerpt the French sentences and try translating them to train close reading of sources

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50

FAQ

Is the narrative of this memoir credible? It should not be taken as neutral final judgment. The author was a senior official of Napoleon's regime, and his recollections involve self-defense and selective stance. Its firsthand value lies in presenting an eyewitness perspective and details, but on issues of responsibility and political decisions it should be compared with other sources and general histories, distinguishing fact, rumor and interpretation.
Can I read this book without knowing French? The original is in French; reading it directly without French will be very difficult. First find a reliable Chinese or English general history of the Napoleonic era to build a framework, then use translation tools to read key chapters; for research citation, still check the French original and avoid judging solely from machine translation.
How is this book different from ordinary Napoleon biographies? Ordinary biographies are mostly written by later authors synthesizing materials and pursue complete narrative; this book is a memoir by a contemporary official, with details closer to the author's experience but a vision limited by his office and stance. It is better used as comparative material to observe differences in accounts of the same event, not as a replacement for general history reading.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Anne-Jean-Marie-René Savary, duc de Rovigo Author · French · 1774–1833

Anne-Jean-Marie-René Savary, duc de Rovigo (1774–1833), was a French general and administrator. Born in Marc and died in Paris, he was a confidant of Napoleon I, served as commander of the Imperial Guard and as Minister of Police, and was created duc de Rovigo in 1808. His eight-volume Mémoires du duc de Rovigo (1828) recounts the Napoleonic era and is an important source for its study. The library holds seven of his works, most related to these memoirs; written from a participant's perspective, they present details of Napoleon's court and imperial administration in a concrete narrative that combines documentary value with readability.