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 3.6
Word count
525K words
Chapters
53

Tags

Foreign Language Books World HistoryHistorical Figures Historical ReappraisalPolitical TurmoilPortrait GalleryCourt IntriguePower GameAntiheroMemoirNapoleonic EraSocial Observation19th-Century France

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: Jul 13, 2007

Editor's review

This is the memoir of the Duke of Rovigo, an important eyewitness of the Napoleonic era, in the original French, covering the politics, military affairs, and court life of the Napoleonic Empire. Having long served Napoleon, the author writes with a clear personal stance and a defensive tone, so the book is both a historical source and a testimony shaped by emotion. Readers can see an insider’s view of imperial decision-making, details of personal relationships, and how the memoirist justifies his own role. For readers studying the history from the late French Revolution to the Napoleonic Empire, it offers supplementary material beyond official archives; general readers should distinguish factual statements from subjective judgments. It is advisable to read it alongside other historical sources rather than treating it as the sole authority. The text is nineteenth-century French with long sentences, suitable for those with some French or willing to read slowly with reference tools. Its value lies in firsthand immediacy rather than objective neutrality.

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Reading tips

  1. Read the introduction or look up Savary’s biography before the main text to understand his stance.
  2. Prepare a timeline of major events in the Napoleonic Empire and refer to it while reading.
  3. For key events, consult other historical sources to identify subjective defenses.
  4. Readers struggling with French can use bilingual tools or a reliable abridged translation as support.

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

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FAQ

Is this memoir a complete edition? The Project Gutenberg edition is a public-domain electronic text; the specific volumes and completeness should be checked in the file’s table of contents. After downloading, readers should first verify the chapters and volume numbers to confirm whether the needed parts are included.
Can I read this book without knowing French? The original is in French, and reading without French will be very difficult. Translation tools or a reliable Chinese or English translation can be used for comparison, but note omissions and differences in wording.
Is the content of the memoir trustworthy? Memoirs have eyewitness value, but the author Savary was close to Napoleon and his narrative is defensive and inclined to glorify. It should be used as one historical source alongside other archives and research.

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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.