The Invasion of France in 1814

Erckmann-ChatrianProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.9
Word count
374K words
Chapters
38

Tags

English Originals Historical Fiction Military HistoryDefense of FrancePatriotic EpicHistorical NarrativeCampaign of 1814Twilight of EmpireNapoleonic EraNational ResistanceBorder WarfareSoldier Perspective

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.The Invasion of France in 1814 by Erckmann-ChatrianAuthor: Erckmann-Chatrian,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jul 26, 2011

Editor's review

From the French duo Erckmann-Chatrian, this novel is set against the Allied invasion of France in 1814, near the end of Napoleon's empire, and belongs to the historical fiction tradition the pair are known for. Its value lies not in grand panoramas of battle but in showing, from ordinary people's vantage point, how war seeps into village and family life, turning historical events into felt everyday experience. The narrative carries the realistic grounding and sentimental tone of nineteenth-century French fiction; the dialogue and descriptions of local life are solid, and the period atmosphere is immersive. As a public-domain English ebook from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to search and quote, and makes a useful supplementary read for understanding a strand of French historical fiction. For reading, it suits a quiet setting where you can read several chapters in sequence and follow the narrative into that turbulent era; it also pairs well with the same authors' The Blockade of Phalsburg, letting you see the same historical period projected onto different places and people. One caveat: the English translation retains nineteenth-century language habits, and some expressions feel unfamiliar to contemporary readers, so a slower pace is advisable.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read a chapter or two first to get a feel for the narrative pace and the translation, then decide whether to read straight through or selectively.
  2. Keep a brief timeline of the 1814 campaign at hand to relate characters' experiences to the historical course.
  3. Read alternately with the same authors' The Blockade of Phalsburg to compare the two settings.
  4. Mark unfamiliar place names as you go and look them up afterward, so you don't interrupt your reading.

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

FAQ

Is this book an English original or a translation? According to the Project Gutenberg record, this is an English text, and since the authors Erckmann-Chatrian wrote in French, readers are reading an English translation. The translation retains nineteenth-century language habits, and some sentence structures and word choices differ from contemporary English, so it is worth slowing down.
Can I read it without background knowledge of the Napoleonic Wars? Yes. The novel centers on characters and local life rather than military analysis, so you can follow the narrative without background knowledge. For a smoother read, first get a basic sense of the 1814 Allied invasion of France and the empire's collapse; that makes it easier to grasp the characters' circumstances and feelings.
Is this book suitable for historical research? It works better as a literary text and a window on period atmosphere than as a historical source. What the novel presents is the authors' portrayal of wartime experience and a civilian perspective; specific campaign events, troop numbers, and political decisions should not be cited directly from it. For research, use it alongside historical scholarship.
What should I keep in mind when reading the electronic edition? This is a public-domain electronic text, mainly plain text, with limited notes and maps. It helps to have a map or historical timeline on hand for orientation, and be aware that paragraph display varies across devices. If you need to quote, check the specific chapter and wording against the original.

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

Erckmann-Chatrian Author

Erckmann-Chatrian is the shared pen name of the French writers Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian, who collaborated over many years and published under this joint name. Public information about their nationality, birth and death dates, and personal lives is limited, so no speculation is offered here. Judging from the seventeen works held in the collection, their writing draws largely on modern French warfare and rural life. Representative works include The Conscript: A Story of the French War of 1813, Waterloo: A Sequel to The Conscript of 1813, and The Invasion of France in 1814, which centre on conscription, the Battle of Waterloo, the blockade of Phalsburg, and the plebiscite, alongside regional and legendary tales such as L'Ami Fritz and Contes de la Montagne. Their works often present wartime experience from ordinary people's perspective, in a realistic style with a folk-narrative flavour, and are commonly classified under inspirational growth in Chinese book catalogues.