Napoleon's Library

by Louis N Sarkozy

2024 · Casemate Publishers

Explores the enigmatic Napoleon Bonaparte's intimate relationship with books and history, going far beyond his more militaristic and imperial fame. Napoleon Bonaparte held absolute political power in France and his influence stretched across Europe and beyond. Yet he remained – between leading his armies and ruling over a vast empire – an indefatigable reader who even carried libraries into battle. Bonaparte's love of the written word, birthed in childhood and nurtured as an adolescent and young adult, never left him. He was a lover of literature for its own sake – often swooning over melodramatic love stories – but he also understood the value of books as instruments of power. Before his campaigns, he poured over dozens of texts relating to the relevant theaters' geography, population, trade, and history. When contemplating grave decisions, such as his divorce to Empress Josephine, he consulted the historical record for useful precedents to justify and inform his actions. To bolster his troop's morale during challenging times, he constantly referenced history in his proclamations, making his contemporaries feel as if they were actively shaping history. They were. The library of an individual is the key to his mind. Behind the grandiose paintings of the victorious conqueror and the constructions of the propagandist, stands the reader. This book is an attempt to glimpse Napoleon's character without the veneer of imperial glory. What was he like, alone at night by his fireplace? What thoughts percolated in the mind of the ambitious 20-year-old, isolated in a little room while theorizing about man's happiness? Who are the literary and historical figures which can claim to have had impacted his life? Who were his favorite authors? Through this book the reader will embark on a literary promenade with the great general and statemen. In these pages are found the emperor's favorite authors. And with them, the key to understanding his mind.

Mob Rules

by Louis Ferrante

2011 · Penguin

The Mob is notorious for its cruel and immoral practices, but its most successful members have always been extremely smart businessmen. Now, former mobster Louis Ferrante reveals its surprisingly effective management techniques and explains how to apply them-legally-to any legitimate business. As an associate of the Gambino family, Ferrante relied on his instincts to pull off some of the biggest heists in U.S. history. By the age of twenty-one, he had netted millions of dollars for his employers. His natural talent for management led Mafia bosses to rely on him. After being arrested and serving an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence, Ferrante went straight. He realized that the Mob's most valuable business lessons would allow him to survive and thrive in the real world. Now he offers eighty-eight time-tested Mafia strategies, including: * Go get your own coffee!: Respecting the chain of command without being a sucker. * The walls have ears: Never bad-mouth the boss. * Is this phone tapped?: Watch what you say every day. * How to bury the hatchet-but not in someone's head. * Don't split yourself in half: The wrong decision is better than none at all. * Don't build Yankee stadium, just supply the concrete: Spotting new rackets. * Leave the gun, take the cannolis...and beware of hubris. Ferrante brings his real-life experiences to the book, offering fascinating advice that really works and sharing behind-the-scenes episodes almost as outrageous as those occurring on Wall Street every day.

Mémoires du général de Caulaincourt, duc de Vicence, grand écuyer de l'Empereur. Tome II

by Général de Division Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt, Duc de Vincence

2013 · Wagram Press

« Caulaincourt n'avait cessé sous l'Empire de prendre des notes chaque jour au bivouac ou dans le cabinet de Tuileries. Il se serait décidé à les mettre en forme entre 1822 et 1825. L'énorme documentation réunie quotiennement explique la valeur du témoignage du duc de Vicence... le récit ne commence qu'à l'entrevue d'Erfurt. Il se poursuit avec la campagne de Russie et la retraite. C'est dans les chapitres VII-VIII et XI [ « En traîneau avec l'Empereur » ] souvent réédites que l'on dispose d'un document de premier ordre sur l'état d'esprit de Napoléon après le désastre de 1812. Quittant la Grande Armée, l'Empereur voyage en la seule compagnie de Caulaincourt de Smorgoni à Paris. Pendant ce long voyage, Napoléon se confie au Grand Ecuyer avec d'autant plus de franchise qu'il ignore que Caulaincourt prend des notes. « Puis Caulaincourt narre les péripéties de Congrès de Châtillon et y justifie son attitude. On notera d'importants développements sur l'entrée des Alliés à Paris, l'attitude de Napoléon, la défection de Marmont, l'abdication et la tentative de suicide de l'Empereur. Les mémoires s'arrêtent aux « Adieux de Fontainebleau » p 33 - Professeur Jean Tulard, Bibliographie Critique Des Mémoires Sur Le Consulat Et L'Empire, Droz, Genève, 1971 Tome II – Moscou, La Retraite, En Traîneau Avec l'Empereur, L'Arrivée à Paris