The French and Haitian Revolutions are one of the most fascinating and momentous events in what passes for western history, and yet the way liberals treat these subjects is just downright atrocious

While the horrific counter-revolution of 1776 is glorified, the French Revolution is treated like some ugly step-child they'd rather keep locked in the basement

I'm sick of it, I just want to learn about a cool-ass revolution without power-worshipping liberals throwing a conniption

  • pillow
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    11 months ago

    deleted by creator

    • CantaloupeAss [comrade/them]
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      1 year ago

      It's been several years now and I am far more radicalized now than when I read it, so my political analysis is going to be hazy.

      As I recall, he paints Napoleon as a sort of proto-Hitler who took advantage of a very popular uprising against the existing power structures and channeled the revolutionary fervor into a cult of personality with himself at the center. The book mostly centers around Napoleon's military exploits, and his ingenious manipulation of mass media to convert his actual battlefield heroism into highly aggrandized cachet and political power.

      What sticks out in my memory is Dwyer's visceral hatred of Napoleon, which he backs by the number of dead involved in the Napoleonic wars - he basically points to the number and says, "this many people died to uphold Napoleon's personal stake in the French government."

      Is there a Hinge Point™ here, where Napoleon's death would have drastically changed the course of the French Revolution? or was the outcome determined beyond his personal involvement? Up for debate. But Dwyer's whole thrust is, "this guy was a self-serving power maniac, and was willing to march troops from Paris to Moscow, murdering anyone in his path, to hold onto his power."

      fwiw I believe Dwyer is Australian, which comes with its own set of brainworms. But tone and authorial bias aside, it really is a fascinating and detailed two-volume biography.

      P.S.: speaking of musk-ovites, I remember reading that Napoleon would send letters to Josephine that were like, "I'll be home in two weeks, don't bathe between now and then, I want you to stink for me when I get back."

      • Wertheimer [any]
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        1 year ago

        P.S.: speaking of musk-ovites, I remember reading that Napoleon would send letters to Josephine that were like, "I'll be home in two weeks, don't bathe between now and then, I want you to stink for me when I get back."

        Funny, I saw an article about this just this morning. Sadly, probably a myth: https://slate.com/culture/2023/11/napoleon-movie-josephine-sex-smells-body-odor.html

        • CantaloupeAss [comrade/them]
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          1 year ago

          I feel like there are lengthy quotes from his letters in the book.... don't have it on hand to confirm tho

          • Wertheimer [any]
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            1 year ago

            “Having read all of Napoleon’s letters to Joséphine, I’ve never come across it,” Philip Dwyer, a professor at the University of Newcastle who has authored multiple biographies of Napoleon, told me. “His letters were intimate, and they did contain sexual allusions, but nothing as graphic.”

            • CantaloupeAss [comrade/them]
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              1 year ago

              my memory is owned

              def a lot of letter discussion in the book tho. guess my recollection was apocryphal, or maybe he talks about the myth of that being their content and Streisand-Mandela effected it into my brain

              • Wertheimer [any]
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                1 year ago

                The James Joyce fart letters are real, if it's any consolation: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/02/02/james-joyces-love-letters-dirty-little-fuckbird/ (NSFW)