Roederer, Pierre-Louis Avec Napoléon. Journal

During his entire reign, Napoleon received Pierre-Louis Roederer, confidant of the Brumaire coup, Councillor of State and later Senator of the Empire, in his study countless times. Now this personage had made it a habit to conscientiously note down the content of these often very free meetings, be they about political or personal topics, often the same evening. These notes, published in the 1850s in eight thick volumes that are now untraceable, are the honey of historians. Based on a work by the publisher Maurice Vitrac at the beginning of the 20th century, Thierry Lentz publishes a selection of them, introducing and commenting on them. It contains the best of the conversations between Napoleon and his advisor, an unrivalled testimony from within, anecdotes from the life of the consular and imperial power and, finally, judgements and portraits of the most important contemporaries. In the course of the text, you will also find some of the great, oft-quoted quotations. And since Napoleon's older brother has already been mentioned, his friendship with Roederer explains why he is omnipresent in this volume, whether the subject is the affairs of the Consulate, Naples and Spain (whose thrones Joseph held) or his downfall. An important testimony, indispensable for anyone passionate about studying and learning about the Consulate and the Empire.