Lentz, Thierry/Lopez, Jean Les Mythes de la Grande Armée

The history of the "Grand Army", shaped by the heroic narrative of Napoleon and the cohort of memoirists of the Consulate and the Empire, is based on a series of legends that have become truth to the public as they have been perpetuated by an overly uncritical historiography.

Guided by an invincible genius who was revered by his grognards, she was a temple of heroism and the embodiment of meritocracy. She flew from victory to victory until she was engulfed by the 'Winter General in Russia' before fighting final Homeric battles, including the French campaign of 1814 and the glorious defeat at Waterloo, which has been attributed either to Grouchy's negligence, Ney's madness, treachery or the weather rather than the failings of her leader. In contrast, the black legend, English and royalist-inspired, has carried through a handful of themes, such as Napoleon's aversion to any form of progress, his contempt for human life - the famous "million dead" - the imperturbability of England and, not least, his overwhelming superiority at sea or in handling infantry in battle. To restore the whole truth, Thierry Lentz and Jean Lopez have mobilised a group of specialists to scrutinise some twenty of these claims, including the most famous, in contributions as lively as they are rich in surprises and revelations. A salutary exercise that fundamentally renews Napoleonic history.