British Soldiers and the Legend of Napoleon
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8957686 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gavin Daly (0000-0003-4122-7810, University of Tasmania, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 131-153 |
| Publication date | 2017-02-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x16000479 |
| OpenAlex | W2594667643 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 28 |
Investigating the letters, diaries, and memoirs of British officers and enlisted men from the Napoleonic Wars, this article explores the hitherto neglected subject of British soldiers’ perceptions of Napoleon. Soldiers often formed mixed and ambivalent views on Napoleon. At one level, this corresponds with a range of attitudes within Britain, highlighting the important connections between soldiers and domestic culture. Yet these views also reveal what soldiers as a distinct cohort prioritized about Napoleon, and how these perceptions evolved over time. They also reveal tensions and divisions within the army itself, and shed light on British soldiers and patriotism. And finally, they add to our understanding of soldiers’ writing practices, especially their cultural context and the differences between wartime writing and memoirs. A diverse and shifting set of cultural frameworks and lived experiences shaped soldiers’ writings on Napoleon – from the Black Legend and Napoleonic Legend, to the Enlightenment and Romanticism; and from Spain and its battlefields to Restoration Paris and post-Waterloo Britain. Tracing the evolution of British soldiers’ perceptions of Napoleon from the outbreak of the Peninsular War in 1808 to the mid-nineteenth century reveals a growing admiration of Napoleon and the increasing hold of the Napoleonic Legend
Admiration · Ambivalence · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Context (archaeology · Genealogy · Legend · Literature · Memoir · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Classics · European Political History Analysis · Gender Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Psychology · World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact
Narratives of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleon and British Song, 1797–1822
The Napoleonists
Properties of Modernity
Fighting for Identity
The Hummingbird Cabinet
British Uses for Napoleon
Resisting Napoleon
Napoleon and English Romanticism
The British Armed Nation 1793–1815
The Military Memoir and Romantic Literary Culture, 1780–1835
Scots, Britons and Europeans
Wellington
Reading the Tangible Past
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,09 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2015 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |