Napoleon Bonaparte: England's Prisoner: The Emperor in Exile 1816-21

Rating:
Summary: A decent read on Napoleon's final banishment
Review: Mr. Giles gives us a great work, obviously carefully footnoted with very meticulous references, full of very interesting tidbits about British perceptions of Napoleon's stay on St. Helena. I left it, however, wishing for more than the historical details, wanting for more color about the participants, their own stories and experiences. The character of Sir Hudson Lowe does not come through clearly, despite the book's stated goal of demonstrating his relative innocence in the supposedly cruel treatment of Napoleon. There are many details, but Mr. Giles leaves it to us, based on the facts presented, to muster an image of the gaoler. Perhaps that is his intention---perhaps that is good historical documentation. That said, his description of the Lord and Lady Hollands feelings, again based on thorough first hand information, is excellent and insightful, perhaps especially due to their ample and descriptive writings. For Napoleon buffs, this one is--if not a nail-biter---a good essay on one aspect of his life.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating research, wanting for a story
Review: Mr. Giles gives us a great work, obviously carefully footnoted with very meticulous references, full of very interesting tidbits about British perceptions of Napoleon's stay on St. Helena. I left it, however, wishing for more than the historical details, wanting for more color about the participants, their own stories and experiences. The character of Sir Hudson Lowe does not come through clearly, despite the book's stated goal of demonstrating his relative innocence in the supposedly cruel treatment of Napoleon. There are many details, but Mr. Giles leaves it to us, based on the facts presented, to muster an image of the gaoler. Perhaps that is his intention---perhaps that is good historical documentation. That said, his description of the Lord and Lady Hollands feelings, again based on thorough first hand information, is excellent and insightful, perhaps especially due to their ample and descriptive writings. For Napoleon buffs, this one is--if not a nail-biter---a good essay on one aspect of his life.

Rating:
Summary: A decent read on Napoleon's final banishment
Review: This is quite a decent read on the treatment Napoleon received at the hands of his "...most consistent and generous foe, the British". A balanced account is what Mr Giles has stroved for and the coverage is generally admirable. Napoleon's jailer comes across as a more humane person than history has given him credit for.
I din't care much for the last part of the book which focussed on various poems written by great men of letters to explain the Napoleonic myth as I felt that such coverage was either too narrow or irrelevant to the overall British perception of Napoleon.