Synopses & Reviews
The twentieth century is usually seen as "the century of total war." But as the historian David Bell argues in this landmark work, the phenomenon acutally began much earlier, in the era of muskets, cannons, and sailing ships -- in the age of Napoleon.
In a sweeping, evocative narrative, Bell takes us from campaigns of "extermination" in the blood-soaked fields of western France to savage street fighting in ruined Spanish cities to central European battlefields where tens of thousands died in a single day. Between 1792 and 1815, Europe plunged into an abyss of destruction.
It was during this time, Bell argues, that our modern attitudes toward war were born. In the eighteenth century, educated Europeans thought war was disappearing from the civilized world. So when large-scale conflict broke out during the French Revolution, they could not resist treating it as "the last war" -- a final, terrible spasm of redemptive violence that would usher in a reign of perpetual peace. As this brilliant interpretive history shows, a war for such stakes could only be apocalyptic, fought without restraint or mercy.
Ever since, the dream of perpetual peace and the nightmare of total war have been bound tightly together in the Western world -- right down to the present day, in which the hopes for an "end to history" after the cold war quickly gave way to renewed fears of full-scale slaughter.
With a historian's keen insight and a journalist's flair for detail, Bell exposes the surprising parallels between Napoleon's day and our own -- including the way that ambition "wars of liberation," such as the one in Iraq, can degenerate into a gruesome guerrilla conflict. The result is a book that is as timely and important as it is unforgettable.
Review
"As wise at it is timely, and as rich in detail as it is grand in scope." --David Armitage, Professor of History, Harvard University
Review
"David Bell gives a gripping account of the transformation of European war. This is a bold and important book." --Natalie Zemon Davis, University of Toronto
Review
"A terrific book, fresh, original and compelling. . . a brilliant account of a fundamental historical transformation." --Keith Michael Baker, Stanford University
Review
"A page turner . . . Everyone who hates wars . . . should read these pages." --Patrice Higonnet, Harvard University
Review
"[David Bell] is one of the best prose stylists of his generation." --Steven Englund, author of Napoleon, A Political Life
Review
"Thoughtful and original . . . Bell has mapped what is a virtually new field of inquiry: the culture of war." --Steven L. Kaplan, Goldwin Smith Professor of European History, Cornell University
and#147;A mesmerizing account that illuminates not just the Napoleonic wars but all of modern historyand#133; it reads like a novel." --Lynn Hunt, Eugen Weber Professor of Modern European History, UCLA
and#147;A terrific book, fresh, original and compelling. . . a brilliant account of a fundamental historical transformation.and#8221; --Keith Michael Baker, Stanford University
and#147;David Bell gives a gripping account of the transformation of European war. This is a bold and important book." --Natalie Zemon Davis, University of Toronto
and#147;As wise at it is timely, and as rich in detail as it is grand in scope.and#8221; --David Armitage, Professor of History, Harvard University
and#147;A page turner . . . Everyone who hates wars . . . should read these pages.and#8221; --Patrice Higonnet, Harvard University
"[David Bell] is one of the best prose stylists of his generation.and#8221; --Steven Englund, author of Napoleon, A Political Life
and#147;From the gripping opening paragraphs to the very end, The First Total War is . . . an historical page-turner." --Dror Wahrman, Ruth N. Halls Professor of History, Indiana University
Synopsis
The twentieth century is usually seen as and#147;the century of total war,and#8221; but as the historian David Bell argues in this landmark work, the phenomenon actually began much earlier, in the age of Napoleon. Bell takes us from campaigns of and#147;exterminationand#8221; in the blood-soaked fields of western France to savage street fighting in ruined Spanish cities to central European battlefields where tens of thousands died in a single day. Between 1792 and 1815, Europe plunged into an abyss of destruction, and our modern attitudes toward war were born. Ever since, the dream of perpetual peace and the nightmare of total war have been bound tightly together in the Western worldand#151;where and#147;wars of liberation,and#8221; such as the one in Iraq, can degenerate into gruesome guerrilla conflict.
With a historianand#8217;s keen insight and a journalistand#8217;s flair for detail, Bell exposes the surprising parallels between Napoleonand#8217;s day and our own in a book that is as timely and important as it is unforgettable.
About the Author
David A. Bell is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Johns Hopkins and a contributing editor for the New Republic. A graduate of Harvard College, he completed his Ph.D. at Princeton and taught for several years at Yale. Bell has written for the New York Times, Slate, and Time, and was featured on the History Channel's program on the French Revolution.
Table of Contents
Maps and Illustrations viii Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1 1. Officers, Gentlemen, and Poets 21 2. Conscience, Commerce, and History 52 3. Declaring Peace; Declaring War 84 4. The Last Crusade 120 5. The Exterminating Angels 154 6. The Lure of the Eagle 186 7. Days of Glory 223 8. Warand#8217;s Red Altar 263 Epilogue 302
Notes 321 Bibliography 360 Index 397