War and Peace - How Tolstoy Challenges Historians (summary & analysis)
Vložit
- čas přidán 16. 05. 2024
- The Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy said history books were often like works of fiction. Great men of history, like Napoleon are more like fictional heroes created by modern historians.
Война и мир or War Peace by Leo Tolstoy published in 1869, the greatest novel of all time is three books in one. It's partly history of the Napoleonic Wars of 1805 and 1812. It's also a book of philosophy and as well as a work of fiction. In this video, I will summarise Tolstoy's War and Peace and discuss its philosophical and histocial significance.
Support the channel
► Monthly donation with perks: / fictionbeast
► One-time donation: ko-fi.com/fictionbeast
WHERE TO FIND ME:
► Instagram: / fiction_philosophy
► E-mail: fictionbeastofficial@gmail.com
► Audio Podcast: redcircle.com/shows/c101a9a1-...
Tolstoy's other masterpiece: Anna Karenina • Anna Karenina - Tolsto...
Tolstoy vs Dostoevsky • Tolstoy vs Dostoevsky:...
Tolstoy vs Dickens: • Dickens vs Tolstoy: Wh...
Tolstoy's Philosophy: • Tolstoy’s Genius Life ...
🕔Time Stamps🕔
00:00 Intro
01:45 Historical context
02:30 Tolstoy's motivation and ambition
04:00 Tolstoy's theory of history
09:17 War and Peace Summary (part1)
16:18 War and Peace Summary (part2)
27:00 Philosophical context
32:07 Final words
Music:
We Are Here by Declan DP / declandp
Licensing Agreement: declandp.info/music-licensing
Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_we-are-here
Music promoted by Audio Library • We Are Here - Declan D...
#tolstoy
#warandpeace
#russianliterature
Tolstoy's other masterpiece: Anna Karenina czcams.com/video/RKDK5-KYDvw/video.html
Tolstoy vs Dostoevsky czcams.com/video/NRjI8OPs2Xg/video.html
Tolstoy vs Dickens: czcams.com/video/BrlWD8PyBpM/video.html
Tolstoy's Philosophy: czcams.com/video/j8GbYUxoyKo/video.html
I have spent a lot of time talking about Dostoevsky, so in the next few videos I will talk about Tolstoy and his major novels. This is the first in a series of video on Tolstoy. Let me know if you have read Tolstoy's novels and what is your favourite one. Sposibo bolshoi!
Expecting Anna Karenina Summary and Analysis.🙏
Yes. Soon.
@@Fiction_Beast, I hate "Anna Karenina" but I do approve of the assessment in the end, but here is a better way to understand it.
If after death you awake to a new heavens and a new Earth, then how would you know if you are being punished or rewarded by God in the next life for both heaven and hell can be found on this Earth.
The answer is if the Germans are the engineers, the English are the cops, if the Swedish are the bankers, the Italians are the lovers, and the French are the cooks, then you are in heaven. BUT, if the Germans are the police, if the English are the cooks, if the Swedish are the lovers, the Italians are the bankers, and the French are the engineers, then you are in hell.
Jean Jacques Rousseau was citizen of Genève which is in Switzerland, he influenced his compatriotes such as Henri Dunant, general Henri Dufour and Johann Pestalozzi the founder of Public Schools, all of tem were of Huguenot or as Pestalozzi Waldneser-Valdeser origin.
I have read this novel twice, and all his stories I believe if not I will, I have also read his books on art and literature, he actually considered Shakespeare a bad writer.
"Life is a dream and death is waking up from that dream." Leo Tolstoy.
nonsense
Nice
"La vida es sueño... / Life is a dream... " was said first by Calderon de la barca Spanish writer.
@Marcin 13 the science of consciousness agrees with Tolstoy that life is a "dream", and to die is to "wake up" from the illusion of first person subjective reality.
@@burgermind802 sounds like a bunch of bullshit
The 7 hour Russian film version from 1966-67 is the greatest epic film ever made. Moving romance with incredible battle scenes all put together with unique inventive artistry.
Keith, Many years ago I saw a 1927 (silent) film directed by Abel Gance. With a live orchestra playing an original score, composed by Carmine Coppola. I lead a simple life (and was definitely taken out of my element); that said, it provided a great lifetime memory. Next up? The film you saw---Thanks for the insights!
I found it a total slog to be honest. It felt like State Cinema. Missed the humanity of the novel by quite a bit and the director should not have cast himself as Pierre.
Thank you , Keith!!! Thank you for your brilliant analysis of one of the greatest movies in the history of the unrivaled Soviet cinematography. I am Russian , now American Russian for many years but have always been cherishing our old Soviet movies . I think that the decision to work on the movie was already a heroic act on the part of our great Director Sergei Bondarchuk. If you are interested I can let you know quite a few other wonderful movies .
Thank you again, I was very impressed with your comment .Lydia
It missed the humanity of the novel though.
Bought the book (the Maudes translation) and just finished watching War & Peace from 2016, currently watching the -66-67 film series and I'm enchanted already. Amazing stuff!
Now, Tolstoy’s brilliant views on history seem self evident. Thus, we forget how revolutionary Tolstoy’s ideas were at the time and how important he is today.
He isn't that important today. But it doesn't mean that we should stop reading his books.
No, during T's lifetime history as process vs great man was in open debate. T, in essence proved nothing. Rather Napoleon was simply defeated by Kutuzov.
@@00billharris yo actually didn't read War and Peace
@bill harris wrong, the great man theory is dead in academia. Only the popular imagination refuses to drop hero worship.
@@burgermind802 The focus of my remarks is real history--not hero-worshipping trash-talk by the hoi poloi. To this end, the counterfactuals of the napoleonic Wars are simple: a mass popular uprising of russkiepalookas did not defeat Napoleon. Rather Kutuzov did with a revitalized army of conscripts.
The biggest surprise about reading this to me was that it’s very easy to read compared to many books. It’s simply written, well organized, and most importantly to me it is split up into very small sections so it feels like you are reading quickly.
That’s Russian lit for you, thought the same thing when I read crime and punishment. The difference between that and something like a tale of two cities and massive, something about the language really makes the writing feel direct, in a very appealing way.
I had a similar thought, and wondered if that was (chapter designation aside) part of the result of the translation, and if the language and syntax itself is more archaic in the original Russian. Just a thought, if anybody has read the Russian language text I'd be curious to know.
@@robbiearroyo2292 Yeah, same here, looking for someone that read it in Russian
@@kevincardinale5655 Half of it is in French, which is translated in the footnotes. The characters often mix it with Russian in dialogues which looks unbearable, because you have to look down for the translation and try to find the place where you stopped. ‘Not French again’ is the most common thought in your head while reading.
On the second reread you start paying attention to the motivations of the people, on the first reading you can barely keep up with the overarching story. Everyone seems to be acting as an idiot.
Tolstoy never knows when to finish his sentences. He is preachy, Karatayev (the peasant) speaks with proverbs that sound as though Tolstoy is shoving this wisdom of the manure heap down the throats of his fruity aristocrat buddies. Every time he philosophises he uses the antiquated manner of the XVIII century Russian writers that used to torture the structure of the language to make it conform to the Latin and Ancient Greek syntax. After learning French you begin to see that he was translating his thoughts from his mother tongue into Russian. He was no Pushkin, who did the same thing with pleasant elegance.
In short, Tolstoy’s language is heavy and coarse.
@@stanislavbudaev4564...you may have picked up a bad translation
This analysis is one of the densest most brilliant discourses I have heard. Well worth repeated listening. I can well believe you spent 90 hours to make this video And it should not be forgotten the background knowledge you already held. I have only recently discovered yout channel. CZcams has some outstanding channels on history and literature, and you sir rightfully belong in this category.
Thank you!
Agree. "Be the change we want to see the world. Change from within to manifest the change from without."
Reading the book War and Peace at the age of 71 for the first time I really have to say - It’s a treatise on the story of history thru men as the Almighty moves them to accomplish His purposes. Most spectacular classic I’ve ever read.
I did read War and Peace some years ago ,indeed all interesting insights you show in the video ,they keep and transport the person in that period ! after reading you will never be the same…
Thank you very much for your work and the passion,to share with us the fervour of reading !
I just read it, masterpiece!
Thanks for a wonderful breakdown of my favourite book. It’s a real gift to have a native Russian explain many of the cultural and historical aspects which are obscure to someone not familiar with Russian culture.
Not a native Russian but appreciate the comment
One does not to be a native Russian to understand the complexity of a Russian novel, far from it, in fact.
@@englishwithanerudite You need cultural insight to understand any work. English fool.
@@sheevinopalpatino4782 You would be really surprised at my cultural insight, I can read, speak and write in Russian :-)
to anyone interested, look at Tolstoys manuscript pages. They are almost illegible, only his wife could read them they were written in such a passionate haste.
20:18
amazing philosophical context
Thanks, I have read the book when I was adolescent, long ago, I didn’t understand the deep way you explain, but I also read Ana Karenin and the small books, Tolstoy ,for me was a great writer full of wisdom ,a spiritual man.
Me either. I didn’t understand his overly analytic explanation because it was bullshit. Analyzers always wanna put all this baggage onto a simple great work whos story stands alone and needs no torchbearer
Yeah its fun to re-read stuff that I read when I was younger and just see all the shit that flew WAY over my head.
Phenomenal work, worthy of the subject. 90 hrs, I don't doubt it at all.
I recommend that all readers watch the mini series in which Anthony Hopkins plays Pierre. With out this the earlier character development can be rather confusing.
Appreciate it. Also for the suggestions.
Thank you for sharing all your thoughts concerning Tolstoy's "War and Peace".
I so appreciate your videos, you make long complex books like the idiot - or complex ideas from people like Jung seem fairly simple. Thanks for making these.
Really appreciate your support
Just finished reading War & Peace today! It took me four months ( a LONG time, considering my usual pace) but I would like to say your channel was the inspiration for me picking it up and committing to the journey. I love your what you do, before i started watching it, my main reference for ‘classic’ literature was the stuff they forced us to read in class. Thanks so much!
that's really awesome to hear! Kudos to you for finishing the novel.
You have a great talent for summarizing these plots and their meanings!
I read "War and Peace" when I was 17. I thought I'd hate it, and for the first couple hundred pages I did hate it, but somewhere I fell in love with Andrei and Pierre... I could see myself in them, Andrei as the man I hoped l could be and Pierre as a lot more like the man I'd probably become. Andrei's slow death was agonizing (especially as it takes like 100 pages) but I was happy you highlighted the final passage, it's one of my favorite passages in literature. I also found the foreigness of the court setting really interesting, just in how different it is from my own experience as an American growing up in the late 20th century. I'm not sure I'd say it's the greatest novel, but of the novels routinely bandied about as greatest I enjoyed it the most, with perhaps "Don Quixote" being it's only real competition.
Thank you so much for all your love and all your encouragement. We love you. Thank you.
Insightful and quite frankly, very educational. I appreciate the lesson. Thank you!
Thank you so much!
Thank you. You explain with a great deal of clarity & super visuals. I will finally be able to finish this masterpiece.
Great video man @FictionBeast your videos about books and their summaries are very helpful and intriguing.
Glad to hear it!
Amazing summary & analysis - Keep up the good work!
Thanks, will do!
Great video! I just finished it a few days ago and have way too many thoughts, I was having trouble putting together all the main ideas in my mind since there was so much to sort through. Thank you for this video, you've helped me get my sort out my thoughts. I'll be subscribing and watching more!
Appreciate it.
Very well done!! Extremely helpful in understanding this great novel.
Excellent breakdown of the greatest book ever written!
Excellent video. I just finished the book and this helped bring all the themes together. I too found the end quote one of my favorites and recent events so clearly shows the danger of setting up science as an idol. The only scene I wished you would have covered more is the scene between Natasha and Anatol Kuragin. Everyone knows Natasha is making a mistake but they cannot convince her of the folly. In stopping the elopement, Sonya damages her relationship with Natasha for a while. You cannot convince people of mistakes they have set their heart on.
In love ❤️ with your narrative style, interesting yet deep.
Thanks for the video! ❤
Just finished this book, was painfully long. But I did see the merit of this book and see why it was acclaimed and widely lauded.
Amazing summary! As a fellow CZcamsr, I can only imagine how much effort you must have put into making this video! 🙂
Appreciate it.
So much valuable information and insight in this video. I need to watch it several times for it all to sink in.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Edward Gibbon created the Historical Method which is like the forensics of historical priorities. This has also enabled modern historians to examine the biases and arrive at the nearest to truth, by also incorporating evidence such as archeology. Also, there are many social histories that do investigate the lives and conditions of average people.
....a nice review for me, and found it comforting, sort of speak, that when you posted quotes, I actually remembered them...thaks for another great post...
Excellent!
Great video! I love your content. Keep them coming ❤
Thank you! Will do!
W&P is a great book. I am sorry that Tolstoy could not be happy. He was the greatest prose writer ever. Plato, Tolstoy. One should not forget once he knows that Tolstoy's wife edited everything he wrote before it went to the printer.
@@ethanredfern4442 I find Dostoyevsky's writing extremely depressing, perhaps because he was so orthodox and conservative in his views and thus rejected "western" contitutionalism and parliamentarism. At the age of 51, when he was painted by Pierov, he looked very old and very sad. There is no happiness that you mentioned in your comment, whatsoever.
@@ethanredfern4442 Yes, you are absolutely right; I think I do not understand Christ, in fact nobody does because we have too little information about him, in my humble opinion. Cheers.
@@englishwithanerudite Thanks for sharing your thoughts, you seem very humble. While i personally also find a lot about the person Jesus of Nazareth way beyond my capcity to understand, there is something there that strikes me in a beautiful way. I know that i will die, and living all by and for myself seems to make death claim even more from me, but by living for others and loving them, something i daily struggle to do though, I think somehow my life joins something eternal, the same power i "feel" from the cross. It's hard to express and am sorry for writing so wordy, but i definately think there is a lot for me and for you in the gospel, have a great week and God bless you and give you peace!
@@peterlindal3352 Thank you!
@@englishwithanerudite most welcome friend, thanks to you as well!
Thank you for another great job.
Brilliant! Please keep up with the great work. Your videos are phenomenal!
Thank you very much!
His description of Europeans do hit some right notes even today.
Brilliant analysis. Thank you.
Still loves Dostoyevsky more, but it is interesting to see how these 2 novelists/philosophers see each other since they have so opposed views on humans.
Hi Sheng! Can you please explain how they differ? Thank you!
@@perk478 they are completely different. The only thing they have in common is the greatness of talent
Wow! What a great video. I really appreciated it so much. Thank you.
That’s awesome to hear. Thank you.
Incredible, you have done it so beautifully so succinctly
Thank you for the video!!
Spot on ! Such a soulful novel for these days cheers!
Thanks a lot for this analysis.
phenomenon work, thank you
Great analysis, thank you! But most of all highly educational!
Thank you so much for uploading this video. It is helping me get through the pandemic!
Glad I could help!
I have read and enjoyed War and Peace. It is a page-turner. As an historian St George and the Dragons, Fonthill Media, 2018) I find your analysis, from a Chinese background? enlightening.
Thank you very much. This channel is amazing!
You’re welcome. Thank you!
Brilliant analysis. Thank you!
My pleasure!
Excellent!Loved this!
Thanks for this comprehensive analysis . . . Not 10 cups of coffee would have helped me produce such a fine work.
‘The Last Station’ was a movie made about the last months of Tolstoy life, I don’t know if you had watched it. Stay well.
Glad you enjoyed it! I have not seen the Last Station. I think it came out a few years ago. Again I really appreciate your support.
I am Russian
And I am so proud to be Russian when I read your comments . Thank you!!!
Excellent! I just finished watching the immense Russian film "War and Peace", and was thus drawn to watch your video. What I need to do now is read the book. Thank you for your very clear analysis! I agree with Tolstoy that "Life is a dream and death is waking up from that dream." That is, I think that is probably correct. I will see for myself....when death comes.
I wish modern books were more like this . I've read war and peace twice. It's one of my favorite books .
One of your best masterpiece, keep it up
Wow, thanks!
Best narration and Vived Presentation. Please keep z good job.
So nice of you
amazing analysis, favorite video ever
Awesome.
Thank you very much! So good with the background history, philosophy and so on. A bit slower and it would be perfect.
Thanks for this great summary
You're welcome
I am nearly finished reading it and it is one of the best books i've read and would like to reread quickly. Lets see what this says.
Amazing thank you!
Love the yurt at the beginning of your video as it reminds me of my trip to Kazakhstan over twenty years ago.
I got a dream of owning own one day
What a great video - thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
The recent translation is fantastic.
Have you approached Nabokov? He read W&P at age 10. He knew Tolstoy. He was to inherit one of the most bespoke estates in Russia-then the revolution happened. Nabokov, his mother and brother fled with nothing more of their wealth than his mother's jewels. His father was hunted down and assassinated. And Nabokov got nothing! The jewels payed for his education at Cambridge. He wrote to pay the bills. The author of Lolita, Ada and Pale Fire, among other masterpieces the likes of which had never been seen and will not be seen again, wrote to pay bills.
Great video, thank you! Спасибо
Thank you!
such an amazing channel
We must restore the wisdom and knowledge of such great thinker. Children should cultivate such quality from very young age. Nations and societies cannot be run like a Mad World led by the BLIND and DEAF.
Human life has a purpose; not just eating, sleeping, accumulate wealth and running here and there to catch the " shadow" of temporary material enjoyment. There is life Beyond Birth and Death, as the immortal spirit soul never dies.
Tolstoy with his novel War and Peace, strongly opposed some of my ideas like individualistic heroism and made me rethink about my takes on historical figures. And I think this is a huge part that makes a novel GREAT: The capacity to challenge it's readers thoughts and revolutionize their mindset.
A masterpiece!! ❤️
Agreed!
I love how this great video starts with a shot of our Mongolian "Ger". Greetings from Ulaanbaatar.
Great summary
You are a beast! Thank you
Thank you, I learn!
You are welcome!
Thank you ❤️
THANK YOU for this summary & explanation of this masterpiece; reading this work was left out of my education. (I’ll probably read it now…). AGAIN…THANK YOU! 👍🏼😃👍🏼👍🏼👣
I’m struck by Tolstoy’s insight into HUMAN NATURE…👍🏼👍🏼👣
Awesome!
"The main character of War and Peace is... not Napoleon." 😊 I get that joke, well done sir.
Cheers!
Thank you for post that, finally I undertand Tolstoy, I thing!
“Why the greatest novel of all time” - not sure this was intended, but what is “greatest” of course is different for every person, no doubt you know this. I do love War&Peace and Anna Karenina too, but the unbelievable coincidences irritate a bit (Pierre happens on his old mate Bolkonsky on the battlefield of Borodino- what are the chances!) as Dickens often does, also Pasternak. Personally my preference is Dostoevsky especially Brothers Karamazov.
I too enjoyed deeply ,The Brothers , Another modern book is by James Michener , POLAND , it was quick coverage of some history and it was prophetic in its journey , to today , SOON, we will be the added chapter of Micheners insightful epic , God Bless. Ani Angela
I also love all of CS Lewis's books , especially , THIS HIDEOUS STRENGTH, and MERE CHRISTIANITY ,
DOSTOYEVSKY'S " Brothers Karamazov " is NO: ONE . I read same every Year without fail .
Your verdict is definitely hasn't matured enough. If you still compare
@@angelashort1331 Angela, thanks for that. I don’t have your knowledge of Lewis, but I did read his “A Grief Observed” after the death of my own wife, now 20 years ago, and found it supportive and profound. Which is a lot to say, coming from me, an atheist!
It's the greatest novel of our time because it is the story of a precipice we find ourselves on.
You've read Natasha's situation when Andrei goes away to recuperate for a year different from how I did. As I understood it, she was very preoccupied with Bolkonsky and willed him to come back soon and marry her, up until the point where Kuragin meets her and basically decides to have her no matter the cost, almost badgering her and vying for her affection. Her impropriety in thought - the idea of eloping with Kuragin - was her only romantic episode, as I read it, and is cut short and turns to dread when Bezukhov steps in to get Kuragin out of her life.
By the "idea", you mean, an actual plan that was almost executed? She was about to escape, you can't justify the infidelity
@@illchangelateridk I'm saying there are mitigating cicumstances: nothing happened, it wasn't her plan to begin with, she was swept up by a practised seducer and, not least of all, the person she promised herself to went off for years on end and left her alone. At this point in her young life she has basically no experience in romantic matters and the person she wanted to explore that with went off god knows where. I find it easy to make allowances for her confusion.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think it would be infidelity unless she and Bolkonsky were actually married or in a relationship and some concrete unfaithful act took place; you can't be judged on your thoughts.
@@kekohokko7213 Reading about her thoughts for probably tens of pages about how she "loves" them both was disgusting and infuriating. Nothing made sense in her thoughts. I'm sure that Tolstoy was very experienced in life, it would be a garbage writing, if this wasn't a real thing. She knew what she was doing, she was going for it, it wasn't like they tried to kidnap her against her will. It was very emotionally charged decision, but blaming everything on some "practiced seducer" is not enough for me. Even in modern day Russia, as wild as it is, there's this thing about a girl waiting a guy for one year from the army, it used to be 2 years like 20 years ago, and the girls who would fail to wait are deemed sl*ts, and you're telling me, that in traditional Russian society 200 years ago (tell anything you want about the balls and luxury, you can't deny the importance of church, marriage, family, how holy these things were considered, people married for life, "husband comes from God", just like tsar, all that good stuff, look at Maria's views about that) a girl couldn't wait one year and like 2-3 months or something, when they are practically engaged? Parents on her side approved the marriage, and they tried to abide by Andrey's father's "1-year rule", "years on end" is a hell of a stretch. Maybe kissing this mf isn't cheating too? F me then, what do I know
Also Andrey said to her that she's free to go, if she wants, all that was needed is for Anatol to come to the parents openly. Everyone suggested to Natasha to tell Anatol to do so, but nah, f it, here I come in the night. All the perfect reasoning from Sonya and aunt went down the drain, that's what I was referring to as "garbage writing". And that's one of the points of the novel, there's nothing black and white in life. You can kill both of your lovers, because one was running from another at war and the other was pretty literally running from life, and still become a good mother... or at least a "fertile female", as Tolstoy calls her, was always good for breeding. ok, and maybe a little bit of singing, maybe a little of singing
Loved it. Just Awesome. But can you make a detailed video on Mo Yan -- The Chinese Nobel Writer. Heard and read some works but not in detailed.
Great suggestion! I actually prefer Yu Hua.
@@Fiction_Beast Yeah, his name is also quite famous and familiar these days
Interesting points and great video! I have disagree with your point about Tolstoy believing that free will is an illusion.In the epilogue, he seems to endorse the conclusion that it’s impossible for human beings to consider themselves either entirely free or entirely unfree, and criticizes “naturalists” for thinking they have eliminated free will through scientific experimentation. To be fair though, it’s kind of hard to discern his exact views given how strongly the theme of predestination figures throughout the work, and without that epilogue I also would have believed he was some kind of free will skeptic.
Thank you so much for such a thorough narration. You are right this was in Soviet Union school program along with other very complex and famous masterpieces. P.s. at the beginning of your video I saw “Kyrgyz boz yi,” have you been to Kyrgyzstan?
Thank you! Actually I got it in Mongolia.
Thanks
Interestingly, none other than T.S. Rliot said that he could only get through about half of this book. That said I still plan to read it.
E
I find war and peace very daunting. I have finished Anna karenina and find it very engaging and entertaining .
I agree. Anna Karenina is a bit more focused.
Love from India. I just love the way you smoothly summarize the novels.
From hindi you much read the godan novel by munshi premchandra
Tolstoy is my all time favourite writer
It feels like you've missed the humanity, the human beauty... no mention of Nicholas or Sophia ( the most lovable character ever written)
Great point. I was worried about the length of the video so I focused on just a few characters.
Sophia, an angel and Mary, a saint.
Well, I always felt like Sofia was not absolutely positive character. I think Tolstoy portrayed her more like a weak personality, defective in a way. And her forgiveness and acceptance was more of a lack of "life" in her than a sanity.
@@tengizabulani9154 her realistic imperfections only serve to increase her beauty, and make me want to help her more
Brilliant video - wow.
Appreciate the comment.
War and Peace is not the greatest novel of all time. It's Andrei Beily's Petersburg. But yes, late 19th-early 20th century pre-revolutionary Russian literature is the peak of literature imo.
Thanks!
I haven't read " War and Peace" but after watching this interesting video, I think I will read the novel !
Awesome.
The key to understanding history, is to read A LOT of history books. Dense, heavy, intellectually demanding history books at that. Therefore, no history book, or a single historian's work, can produce a history book/s on a particular subject/s and is 100% reliable. The only way to understand history is to read a lot of it.
Napoleon was not small by any measure. Napoleon was probably closer to 5’6” or 5’7” (1.68 or 1.7 meters) than to 5’2”. Although the range may seem short by 21st-century standards, it was typical in the 19th century, when most Frenchmen stood between 5’2” and 5’6” (1.58 and 1.68 meters) tall. Napoleon was thus average or taller, no matter the interpretation. He was depicted as very short by enemy countries. It was given fuel, due to Napoleon by surrounded by a lot of tall men, especially his Consular Guards and later, his Imperial Guards, with tall bearskin hats /helmets topped with plumes.
Agreed.
I'm annoyed that I used two crucial dates wrong. 1905 for 1805 and 1912 for 1812. For some reason my brain is on autopilot when it comes to 1900. Both are Freudian slips of course.
I tried to look up Stendhal’s “Crystallization or how things happen” but I couldn’t find anything? Was the video referring to “On Love” instead??
I listened to a monthly series of this novel on BBC radio
I hear it's good.