What is less well known is the story of Alexander Dumas, Pere.
Book review of a new biography the Black Count HERE.
Reiss, author of The Orientalist, presents the story of the son of a French aristocrat and a Dominican slave who rose through the ranks of the French army through feats of incredible valor, only to be betrayed by racist backlash. In the process, Reiss offers a unique look at the first modern-style totalitarian government to be born of revolution....
Dumas fell in and out of favor with the general,(Napoleon) who appreciated his military skill but sometimes resented his charisma and the loyalty shown him by his troops. Napoleon wrote glowingly of one of Dumas’s most extraordinary feats, however, an act of heroism that led to a statue being erected in Paris of the only non-white general in France’s history.-----------------------------
Napoleon dubbed Dumas the Horatius of France after he single-handedly defeated a squadron of Austrian troops crossing a vital bridge over a river.
and of course, the Sharpe series (see below) is also about the Napoleonic wars.
There is a lecture series on the Napoleonic wars on Internet Archives LINK
and Professor Bob has been podcasting the Napoleonic wars on and off, but if you are interested he puts his old lectures on cd to buy. two recent ones:
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