Woolf, Napoleon's Integration of Europe

Abstract

Stuart J. Woolf, who has previously written on fascism and on the social and economic history of early modern Europe, here offers a volume for those already familiar with the basic political and military story of the Napoleonic epoch. This work addresses the perplexing situation that has faced every conqueror since Sargon of Akkad first extended his dominion over the peoples of Mesopotamia: Once the battles are over, how are the myriad cultures, heritages, and institutions of the subdued to be united under some semblance of coherent administration? The transformation of coercion into legitimacy is ever the key to successful and stable empire; it is also Woolf's concern with respect to Napoleon's hegemony in Europe.