Narrative Chance: Postmodern Discourse on Native American Indian Literatures: 8 (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series) - Softcover

Gerald Vizenor (author) & James E. Seaver (author)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806125616 ISBN 13: 9780806125619

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993

Synopsis

A dedicated career soldier and excellent division and corps commander, Dominique Vandamme was a thorn in the side of practically every officer he served. Outspoken to a fault, he even criticized Napoleon, whom he never forgave for not appointing him marshal. His military prowess so impressed the emperor, however, that he returned Vandamme to command time and again.In this first book-length study of Vandamme in English, John G. Gallaher traces the career of one of Napoleon’s most successful midrank officers. He describes Vandamme’s rise from a provincial youth with neither fortune nor influence to an officer of the highest rank in the French army. Gallaher thus offers a rare look at a Napoleonic general who served for twenty-five years during the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire.This was a time when a general could lose his head if he lost a battle. Despite Vandamme’s contentious nature, Gallaher shows, Napoleon needed his skills as a commander, and Vandamme needed Napoleon to further his career. Gallaher draws on a wealth of archival sources in France—notably the Vandamme Papers in Lille—to draw a full portrait of the general. He also reveals new information on such military events as the Silesian campaign of 1807 and the disaster at Kulm in 1813.Gallaher presents Vandamme in the context of the Napoleonic command system, revealing how he related to both subordinates and superiors. Napoleon’s Enfant Terrible depicts an officer who was his own worst enemy but who was instrumental in winning an empire.

About this title

About the Author

Gerald Vizenor is Professor of American Studies and Native American Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Griever: An American Monkey King in China (winner of the American Book Award); Dead Voices: Natural Agonies in the New World; and Chancers: A Novel. He resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

James E. Seaver, a 19th-century author, is best known for writing A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806125616
• ISBN 13: 9780806125619
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 238