Napoleon in EgyptIn 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte, only twenty-eight, set sail for Egypt with 335 ships, 40,000 soldiers, and a collection of scholars, artists, and scientists to establish an eastern empire. He saw himself as a liberator, freeing the Egyptians from oppression. But Napoleon wasn’t the first—nor the last—who tragically misunderstood Muslim culture. Marching across seemingly endless deserts in the shadow of the pyramids, pushed to the limits of human endurance, his men would be plagued by mirages, suicides, and the constant threat of ambush. A crusade begun in honor would degenerate into chaos. And yet his grand failure also yielded a treasure trove of knowledge that paved the way for modern Egyptology—and it tempered the complex leader who believed himself destined to conquer the world. |
Contents
The Song of Departure | 1 |
xiii | 204 |
Love and Dreams | 251 |
A Suez Adventure | 264 |
Pursuit into Upper Egypt | 275 |
Into the Unknown | 293 |
A Turn for the Worse | 307 |
The Syrian Campaign | 317 |
Sensational Discoveries | 382 |
The Decision of a Lifetime | 399 |
An Abandoned Army | 409 |
Aftermath | 421 |
Notes | 429 |
II | 430 |
VII | 436 |
XIV | 442 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aboukir According Acre Alexandria amongst ancient appeared Arab arrived artillery battle Bedouin began Belliard Berthollet Bey's biographiques et historiques Bonaparte en Égypte Bonaparte gouverneur d'Égypte Bourrienne British Cairo campagnes de Bonaparte Captain cavalry charge Chroniques Cited command Constantinople Correspondance Damanhur Damietta Denon Desaix desert Desgenettes Despite Desvernois Directory dispatched division Djezzar El-Arish El-Djabarti enemy fire fleet flotilla following quote force Fourès France François French army French soldiers Haute Égypte pendant Ibid Ibrahim Bey invasion Jaffa Jonquière Junot Kléber L'Expédition en Égypte later Lavallette letter Mamelukes Mémoires Menou Merveilles biographiques miles military Monge mosque Murad Bey Murat Napoleon Nelson night Nile officers Ottoman Paris pendant les campagnes plague Porte reached remained Rosetta sailed savants sent sheiks ships siege Sir Sidney Smith soon squadron Suez Syria Talleyrand Tippoo Sahib took Toulon troops Turc Turkish ulema Upper Egypt victory walls William Sidney Smith wounded