Ils ont vaincu Napoléon et le temps (in French)

While British veterans from the “Great War”, such as Henry Allingham and Harry Patch (both deceased 2009), received national honours and recognition during their lifetimes, the last British survivors of the Napoleonic wars were largely forgotten by History. This work intends to rectify this omission and pay homage to these soldiers who did battle with the “Grande Armée”.
 
After many months of research in various archives and period newspapers, Frédéric Mathieu, the book's author, presents biographies of one-hundred-and-forty-seven soldiers and civilians who lived through the period, including sixty-nine British veterans, thirty-four European veterans and forty-four civilian witnesses. Alongside these biographical notices, admittedly the meat of the book, Mathieu has also included a study, demographical, historical and sociological in nature, of the three population groups. From this, he is able to throw some light on the international migratory patterns which characterised Europe of the 19th century.
 
What could have simply been a study of documents is given life and humanity thanks to the previously unpublished accounts, engravings and photos, some of which (such as that which features on the front cover) cannot fail to move the reader.
 
Frédéric Mathieu has written numerous articles on veterans of the wars of 1870-1871 and 1914-1918. He also recently published Napoléon, les derniers témoins (2008).