Pierre Branda is not only a specialist in finance and economics but also a seasoned historian (his most recent book is Napoléon, l’esclavage et les colonies, published with Thierry Lentz by Fayard). He has just written a fascinating book on Napoleon and money. The book is particularly welcome in that it deals with a subject little studied, and it considers Napoleon’s remarkable achievement of financing fifteen years of war in the aftermath of the French Revolution, itself caused by the bankruptcy resulting from France’s military action in the American war of independence. The book is dense but exceedingly readable, and with it Pierre Branda gives a completely new reading of the Consulate and Empire.
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This book was awarded the Fondation Napoléon history prize Grand Prix for 2007.