IRB Introduction- The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier

Napoleon is forever remembered as a military genious, and his army, a fearsome war machine. However, humans are more than just what they had accomplished, and to show the world that Napoleon is a man, that his army are composed of people made with flesh and blood and soul, Jakob Walter, a common foot soldier in the Napoleonic army, wrote the first and the last collection of memories about his general and about himself. Spending over 6 years in the famed Napoleonic army, Walter's memoirs span from the initial Prussia campaign Napoleon used to secure his ditatorship to the infamous Russia campaign that caused Napoleon's downfall. The book catched my attention while I was searching for a good non-fiction primarily because of author seemed to emphasize more on the cruelties of war than glories. Walter not only describes the fallacies of the great general but also his own gradual lost of innocence and the pain of many others. So many people say great things about Napoleon, it will be interesting to see the contrary. Hopefully, a fuller depiction of Napoleon and his man will  be presented to me.