Annual Fiction Fast 2017

Every year I participate in a Fiction Fast. I read a lot of books. For 11 months of the year, these are mostly murder mysteries, historical fiction, YA novels, and the occasional bit of non-fiction. But during the month of August, I put aside the fiction, of all stripes, and focus on history, science, and biography.

This year I began the Fast with a book on Napoleon. I enjoy a murder mystery series set in the era of Napoleon's war, so I figured this was a good place to start. Research, if you will. The book I chose is also part of a series, called A Very Short Introduction. If Napoleon isn't your speed, there are a hundred other topics from which to choose: American History or American Politics, Beauty, Forensic Psychology, and Astrophysics.

But back to Napoleon. He is infamous, having conquered almost as much territory as Alexander the Great, not quite as much as Genghis Khan. It is also well-known that Napoleon's expansion was finally halted by a Russian winter. What I've learned has more to do with the lives of soldiers and civilians, and more important, perhaps, the conditions in France that led to the rise of Napoleon in the first place.

I was surprised to learn that the Revolution in France is actually a series of wars, and that Napoleon's war is categorized with them, so that France was at war almost continuously from 1792 to 1815. That's more than 20 years! I'm glad I cannot quite imagine it.

There are more books to be read during my Fiction Fast, including The Nazi Officer's Wife and The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. Stay tuned!