Tsouras has made a name for himself in alternate history by writing what ifs on various battles and wars and how they went a different way and Napoleon Victorious is no exception. In this alternate history, Napoleon Bonaparte escapes his imprisonment from Elba, but he makes some better decisions on the road to Waterloo and that, coupled with many other changes to history, allows Napoleon to defeat Wellington's army, make peace with the Seventh Coalition and ensure that his empire lives on.
And no it's not a spoiler to say that is what happens. I mean what do you expect from a book called Napoleon Victorious? This is a story where the journey is definitely more important than the destination (although I won't spoil the post-battle epilogue, which ends in a delightful bit of historical irony) and we are with Napoleon every step of the way in this alternate Hundred Days. We see him rebuild his armies, gather his Marshals, obtain intelligence, reform the French government, make secret deals with dissatisfied Saxons, use aerial reconnaissance and outmaneuver the British and Prussians before the final moves at what is called in this alternate timeline: the Battle of Mont St Jean.
Remember kids: only winners get to name the battles. Thus it's Mont St Jean, not Waterloo, in this alternate timeline.
The book itself is written like a fake history book (i.e. For Want of a Nail), complete with real and fictional sources (including some from the author's doppelganger, so it's good to know Tsouras gets work as a historian in other timelines). From my point of view it is a well-researched and written novel. Unfortunately, as I mentioned already, I can't comment on how plausible the scenario is because I don't know enough about the Napoleonic wars to say anything with any real certainty. I certainly have a general understanding of the era, but only in its broadest strokes.
Nevertheless, Napoleon Victorious did what any good alternate history does: it made me want to learn more about what I don't know. I really want to pick up a history book about Napoleon and if any readers of this review have any recommendations, please share them in the comments. Plus Napoleon Victorious still did enough hand-holding (and provided some very helpful maps) that I didn't feel completely lost even if I didn't always know why so-and-so general was important.
Honestly there is not much bad I can say about Napoleon Victorious. The only thing that comes to mind is that because of the number of things that went better for Napoleon in this alternate timeline some alternate historians may find Tsouras' scenario to be implausible from a technical point of view, but truth be told that didn't bother me.
If you love reading history so much that you even enjoy fake history books, then I can heartily recommend Napoleon Victorious.
Have to put it on my to read list,I liked his Civil War trilogy,done like real history,as in not everything goes right for one side or the other.
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