NAPOLEON IN EGYPT: A CLASH OF CULTURES

Book ID/图书代码： 08145007B13295

English Summary/英文概要： Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 was the first attack on a Middle Eastern country by a Western power in modern times. With 335 ships and 40,000 men, it was the largest long-distance seaborne force the world had ever seen. But Napoleon’s assault was intended to be much more than a colonial adventure, for he took with him over 150 scientists, mathematicians, artists and writers - a ’Legion of Culture’ - with a view to bringing Western civilization to ’backward’ Egypt. Ironically, what these intellectuals discovered in Egypt would transform our knowledge of Western civilization and form the basis of Egyptology. Travelling to the far reaches of the Upper Nile, Napoleon’s artists sketched the great temples and ruins of the Pharaohs. His soldiers also uncovered the Rosetta Stone, which would eventually lead to the deciphering of the mysterious Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. But there were also setbacks. Nelson’s destruction of the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile apparently put an end to Napoleon’s ambitions, though the General himself did not see it that way. His secret plan was to follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great and invade India. Being cut off from France meant that he was free to indulge his ’oriental dream’ and found his own Eastern empire, with its independent culture developed by his young French intellectuals. Napoleon was just twenty-eight when he invaded Egypt and it was an episode which contained in embryo many seminal events in his later life. Epic military victories, his declaration of himself as emperor, the introduction of the Napoleonic Code, even the retreat from Moscow and his abandonment of his army - all of these were foreshadowed in his brilliant, ambitious and ultimately disastrous adventure.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 1798年拿破崙入侵埃及，這是近代歷史中第一個西方勢力入侵中東國家。335艘戰船，4萬名隨從，是有史以來最長的海上航行遠征。除了士兵外，超過150位的科學家、數學家、藝術家、作家隨軍前往，希望將西方文明帶到落後的埃及。諷刺地，這些知識分子在埃及的所見所聞，改變了我們對埃及落後的刻板印象，反而在西方世界掀起了一陣”埃及熱”。軍隊到達尼羅河上游時，隨行的藝術家將雄偉的寺廟以及法老遺跡素描下來，他的士兵更發現了羅塞塔石碑，成為解開古埃及之謎的鑰匙。然而，拿破崙所受到的譴責卻比殖民國家的虐行還大許多…
本書便是描述當時拿破崙的埃及之征所帶來的文化衝擊，以及對於日後埃及考古的貢獻，並論述了拿破崙軍隊在尼羅河口之戰的挫敗，表面上終止了拿破崙的野心，然而拿破崙本身並不這麼認為，這反而成為他想要效法亞歷山大大帝入侵印度的好機會。對法交通的中斷代表著他不需再受到法國執政團的干涉，可一圓其在東方建立帝國的夢想。
埃及之征拿破崙時值28歲的壯年時期，此役是他人生中的一個事件，卻深深影響未來成敗....

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About the Author/作者介绍： 保羅‧史查森（Paul Strathern），1940年生於倫敦。就讀都柏林大學的三一學院，講授哲學與數學。著有《阿比西尼亞的一季》（A Season in Abyssinia，曾獲毛姆小說獎），以及其他兩個非常成功的系列套書：《90分鐘認識哲學家》（Philosophers in 90 Minutes）、《大思想：改變世界的科學家》（The Big Idea：Scientists Who Changed the World）。其餘著作有《門得列夫之夢》（Mendeleyev’s Dream，獲得艾凡提斯科學書獎）、《奇愛博士之夢: 經濟天才之史》(Dr. Strangelove’s Game: A History of Economic Genius)。
Paul Strathern studied philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin. He has lectured in philosophy and mathematics. He is a Somerset Maugham prize-winning novelist; the author of two series of books - Philosophers in 90 Minutes and The Big Idea: Scientists who Changed the World; and, most recently, has written Mendeleyev’s Dream (shortlisted for the Aventis Science Book Prize) and Dr. Strangelove’s Game: A History of Economic Genius.

Format:HARDCOVER ILLUSTRATED

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Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

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