Just Finished Reading: This Dark Business – The Secret War Against Napoleon by Tim Clayton (FP: 2018) [356pp] 

Wars are neither fought nor won exclusively on the battlefield. This was as true during the Napoleonic Wars as it is today. Indeed, many of the techniques used throughout the 20th century were invented and used for the first time during the decades long war with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France.  

Along with the usual diplomatic maneuvering across Europe to rise allies to the cause and to ensure that they stay in the fight even after early defeats the British government maintained a propaganda war against France – and most especially against Napoleon himself – both at home and abroad. For domestic consumption the UK government financed contributors to magazines and periodicals to write articles and produce political cartoons critical of the French regime and the Revolution that proceeded it. Indeed, the government approved the publication of and often completely financed newspapers to spread that very message – that France was a direct threat and needed to be opposed rigorously and to believe (or act) otherwise was both unpatriotic and dangerous to national security. Needless to say, newspapers and pamphlets who opposed the government were denied publication and their editors or publishers often ended up in court or in prison. If damaging revelations could not be discovered or twisted to fit then fake reports or forged letters would have to suffice and these were often published in both foreign and domestic newspapers to justify actions that the British government had already decided on. But propaganda, no matter how effective, would never be enough – especially in the years when it seemed that Napoleon and his generals were invincible on the battlefield. Something more direct needed to be attempted. 

In 1800 a determined group of men – both old-style Republicans and dyed in the wool Royalists – determined that the only way things would change for the better would be if Napoleon was dead. They determined that they could aid in this by blowing up the dictator with a barrel of gunpowder as he approached the theatre in what is probably the first recorded use of a roadside IED (Improvised Explosive Device). Obviously, it failed as we know from history but it came close, very close, to killing the man who was and would continue to change European history. The plotters had been delivered into France from British warships and had been paid with British gold. A few years later another, much larger, group were similarly infiltrated into France to complete the task, again paid for by Britain. The term ‘assassination’ was to be avoided (however tenuously) but that was the common object everyone had in mind. 

Following both streams in the secret endeavour, the author dives into a great deal of detail (too much in my opinion) on the propaganda side of things with somewhat less time spent on (at least for me) the more interest assassination plans. Both aspects of the secret war involved a LOT of people and I honestly lost track of who people were and skimmed over things a little from time to time both for sanity and for time's sake. If the author had concentrated more of the main players rather diving into the more detailed accounts, I think that the narrative would have flowed both faster and smoother. So, I did find myself struggling through this more than I would’ve liked. Part of that, I’m sure, is that the great majority of the book was completely new to me. I’d honestly never really thought of the political or covert aspects of the Napoleonic Wars until I’d come across the idea in a recent novel based during that period (Clarissa Oakes by Patrick O’Brian). A little stodgy at times but of interest to anyone wanting to know more about the wars progress off the battlefield.