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Patrick Rambaud. II neigeait Paris. Grasset. 2000. 331 pages 129 F. ISBN 2-246-58421-3
IL NEIGEAIT IS the second volume in a projected trilogy centered on the Napoleonic empire and the battles that brought it to an end. The first of the three novels, La bataille (Prix Goncourt, 1997), re-created in all of its brutality the battle of Essling of May 1809, Napoleon's first major defeat on land. Nearly 43,ooo died in two days, a mere bagatelle when compared with the 300,000 who died during the four months of the Russian campaign of 1812, which Patrick Rambaud graphically depicts in II neigeait. The title of the work comes from the leitmotiv of Victor Hugo's poem "L'expiation," (from Les chatiments): "II neigeait. On etait vaincu par sa conquete. / Pour la premiere fois l'aigle baissait la tete. / Sombres fours! L'empereur revenait lentement,...