Un Général Hollandais sous le Premier Empire: Mémoires du Général Baron de Dedem de Gelder, 1774–1825

This well-annotated memoir consists of three parts. In the first, Antoine Baudouin Gisbert Van Dedem Van de Gelder, son of the ambassador of the United Provinces in Constantinople, traces what he saw in the Middle East, including a voyage to Egypt. The second part show us interactions between the King's plenipotentiary minister with the king of Westphalia and the king of Naples. The third part portrays Dedem rising from major-general in Holland's service, to brigadier general in Napoleon's army, where he took so well to his new role that he was astonished he did not become division general. Although an aristocrat disdainful of "plebian manners," Dedem praises the bravery of his soldiers and portrays their struggles in a humane way.