Laurens, Kléber en Egypte 1798 - 1800, 4 vols. Napoleon Bonaparte

Condition : very good, previous owner inscription to first blank page, otherwise as new.
Binding : modern half leather, marbled boards.

The Egyptian expedition is a crucial moment in our contemporary history, the one where the French Revolution, started by the Declaration of the Rights of Man, ends with a colonial expedition.

Initially an architect (1775), Jean-Baptiste Kléber served as an officer in the Austrian army until 1785. Enlisted in 1792, he took an active part in the defence of Mainz, then, as commander of the Mayençais vanguard in the Vendée, he distinguished himself at Cholet (17 October 1793), Le Mans and Savenay (December 1793). In the army of the North he fought at Fleurus (26 June 1794) and, having moved to the army of Sambre et Meuse, he was victorious at Altenkirchen (4 June 1796) and received the capitulation of Frankfurt (July). In disagreement with Jourdan, he resigned (December) then returned to service in Egypt (1798), where he commanded the army after Bonaparte's departure (August 1799). He signed the convention of El-Arich with the British (24 January 1800), then defeated the Turks at Heliopolis (18 March) and suppressed the revolt in Cairo (April) where he was assassinated (14 June).

Henry Laurens, born in 1954, is a French historian and author of reference works on the Arab-Muslim world.