March 2022 Author of the Month-- an interview with Gareth Williams
Happy spring equinox! March 20 was also the day that Napoleon, freshly escaped from Elba, marched into Paris, greeted by cheering crowds. And today, speaking of Napoleon, I’m pleased to introduce Gareth Williams (here on Tumblr at @garethwilliamsauthor). He’s the talented author of Needing Napoleon, a new time travel/alternate history thriller where the twenty-first century, down-on-his-luck protagonist, Richard Davey, goes back in time to help Napoleon win the battle of Waterloo. Does Richard succeed in changing history? What adventures befall him on the way? And what is his relationship like with his hero, Napoleon? Find out in Needing Napoleon— the first three commenters will win a free PDF copy!
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Hello, Gareth. Thanks for coming here today. How did you become interested in Napoleon?
It is hard to remember a time when I wasn’t captivated. I suppose it started at school but before I knew it, I was teaching about Napoleon to my own students!
I think it is the scale of his achievements, both military and civil, achieved, let’s face it, against the odds. An obscure Corsican becomes Emperor of the French, fighting a series of European coalitions, codifying French law, building infrastructure and defying the dominance of the British Empire. Of course, without the French Revolution opening up the military to men of talent rather than title, he would have remained an obscure Corsican. So, the short answer, is that I was drawn to his against the odds story. Plus the glamour of the Hundred Days, when, like a boxer who can’t stay retired, he steps into the ring for one last fight, and what a fight - Waterloo!
When did you first become interested in writing a novel about him? Specifically, a time travel novel?
It had been a vague idea for a long time. I had written other stories, pretty unsuccessfully, partly because I was reluctant to tackle a subject so close to my heart.
But retiring a couple of years ago presented the opportunity to think and plan a book with Napoleon at its heart. Then the first UK lockdown was introduced in late March 2020 and I was out of excuses! In fact, I wrote the whole thing, once plot notes were complete, in just three months. As to the time travel component, there are two reasons I was drawn to this element of the plot. Firstly, I love time travel stories in general. Secondly, I am like my central character, Richard Davey, in that I too was a history teacher and I too believe Napoleon underperformed at The battle of Waterloo. If only I (or Richard) could whisper in his ear. Surely, then, we would see the Bonaparte of Austerlitz, not the pale shadow whose lacklustre command lost the battle.
Do you have any favorite books or movies about Napoleon?
As a man past his mid-fifties, I was dazzled by the sheer scale of Sergei Bondarchuk’s film Waterloo starring Rod Steiger and produced by Dino de Laurentiis. I recommend Max Gallo’s series of books recounting Bonaparte’s life in the first person. Even translated from French into English, all four books in the series seem to put you right inside Napoleon’s head!
Do you have any favorite books or movies about time travel?
Time and Time Again by Ben Elton is brilliant about the experience of being stranded in the past.
Making History by Stephen Fry tackles the unforeseen consequences of tinkering with the past. When this came out, I was gutted. It was like he had stolen ideas right out of my head and made them better! To add insult to injury he went to Queens’ College, Cambridge University just like me.
I really enjoyed the original Back to the Future movie starring Michael J. Fox from 1985. I was at university, I had just got engaged, my future was bright!
Terminator and Terminator 2 are classics too, you just can’t separate them. They sum up the basic time travel plot in non-stop action movies. And you can’t forget Bill Murray’s arrogant weatherman learning to be a better person in Groundhog Day.
Can you tell me more about your research process? How accurately did you try to depict Napoleon—- and what aspects of his character might you have altered and why?
I read quite a lot of autobiographical material dictated by Napoleon. I was influenced, as I said earlier, by Max Gallo. In truth, I don’t think there is one true Napoleon waiting to be revealed through research. The artillery officer at Toulon morphed into a commander in Italy who became one of three Consuls governing France before having the Pope watch him crown himself Emperor of the French!
Life changed him. He started out as an opportunistic republican and look where he ended up!
If I have altered anything, it is to allow Napoleon to retain a little more of his earlier self, buried, but waiting to be re-ignited. Richard Davey, the time travelling schoolteacher will try to light that fire! As a consequence, Bonaparte emerges a little more open to advice and becomes, perhaps, a little less arrogant than the average emperor.
I’ve seen a number of recent fictional depictions of Napoleon where he’s depicted as a Hitler-like villain trying to conquer the free world. In your book, the hero not only admires Napoleon, but he’s willing to buck his very British upbringing by trying to help his hero win Waterloo. What led you to this characterization?
To be honest, I never buy into cartoonish caricatures. Very few leaders are without redeeming features, especially if judged by the standards of the time. Hitler was a monster. Napoleon was not. How else can we explain the men who rallied to his cause in 1815 when he escaped Elba and returned to France?
The other issue here, is the notion that Napoleon wanted to be a new Alexander the Great, conquering the known world. Firstly, he was constantly faced with military coalitions determined to oust him as a threat to the notion of hereditary monarchy. What choice did he have but to fight?
Secondly, how was his behaviour different from the British? They claimed to be reluctant to subsume territories into their empire and yet it girdled the globe! All major European powers were prone to acquiring territories to their own benefit. France under Napoleon was no different.
As to Richard Davey’s motivation, his life is empty, he admires the scale of Bonaparte’s achievements and believes his downfall was not inevitable. Dreams of Napoleon fill Richard’s emptiness. After all, I’m British but admire the Founding Fathers of the United States!
Your depiction of Waterloo was particularly memorable. It feels like you were there. Did you travel to Belgium to see the battlefield?
Thank you. That is very rewarding to hear but I have never visited the site of Waterloo. Most battlefield visits are a disappointment. Usually, you end up looking at farmers’ fields trying to imagine what happened there centuries ago. I have visited many other battle sites without finding them especially informative. So, I decided to rely on the wealth of published material on the battle from narrative accounts to meteorological reports, from detailed illustrations of uniforms to explanations of early nineteenth century tactics.
What inspired your depiction of your hero’s best friend Emile?
In truth, Emile developed as I wrote. I needed someone on the French side who would listen to Richard. Without that, he would have been shot as a spy in short order.
I know this is not really a good way to develop character, but I got to know him as he interacted with Richard. He had to be open-minded and fairly close to Bonaparte hence his regiment and posting.
I also wanted him to be a contrast to Richard Davey. In a way, he is everything Richard might wish to be. He is confident, charming, sociable, brave and relatively successful. He also gives Richard an anchor in the past that has become his present and in so doing, allows him to start thinking about his nineteenth century future.
Thanks Gareth! Your novel was fast-paced and a lot of fun. As this is the first in a trilogy, I am very excited to read the sequels!
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As an additional treat, I have uploaded Gareth’s interview with Carole Horton of Radio Skye here. And I also have uploaded a playlist, also curated by Gareth, to my Youtube channel. You can listen to it here— there’s also a description of how the tracks inspired him.
Don’t forget, the first three commenters on this post (not reblogs, just comments) will win a free PDF copy of Gareth’s book. Thanks everyone!
More about Gareth:
If you enjoyed this interview, here’s another interview he did with the Historical Novel Society.
Gareth’s website can be found here— and this is his Goodreads page. If you enjoyed this content, please hit like and subscribe!
Purchase info:
Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Waterstones Browns Books Book Depository
Thanks to Joanne Renaud for interviewing me about my novel, Needing Napoleon, and encouraging me to put together a Bonaparte playlist!