Bonaparte and Islam, by Christian Cherfils

Written on the eve of the First World War , Christian Cherfils' work reveals an essential aspect of the personality of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose adherence to Islam is a historical fact reported by the press of the time. Disciple of Auguste Comte and reconverted to Islam, Christian Cherfils traces here the spiritual and political journey of the young schoolboy from Brienne through the general friend of the deist Robespierre, the 1st Consul, the Emperor of the French, the captive Finally ; this by referring to mostly unpublished documents … such as, in particular, the story of the Emperor's interview with Goethe.

At a time when French news is punctuated with reminders of the question of "Islam in France", "Islam and the "values" of the Republic", the present work testifies, if not to a "another Islam", at least of an "other France", or even of an "other Republic", the real one, that assassinated at Thermidor and avenged on 18 Brumaire.

It will offer the reader a very different perspective on the said questions, in particular on the role or even the historical mission of France, and rarely has a literary work succeeded so well in demonstrating how the past can and must shed light on the present.