Among the servants, fifteen at least were
of French extraction — descendants of immigrants who had settled in America
after England had annexed their beautiful and unfortunate country in
1815. (1.40)
Because Napoleon is not mentioned in Ada, we can
assume that he did not exist on Antiterra (Earth's twin planet on which
Ada is set). Anyway, Josephine de Beauharnais (Napoleon's first wife)
is known on Demonia as "Queen Josephine" (1.5)
The Napoleonic Wars were described by Tolstoy in War and
Peace (1862-69). I wonder if anybody has pointed out that the novel's
title was borrowed from Pushkin's Boris Godunov (Night. Cell in the
Monastery of Chudov):
[Пимен:] В часы,
Свободные от подвигов духовных,
Описывай, не мудрствуя
лукаво,
Всё то, чему свидетель в жизни будешь:
Войну и
мир, управу государей,
Угодников святые чудеса,
Пророчества и
знаменья небесны...
[Pimen:] In hours exempt
From the soul's exercise, do thou
record,
Not subtly reasoning, all things whereto
Thou shalt in life be
witness; war and peace,
The sway of kings, the holy
miracles
Of saints, all prophecies and heavenly signs...
Chekhov greatly admired War and Peace but disliked
the scenes with Napoleon: Только не люблю тех мест, где
Наполеон. Как Наполеон, так сейчас и натяжка и всякие фокусы, чтобы доказать,
что он глупее, чем был на самом деле. Всё, что делают и говорят Пьер, князь
Андрей или совершенно ничтожный Николай Ростов, – всё это хорошо, умно,
естественно и трогательно; всё же, что думает и делает Наполеон, – это не
естественно, не умно, надуто и ничтожно по значению. (Only I don't like
the passages in which Napoleon appears. As soon as Napoleon comes on the scene
there are forced explanations and tricks of all sorts to prove that he was
stupider than he really was. Everything that is said and done by Pierre, Prince
Andrey, or the absolutely insignificant Nikolay Rostov--all that is good,
clever, natural, and touching; everything that is thought and done by Napoleon
is not natural, not clever, inflated and
worthless.)*
*a letter of October 25, 1891, to
Suvorin
Alexey
Sklyarenko