Two classic novels of the Napoleonic epoch The events portrayed in these two novels of the Napoleonic period properly fit in time between those of the first volume. They appear together here since each-unlike the other two in this series-is a stand alone work. All of the Erckmann-Chatrian Napoleonic novels form part of the ‘National’ series which begins in the revolutionary period and extends to include the Franco-Prussian War. The Napoleonic works all concern the period of the fall of the First Empire. In The Blockade of Phalsburg it is 1814 and the allied army is invading France following Napoleon’s defeat at Leipzig. War has reached the small walled town of Phalsburg and the inhabitants resolve to defend the city. So the siege begins. The Invasion of France 1814 is another perspective of the invasion as French peasants determine to defend the country from the expected marauding German troops and Cossacks. These are stories of ordinary people forced to come to terms with great events expertly related by perhaps their greatest advocates in fiction.