The definitive biography of the great soldier-statesman by the New York Times bestselling author of The Storm of War—winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography and the Grand Prix of the Fondation Napoleon Austerlitz, Borodino, Waterloo: his battles are among the greatest in history, but Napoleon Bonaparte was far more than a military genius and astute leader of men. Like George … military genius and astute leader of men. Like George Washington and his own hero Julius Caesar, he was one of the greatest soldier-statesmen of all times.
Andrew Roberts’s Napoleon is the first one-volume biography to take advantage of the recent publication of Napoleon’s thirty-three thousand letters, which radically transform our understanding of his character and motivation. At last we see him as he was: protean multitasker, decisive, surprisingly willing to forgive his enemies and his errant wife Josephine. Like Churchill, he understood the strategic importance of telling his own story, and his memoirs, dictated from exile on St. Helena, became the single bestselling book of the nineteenth century.
An award-winning historian, Roberts traveled to fifty-three of Napoleon’s sixty battle sites, discovered crucial new documents in archives, and even made the long trip by boat to St. Helena. He is as acute in his understanding of politics as he is of military history. Here at last is a biography worthy of its subject: magisterial, insightful, beautifully written, by one of our foremost historians.
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I absolutely gobbled up this 976-page biography. Gave me a completely different perspective on the man and the realities of state-craft and politics he was dealing with. Roberts strikes just the right balance between narrative, analysis, and anecdote, and he knows exactly which will sketch in a vast, complicated, busy life most effectively. I think Napoleon would have enjoyed and respected this book, which is saying a very great deal. And of course, I went right out and ordered, “Leaders at War,” because this is good stuff, friends. Grand tales, well told, on a canvas as big as history.
Roberts is a masterly storyteller. . . . I would recommend his book to anyone seeking an accessible chronicle, rich in anecdote, of Napoleon’s fantastic story.
With his customary flair and keen historical eye, Andrew Roberts has delivered the goods again. This is the best one volume biography of Napoleon in English for the last four decades. A tour de force that belongs on every history lover’s bookshelf!
A fantastic biography about a fascinating person. Unless you are a Napoleon academic this book will leave you haunted by the grandeur of his life. He really made the most of his life on this planet. Unfortunately like many other of history greats at some point he bought into his own myth and that was his downfall.
One of the reasons I love biographies is because they show how much of the human drama is a repeat business. For example, the section of the book that describes his Egyptian campaign has incredibly strong coincidences with the American occupation of Iraq and the birth of fundamentalist warlords.
Napoleon may be a controversial, loved or hated figure, but no matter what you’re opinion is it is impossible to not find him mesmerizing.
As latterly with Churchill, Roberts fesses up to NB being one of his heroes but nevertheless this doesn’t fawn, although it could be more critical of some of NB’s harsh treatment of non-threatening peoples and his own troops. The insights into his personal life were new to me and welcome. I read the first edition and wonder if more recent imprints have capitalized on advances in data representation.
One of the best biographies I have ever read.
An unbiased book on Napoleon is hard to find. The history of Napoleon as taught to me in an English School was that he was on the same level as Hitler. Living in France there was a very different opinion, after all he was the founder of modern France and much that he founded is still in operation today. Still 60 battles and more that 2 million Frenchmen alone killed says enough
Napoleon was a very significant historic figure. Unfortunately, the history I learned in school all but ignored him. This book has filled in the gaping hole in my understanding of history.
Difficult and too much time spent returning back and forth in time, which for a biography can create confusion
Filled with details that clearly demonstrate how unusual Napoleon was. I am still reading this fascinating history which clearly refutes myths about Josephine, sets forth great battle analyses, and sets forth how much France owes to this man.
Best book on Napoleon that I have yet read.
A thoroughly researched biography of this larger than life, nacisstic, driven, brilliant leader and driver of a nation. Should be required reading for all students of 19th century European history.
Exhausting details. No dialogue