All You Need to Know on Napoleon

More has been written about Napoleon than about any other man, with good reason; his is the most astonishing trajectory since that of Alexander the Great: from provincial obscurity to the heights of power and fame, and on to a humiliating fall. He was the most successful general in history, achieved greater power and renown than any previous historical figure, and created the political and public structures which transformed most of Europe and became the model for many modern states. No one else left behind such a lasting legacy of institutions and physical monuments.

His epic life has inspired a great deal of myth-making. Stendhal claimed he could only write of Napoleon in religious terms; Goethe saw his life as ‘that of a demi-god’. And far too many books on him still have words such as ‘Destiny’ and ‘Spirit’ in their meaningless but suggestive titles. In fact, as this book will show, he was all too human – complicated, fallible and deeply flawed.