The Campaigns of Napoleon by David G Chandler.Beautifully written, Napoleon brilliantly sets the man in his European context. This most famous of men is also the most hidden of men, and Zamoyski dives deeper than any previous biographer to find him. Here, historian Adam Zamoyski cuts through the mythology and explains Napoleon against the background of the European Enlightenment, and what he was himself seeking to achieve. In some versions, he is a military genius, in others a war-obsessed tyrant. The story of Napoleon has been written many times. Dwyer’s biography of the young Napoleon provides a fascinating new perspective on one of the great figures of modern history. One of the first truly modern politicians, Napoleon was a master of “spin,” using the media to project an idealized image of himself. Dwyer focuses acutely on Napoleon’s formative years, from his Corsican origins to his French education, from his melancholy youth to his flirtation with radicals of the French Revolution, from his first military campaigns in Italy and Egypt to the political-military coup that brought him to power in 1799.

Philip Dwyer sheds new light on Napoleon’s inner life-especially his darker side and his passions-to reveal a ruthless, manipulative, driven man whose character has been disguised by the public image he carefully fashioned to suit the purposes of his ambition. Napoleon: The Path to Power by Philip Dwyer.Though his virtual dictatorship betrayed the ideals of liberty and equality, his life and career were revolutionary. Without the wars, he could not have seized and held onto power. Without the political changes brought about by the revolution, Napoleon could not have fought his wars. The revolution made possible the unprecedented concentration of political authority that Napoleon accrued, and his success in mobilizing human and material resources. Then everything collapsed, leading him to spend his last years in miserable exile in the South Atlantic.īell emphasizes the importance of the French Revolution in understanding Napoleon's career. In his early forties, he ruled a European empire more powerful than any since Rome, fighting wars that changed the shape of the continent and brought death to millions. At thirty, he had become an absolute master of Europe's most powerful country. By his late twenties, Napoleon was already one of the greatest generals in European history. Bellĭavid Bell emphasizes the astonishing sense of human possibility-for both good and ill-that Napoleon represented. Napoleon: A Concise Biography by David A.Napoleon: The Path to Power by Philip Dwyer

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