Napoleon: A Life

The French revolution was spiraling out of control when Napoleon Bonaparte became a general at twenty-four thanks to his tactical acuity and ability to inspire men. In him the French got a man who was Washington, Jefferson, and Hamilton rolled into one. Napoleon forged a new nation out of the ashes of the French Revolution, modernizing a society built around the whims of a king. Then he crowned himself emperor and set off to confront his enemies. Lawmaker, educational reformer, and novelist manque, he was an astonishing multitasker, compelled by the smallest detail of the running of his empire and imperturbable in the face of adversity. He is often presented as a dictator, but he sought out conflicting opinions and was accessible to his men. The one time he bowed to majority opinion, in Russia in 1812, he made a fateful mistake that set him on the path of defeat. He amassed one of the best art collections in the world, which he shared with the public in a path-breaking museum called the Louvre. He married for love, and was betrayed, which crushed him personally but never derailed him from his goals. At last, a biography worthy of its subject: magisterial, insightful, and beautifully written by one of the world's greatest historians.