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Napoleon
From childhood dreams of joining the British Royal Navy to a dotage spent riding on a seesaw to improve his health, the true story of Napoleon Bonaparte is every bit as bizarre and fascinating as it is controversial.
Napoleon rose up out of the chaos and horror of the French Revolution to offer a shattered nation dreams of future glory, honor and a place once more at the forefront of Europe. After he seized power through a mixture of propaganda and rigged elections, Napoleon’s armies waged a seemingly never-ending war throughout Europe, from Portugal to Imperial Russia. Many hundreds of thousands died in battle, or of disease and starvation. France itself would lose 50,000 soldiers on average during every year under Napoleon’s control. Napoleon claimed to be furthering the libertarian values of the Revolution to free the continent, but then he had himself crowned Emperor, began moves to reinstate a hereditary monarchy and had slavery reintroduced throughout the French Empire.
Extensively illustrated, this new biography by bestselling author Mike Lepine offers a fresh and unforgettable portrait of a true military legend.
Napoleon rose up out of the chaos and horror of the French Revolution to offer a shattered nation dreams of future glory, honor and a place once more at the forefront of Europe. After he seized power through a mixture of propaganda and rigged elections, Napoleon’s armies waged a seemingly never-ending war throughout Europe, from Portugal to Imperial Russia. Many hundreds of thousands died in battle, or of disease and starvation. France itself would lose 50,000 soldiers on average during every year under Napoleon’s control. Napoleon claimed to be furthering the libertarian values of the Revolution to free the continent, but then he had himself crowned Emperor, began moves to reinstate a hereditary monarchy and had slavery reintroduced throughout the French Empire.
Extensively illustrated, this new biography by bestselling author Mike Lepine offers a fresh and unforgettable portrait of a true military legend.
144 pages, Hardcover
Published July 16, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 31, 2025
A nicely presented book. Events and people are well illustrated with nice portraits and landscape paintings of events. Information on each section of his life has a nice amount of detail summarised.
I didn't really know much about Napolean when I started. I feel like I have alot more background now after reading this book- the why and how.
Napolean certainly does not come off as the nice guy. I am puzzled why he is seen as "Napolean the Great" and why he would be revered in France, with a tomb.
I have just read pages and pages of battles- with the latter battles Napolean losing badly. And each time, when he was losing- he was out of there quick smart. The description of the Russian battle is just awful- with Napolean fleeing, with his soldiers clothes to keep warm. He was ok, he fled. And the same scenario really for Waterloo- nothing to be celebrated in this character Napolean.
I probably need to read another account to balance up this book.
The book was interesting, though it was a hard slog getting through the Waterloo section. There were lots of pictures in this section, very dark. But I felt this wasn't as good a summary as when the author described the shocking events of Russia. However this is my only negative about the book.
I didn't really know much about Napolean when I started. I feel like I have alot more background now after reading this book- the why and how.
Napolean certainly does not come off as the nice guy. I am puzzled why he is seen as "Napolean the Great" and why he would be revered in France, with a tomb.
I have just read pages and pages of battles- with the latter battles Napolean losing badly. And each time, when he was losing- he was out of there quick smart. The description of the Russian battle is just awful- with Napolean fleeing, with his soldiers clothes to keep warm. He was ok, he fled. And the same scenario really for Waterloo- nothing to be celebrated in this character Napolean.
I probably need to read another account to balance up this book.
The book was interesting, though it was a hard slog getting through the Waterloo section. There were lots of pictures in this section, very dark. But I felt this wasn't as good a summary as when the author described the shocking events of Russia. However this is my only negative about the book.
July 27, 2024
I enjoyed this, it’s easy to read, incredibly interesting and helps us understand the impact on future events. The colour palettes are beautiful too!
It’s hard not to view Napoleon as a self-centred egotistical tyrant who brought misery and death to hundreds of thousands.
It’s hard not to view Napoleon as a self-centred egotistical tyrant who brought misery and death to hundreds of thousands.
January 14, 2025
I hardly have words for how off the rails this book went, particularly towards the end. It's decent as a broad overview, and has some genuinely good insight. But sometimes the author's bias against Napoleon (and/or surface level knowledge) causes a number of the personal details to be misinterpreted or flat-out wrong (such as, the Brumaire Coup missing details, making it sound like Napoleon alone brought the idea of the coup d'etat and organized it, not even mentioning Sieyès.)
A lot of the material could have been used to discuss his military genius, such as the Corps system, and the tactics he used to win all his battles (living off the land, speed, surprise, deception, organization). It also fails to mention how outstanding the feats he pulled off were in his campaigns. His reforms that gave France stability-the Napoleonic Code, Metric system, and currency reforms are seldom brought up (if at all), yet often downplayed or swept under the rug.
It also glosses over the relationship between Josephine and Napoleon (making it sound like they couldn't stand each other) when in reality there was much depth and love between them despite the obvious infidelity issues from both parties. (Yes, it's briefly mentioned but how it was worded irked me)
The ending about Napoleon's legacy was just appalling. Napoleon wasn't perfect, but to reduce his legacy and achievements to "he achieved nothing" and a "Gallic shrug" is diabolical. Saying he is "undoubtedly the grandsire of Adolf Hitler" along with Mao, Stalin, and Mussolini is just incredibly wrong. Napoleon ruled through a combination of authoritarian, military conquest with economic stability and legal reforms. That's entirely different from the radical, violently purging ideology of Hitler, Mao, and Mussolini. Those comparisons are oversimplifying history, and discount the unique and nuanced nature of Napoleon's rule.
TL;DR:
While the book gives a cohesive summary of Napoleon's life and the Napoleonic wars, it doesn't truly recognize his military genius, and undermines his lasting impact in the world. Missing, or dubious details without a source lead to me raising an eyebrow on some offhand comments.
This bias corrupts Napoleon's legacy, comparing him to figures like Hitler, Mao, and Stalin is misleading and harmful, downright diabolical. As an avid Napoleonic era fan, I feel sad I spent money on this.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone looking for a balanced, objective look at Napoleon as a person. The ending is basically just the author vilifying Napoleon.
Napoleon isn't called one of the greatest figures of all time for no reason, but it appears Lepine thinks so.
A lot of the material could have been used to discuss his military genius, such as the Corps system, and the tactics he used to win all his battles (living off the land, speed, surprise, deception, organization). It also fails to mention how outstanding the feats he pulled off were in his campaigns. His reforms that gave France stability-the Napoleonic Code, Metric system, and currency reforms are seldom brought up (if at all), yet often downplayed or swept under the rug.
It also glosses over the relationship between Josephine and Napoleon (making it sound like they couldn't stand each other) when in reality there was much depth and love between them despite the obvious infidelity issues from both parties. (Yes, it's briefly mentioned but how it was worded irked me)
The ending about Napoleon's legacy was just appalling. Napoleon wasn't perfect, but to reduce his legacy and achievements to "he achieved nothing" and a "Gallic shrug" is diabolical. Saying he is "undoubtedly the grandsire of Adolf Hitler" along with Mao, Stalin, and Mussolini is just incredibly wrong. Napoleon ruled through a combination of authoritarian, military conquest with economic stability and legal reforms. That's entirely different from the radical, violently purging ideology of Hitler, Mao, and Mussolini. Those comparisons are oversimplifying history, and discount the unique and nuanced nature of Napoleon's rule.
TL;DR:
While the book gives a cohesive summary of Napoleon's life and the Napoleonic wars, it doesn't truly recognize his military genius, and undermines his lasting impact in the world. Missing, or dubious details without a source lead to me raising an eyebrow on some offhand comments.
This bias corrupts Napoleon's legacy, comparing him to figures like Hitler, Mao, and Stalin is misleading and harmful, downright diabolical. As an avid Napoleonic era fan, I feel sad I spent money on this.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone looking for a balanced, objective look at Napoleon as a person. The ending is basically just the author vilifying Napoleon.
Napoleon isn't called one of the greatest figures of all time for no reason, but it appears Lepine thinks so.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews