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Napoleon #3
Napoleon: The Decline and Fall of an Empire: 1811-1821
*A KIRKUS BEST BIOGRAPHY OF 2022*
An accomplished Oxford scholar delivers a dynamic new history covering the last chapter of the emperor's life—from his defeat in Russia and the drama of Waterloo to his final exile—as the world Napoleon has created begins to crumble around him.
In 1811, Napoleon stood at his zenith. He had defeated all his continental rivals, come to an entente with Russia, and his blockade of Britain seemed, at long last, to be a success. The emperor had an heir on the way with his new wife, Marie-Louise, the young daughter of the Emperor of Austria. His personal life, too, was calm and secure for the first time in many years. It was a moment of unprecedented peace and hope, built on the foundations of emphatic military victories.
But in less than two years, all of this was in peril. In four years, it was gone, swept away by the tides of war against the most powerful alliance in European history. The rest of his life was passed on a barren island. This is not a story any novelist could create; it is reality as epic.
The Decline and Fall of an Empire traces this story through the dramatic narrative of the years 1811-1821 and explores the ever-bloodier conflicts, the disintegration and reforging of the bonds among the Bonaparte family, and the serpentine diplomacy that shaped the fate of Europe. At the heart of the story is Napoleon’s own sense of history, the tensions in his own character, and the shared vision of a family dynasty to rule Europe.
Drawing on the remarkable resource of the new edition of Napoleon’s personal correspondence produced by the Fondation Napoleon in Paris, Michael Broers dynamic new history follows Napoleon’s thoughts and feelings, his hopes and ambitions, as he fought to preserve the world he had created. Much of this turns on his relationship with Tsar Alexander of Russia, in so many respects his alter ego, and eventual nemesis. His inability to understand this complex man, the only person with the power to destroy him, is key to tracing the roots of his disastrous decision to invade Russia—and his inability to face diplomatic and military reality thereafter.
Even his defeat in Russia was not the end. The last years of the Napoleonic Empire reveal its innate strength, but it now faced hopeless odds. The last phase of the Napoleonic Wars saw the convergence of the most powerful of forces in European history to Russian manpower and British money. The sheer determination of Tsar Alexander and the British to bring Napoleon down is a story of compromise and sacrifice. The horrors and heroism of war are omnipresent in these years, from Lisbon to Moscow, in the life of the common solider. The core of this new book reveals how these men pushed Napoleon back from Moscow to St Helena.
Among this generation, there was no more remarkable persona than Napoleon. His defeat forged his myth—as well as his living tomb on St Helena. The audacious enterprise of the 100 Days, reaching its crescendo at the Battle of Waterloo, marked the spectacular end of an unprecedented public life. From the ruins of a life—and an empire—came a new continent and a legend that haunts Europe still.
An accomplished Oxford scholar delivers a dynamic new history covering the last chapter of the emperor's life—from his defeat in Russia and the drama of Waterloo to his final exile—as the world Napoleon has created begins to crumble around him.
In 1811, Napoleon stood at his zenith. He had defeated all his continental rivals, come to an entente with Russia, and his blockade of Britain seemed, at long last, to be a success. The emperor had an heir on the way with his new wife, Marie-Louise, the young daughter of the Emperor of Austria. His personal life, too, was calm and secure for the first time in many years. It was a moment of unprecedented peace and hope, built on the foundations of emphatic military victories.
But in less than two years, all of this was in peril. In four years, it was gone, swept away by the tides of war against the most powerful alliance in European history. The rest of his life was passed on a barren island. This is not a story any novelist could create; it is reality as epic.
The Decline and Fall of an Empire traces this story through the dramatic narrative of the years 1811-1821 and explores the ever-bloodier conflicts, the disintegration and reforging of the bonds among the Bonaparte family, and the serpentine diplomacy that shaped the fate of Europe. At the heart of the story is Napoleon’s own sense of history, the tensions in his own character, and the shared vision of a family dynasty to rule Europe.
Drawing on the remarkable resource of the new edition of Napoleon’s personal correspondence produced by the Fondation Napoleon in Paris, Michael Broers dynamic new history follows Napoleon’s thoughts and feelings, his hopes and ambitions, as he fought to preserve the world he had created. Much of this turns on his relationship with Tsar Alexander of Russia, in so many respects his alter ego, and eventual nemesis. His inability to understand this complex man, the only person with the power to destroy him, is key to tracing the roots of his disastrous decision to invade Russia—and his inability to face diplomatic and military reality thereafter.
Even his defeat in Russia was not the end. The last years of the Napoleonic Empire reveal its innate strength, but it now faced hopeless odds. The last phase of the Napoleonic Wars saw the convergence of the most powerful of forces in European history to Russian manpower and British money. The sheer determination of Tsar Alexander and the British to bring Napoleon down is a story of compromise and sacrifice. The horrors and heroism of war are omnipresent in these years, from Lisbon to Moscow, in the life of the common solider. The core of this new book reveals how these men pushed Napoleon back from Moscow to St Helena.
Among this generation, there was no more remarkable persona than Napoleon. His defeat forged his myth—as well as his living tomb on St Helena. The audacious enterprise of the 100 Days, reaching its crescendo at the Battle of Waterloo, marked the spectacular end of an unprecedented public life. From the ruins of a life—and an empire—came a new continent and a legend that haunts Europe still.
735 pages, Hardcover
First published August 2, 2022
54 people are currently reading
642 people want to read
About the author
Michael Broers
20 books44 followersMichael George Broers is the Professor of Western European History at the University of Oxford. He graduated with an MA from the University of St Andrews in 1978 and a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in 1982.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 9, 2023
The subtitle of the third and final volume of Michael Broers’s outstanding biography of Napoleon Bonaparte is “The Decline and Fall of an Empire,” and there really is no better summary of the theme that runs throughout it. At the start of the book Napoleon’s empire is at its greatest extent geographically, dominating Europe from the Atlantic coast to the Russian border. Yet just four years later the man who built that empire and who exerted greater power on the continent than any ruler ever had before in its history was forced to abdicate his throne for exile to a tiny island off the coast of Italy. Such an outcome has long begged the question: how did it all go so wrong so quickly?
The answer for Broers lies in Napoleon’s personality. For years this had been one of his great strengths, as his enormous ambitions and his self-confidence in his ability to realize them were integral to his dizzying rise from the lower ranks of the French officer corps to the imperial throne he now occupied. By 1811, however, Napoleon had reached the limits of what could be achieved by personality alone. Though much of Europe was under the control of France, a debilitating war on the Iberian peninsula bled off lives and resources from her empire. This process was aided by the British, who forces and treasury supported the Spanish and Portuguese resistance to French rule. With Britain herself defiantly untouchable across the English Channel, Napoleon resorted to economic warfare to defeat her, through a continent-wide prohibition of trade with the British Empire.
Though Britain suffered economically from Napoleon’s “Continental System,” so too did the rest of Europe. Broers details both the damage done to the communities under Napoleon’s control, and the resentment it fueled as a result. French officials and soldiers were increasingly a regular presence in ports throughout Europe, serving both as a symbol of imperial dominance and a target of popular resentment. Yet Napoleon’s economic war depended as much on cooperation as it did enforcement, particularly in the parts of Europe still out of his reach. Foremost among these regions was Russia, whose ruler, Alexander I, was tiring of Napoleon’s bullying demands to support French policies at Russia’s expense. Incapable of accepting the tsar’s growing defiance, Napoleon sought a way to bring Russia to heel. And for Napoleon, the solution he preferred to employ was a martial one.
Napoleon’s strategy for his campaign was simple: to draw out Alexander’s army and crush it in a climactic battle that would leave the tsar with no option but to submit. Here, however, Broers makes it clear that the emperor underestimated both his opponent and the enormity of the challenge he would face. Broers makes an excellent argument for viewing Alexander as the person who, more than any other single individual, was responsible for Napoleon’s downfall. Unlike Napoleon, Alexander’s skills were those as a diplomat rather than a general, and he employed them skillfully to ensure that Russia confronted the French onslaught with as many advantages as possible. Instead of accommodating Napoleon’s strategy, Alexander’s forces withdrew eastward, subjecting the massive invasion force to a debilitating logistical crisis even before the dreaded Russian winter set in. Though Broers demonstrates that the Russians suffered as well from the winter and the lack of supplies, their superior preparations and the support they enjoyed from the populace ensured that they could better endure it than the Napoleon’s isolated armies, who suffered devastating losses in men and horses.
Napoleon would soon have reason to regret their sacrifice. Having squandered irreplaceable forces in pursuit of an unattainable goal, he now faced the threat of a Russian counterattack for which his empire was unprepared. As the emperor scrambled to replace his losses, Alexander encouraged first the Prussians, then other German states in central Europe to challenge French dominance. Though Napoleon rose to the challenge, Broers makes the point subtly that his victories fell short of the triumphs of old because of the lack of cavalry to cut off retreating forces, and the shortage of reserves to replenish depleted ranks. By 1814, with Allied armies on French soil and the populace resisting further exactions, Napoleon had little choice but to abdicate his throne and accept exile.
It was Alexander who chose Elba as Napoleon’s destination, a decision that did not sit well with the tsar’s allies. Both Klemens von Metternich, and Lord Castlereagh, the Austrian and British foreign ministers, feared that Napoleon was still close enough to Europe to cause mischief. Facing the prospect of relocation to some isolated speck of land in the Atlantic Ocean – both Saint Helena and the Azores were discussed as options – Napoleon soon proved them correct. In February 1815, the former emperor undertook the greatest gamble of his career by sailing for France with just a token force in an attempt to reclaim his throne. Though he succeeded, Broers notes that not all Frenchmen welcomed him with open arms, as despite his efforts to rally the nation his regime faced resistance in several places to his restoration. This hobbled his efforts to mount an effective challenge to the Allied forces seeking to depose him, with his final battles in Belgium costing him the last effective troops he possessed – and with them, his dreams of a new era of rule.
Broers concludes the book with Napoleon’s departure from Plymouth for captivity on Saint Helena. It’s an abrupt ending that mentions only in passing his final years as a British prisoner and his efforts during that time to nurture his legend. Yet it is not the worst criticism of a book to say that the author leaves the reader wanting more, especially considering what he achieves within it. Based on the vast new collection of Napoleon’s correspondence as well as the many recent studies of his rule, it offers a shrewd analysis of his subject and how his weaknesses eventually proved too great for his formidable gifts to overcome. Broers’s accounts of Napoleon’s later campaigns alone are worth the reader’s time, as they provide a clear description of events that informs the author’s sharp judgments of the commanders and their decisions. Together with his previous volumes, it makes for the best biography of Napoleon Bonaparte available in the English language, one that anyone interested in the French emperor can read for enjoyment and profit.
The answer for Broers lies in Napoleon’s personality. For years this had been one of his great strengths, as his enormous ambitions and his self-confidence in his ability to realize them were integral to his dizzying rise from the lower ranks of the French officer corps to the imperial throne he now occupied. By 1811, however, Napoleon had reached the limits of what could be achieved by personality alone. Though much of Europe was under the control of France, a debilitating war on the Iberian peninsula bled off lives and resources from her empire. This process was aided by the British, who forces and treasury supported the Spanish and Portuguese resistance to French rule. With Britain herself defiantly untouchable across the English Channel, Napoleon resorted to economic warfare to defeat her, through a continent-wide prohibition of trade with the British Empire.
Though Britain suffered economically from Napoleon’s “Continental System,” so too did the rest of Europe. Broers details both the damage done to the communities under Napoleon’s control, and the resentment it fueled as a result. French officials and soldiers were increasingly a regular presence in ports throughout Europe, serving both as a symbol of imperial dominance and a target of popular resentment. Yet Napoleon’s economic war depended as much on cooperation as it did enforcement, particularly in the parts of Europe still out of his reach. Foremost among these regions was Russia, whose ruler, Alexander I, was tiring of Napoleon’s bullying demands to support French policies at Russia’s expense. Incapable of accepting the tsar’s growing defiance, Napoleon sought a way to bring Russia to heel. And for Napoleon, the solution he preferred to employ was a martial one.
Napoleon’s strategy for his campaign was simple: to draw out Alexander’s army and crush it in a climactic battle that would leave the tsar with no option but to submit. Here, however, Broers makes it clear that the emperor underestimated both his opponent and the enormity of the challenge he would face. Broers makes an excellent argument for viewing Alexander as the person who, more than any other single individual, was responsible for Napoleon’s downfall. Unlike Napoleon, Alexander’s skills were those as a diplomat rather than a general, and he employed them skillfully to ensure that Russia confronted the French onslaught with as many advantages as possible. Instead of accommodating Napoleon’s strategy, Alexander’s forces withdrew eastward, subjecting the massive invasion force to a debilitating logistical crisis even before the dreaded Russian winter set in. Though Broers demonstrates that the Russians suffered as well from the winter and the lack of supplies, their superior preparations and the support they enjoyed from the populace ensured that they could better endure it than the Napoleon’s isolated armies, who suffered devastating losses in men and horses.
Napoleon would soon have reason to regret their sacrifice. Having squandered irreplaceable forces in pursuit of an unattainable goal, he now faced the threat of a Russian counterattack for which his empire was unprepared. As the emperor scrambled to replace his losses, Alexander encouraged first the Prussians, then other German states in central Europe to challenge French dominance. Though Napoleon rose to the challenge, Broers makes the point subtly that his victories fell short of the triumphs of old because of the lack of cavalry to cut off retreating forces, and the shortage of reserves to replenish depleted ranks. By 1814, with Allied armies on French soil and the populace resisting further exactions, Napoleon had little choice but to abdicate his throne and accept exile.
It was Alexander who chose Elba as Napoleon’s destination, a decision that did not sit well with the tsar’s allies. Both Klemens von Metternich, and Lord Castlereagh, the Austrian and British foreign ministers, feared that Napoleon was still close enough to Europe to cause mischief. Facing the prospect of relocation to some isolated speck of land in the Atlantic Ocean – both Saint Helena and the Azores were discussed as options – Napoleon soon proved them correct. In February 1815, the former emperor undertook the greatest gamble of his career by sailing for France with just a token force in an attempt to reclaim his throne. Though he succeeded, Broers notes that not all Frenchmen welcomed him with open arms, as despite his efforts to rally the nation his regime faced resistance in several places to his restoration. This hobbled his efforts to mount an effective challenge to the Allied forces seeking to depose him, with his final battles in Belgium costing him the last effective troops he possessed – and with them, his dreams of a new era of rule.
Broers concludes the book with Napoleon’s departure from Plymouth for captivity on Saint Helena. It’s an abrupt ending that mentions only in passing his final years as a British prisoner and his efforts during that time to nurture his legend. Yet it is not the worst criticism of a book to say that the author leaves the reader wanting more, especially considering what he achieves within it. Based on the vast new collection of Napoleon’s correspondence as well as the many recent studies of his rule, it offers a shrewd analysis of his subject and how his weaknesses eventually proved too great for his formidable gifts to overcome. Broers’s accounts of Napoleon’s later campaigns alone are worth the reader’s time, as they provide a clear description of events that informs the author’s sharp judgments of the commanders and their decisions. Together with his previous volumes, it makes for the best biography of Napoleon Bonaparte available in the English language, one that anyone interested in the French emperor can read for enjoyment and profit.
November 11, 2023
Without admittedly having read the first two volumes of this (woopsie), this is a very solid bio of the time period in question, if quite long.
I particularly liked the "fall" part (as expected, b/c that's what was on the tin and that's why I picked it up). It's very good at showing that most of Napoleon's losses went back to mistakes he made, despite attempts by his apologists over the years to shift the blame somewhere, anywhere else (Grouchy has entered the chat). The army Napoleon pulled out of Leipzig was horrifically understrength and badly trained/armed, and his celebrated six-day campaign accomplished basically nothing except to prolong the inevitable. Same thing with the Hundred Days -- there was some initial rally 'round the flag stuff, but that was basically on the back of "well, at least he's not a Bourbon" more than any strong pro-Napoleon sentiment. I further wasn't aware that Napoleon was really not in control of large swathes of France -- rebellions against conscription started pretty much immediately and he had to detach good chunks of men and generals (Davout, Soult) he really couldn't afford to do without at Waterloo.
Maybe I'll go back and read the other two parts of this at some point :).
I particularly liked the "fall" part (as expected, b/c that's what was on the tin and that's why I picked it up). It's very good at showing that most of Napoleon's losses went back to mistakes he made, despite attempts by his apologists over the years to shift the blame somewhere, anywhere else (Grouchy has entered the chat). The army Napoleon pulled out of Leipzig was horrifically understrength and badly trained/armed, and his celebrated six-day campaign accomplished basically nothing except to prolong the inevitable. Same thing with the Hundred Days -- there was some initial rally 'round the flag stuff, but that was basically on the back of "well, at least he's not a Bourbon" more than any strong pro-Napoleon sentiment. I further wasn't aware that Napoleon was really not in control of large swathes of France -- rebellions against conscription started pretty much immediately and he had to detach good chunks of men and generals (Davout, Soult) he really couldn't afford to do without at Waterloo.
Maybe I'll go back and read the other two parts of this at some point :).
August 26, 2024
I was wrong about this trilogy of books. In my review of volume 2, I said it was the best one. But this third volume is, probably because it's so action packed. Starting with the invasion of, and retreat from, Russia, it covers the Battle of Leipzig, the first abdication, the escape from Elba, the 100 Days, the Battle of Waterloo, the second abdication and Napoleon's capture and exile to Saint Helena. Actually, the exile isn't really covered at all. The story stops with Napoleon's capture. But everything else is covered in detail. The story zips along and isn't held up much by the administrative details of Napoleon's reign. My only criticism - and this applies to volumes 1 and 2 as well - is the writing. I think Broers is a Dutch name. And maybe English isn't his first language. But even after rereading some sentences four or five times, I still couldn't make out what he was trying to say. What was needed here was a good copyeditor. To tighten the grammar and make the story flow better. But, that criticism aside, this was a rattling good read.
dnf-shelf
June 26, 2022How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss
DNF @ 12%
I'm DNFing this book because it's not for me. I know nearly nothing about Napoleon, I thought I would learn something interesting, but it's entirely too tedious and jumps in at the middle of his reign, basically, so it's really not accessible for a reader of my level in history. This is a book for someone who knows that period, as well as the most prevalent political personalities of the time. For me, I wasn't able to follow anything. No rating, I really don't think I can have an opinion because I would have no idea what I'm talking about.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
DNF @ 12%
I'm DNFing this book because it's not for me. I know nearly nothing about Napoleon, I thought I would learn something interesting, but it's entirely too tedious and jumps in at the middle of his reign, basically, so it's really not accessible for a reader of my level in history. This is a book for someone who knows that period, as well as the most prevalent political personalities of the time. For me, I wasn't able to follow anything. No rating, I really don't think I can have an opinion because I would have no idea what I'm talking about.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
October 21, 2022
The conclusion of this trilogy shows the decline of Napoleon. A central theme of this seems to be an inability to pick successful subordinates, either military or political. As his marshals either die or their egos take over, control of the Grande Armee becomes very difficult for one man, however gifted. Politically, his family & their puppet states seem more fractured the worse the war situation becomes. The pace of this volume seems quicker, especially at the point of Napoleon’s first exile as the action switches from the battlefronts to the chambers of power in the first half of 1814.
August 29, 2022
Meticulously researched, I question the need for yet another 'definitive' biography of Napoleon.
This will appeal to fans of the historical period with a ready knowledge. Less accessible to the lay person.
Fascinating images and the maps are glorious.
This will appeal to fans of the historical period with a ready knowledge. Less accessible to the lay person.
Fascinating images and the maps are glorious.
May 10, 2023
I was surprised about how much I enjoyed reading this work. The author writes in such a way that nonhistorians could follow along and understand what he was saying. As a historian, I appreciate the maps and the author's research. :) The amount of detail was incredible!
October 18, 2022
The final volume of a trilogy, it should be read as such. There is no recap, no getting up to speed. You know the names, and keep them straight more or less. That's not a handicap if you read the first two, but it was a bother when it had been a few years since Vol. 2.
This is an impressive piece of work and clearly the work of a master of the Napoleonic Era. Like a Victorian novel, except exponentially more difficult, Broers tracks the loyalties, effectiveness, and importance of dozens of generals and politicians on both sides of the later end of Napoleon's reign. On one side France; the other, essentially the world. The great middle bulk of the book deals with Napoleon's massive charge into Russian territory and the retreat that picked his empire apart piece by piece. Everything that went right for Napoleon through 1811 begins to go badly wrong, some through luck but Broers is keen to point out that Napoleon's previously unerring sense of instinctively precise judgment begins to fail him.
The heavy focus in this book is on the military, and in the later stages the political as he is forced to abdicate. The depiction of Waterloo is vividly rendered, and enflamed my desire to see the battlefield, and the book ends basically at the second exile to St. Helena. Six pages cover the aftermath, and his death is merely an afterthought. I would say that this book is certainly not for the neophyte, though all three books combined are pretty comprehensive. Amongst others, Napoleon: A Life is a solid one volume effort of recently memory that covers the military aspects as well as a balanced approach to the overall life. This book ends the series magnificently, but I would recommend it for those with a solid background in the period and Napoleonic studies. Still, an incredibly important account of those times, supplemented by recently available new correspondence from the era.
This is an impressive piece of work and clearly the work of a master of the Napoleonic Era. Like a Victorian novel, except exponentially more difficult, Broers tracks the loyalties, effectiveness, and importance of dozens of generals and politicians on both sides of the later end of Napoleon's reign. On one side France; the other, essentially the world. The great middle bulk of the book deals with Napoleon's massive charge into Russian territory and the retreat that picked his empire apart piece by piece. Everything that went right for Napoleon through 1811 begins to go badly wrong, some through luck but Broers is keen to point out that Napoleon's previously unerring sense of instinctively precise judgment begins to fail him.
The heavy focus in this book is on the military, and in the later stages the political as he is forced to abdicate. The depiction of Waterloo is vividly rendered, and enflamed my desire to see the battlefield, and the book ends basically at the second exile to St. Helena. Six pages cover the aftermath, and his death is merely an afterthought. I would say that this book is certainly not for the neophyte, though all three books combined are pretty comprehensive. Amongst others, Napoleon: A Life is a solid one volume effort of recently memory that covers the military aspects as well as a balanced approach to the overall life. This book ends the series magnificently, but I would recommend it for those with a solid background in the period and Napoleonic studies. Still, an incredibly important account of those times, supplemented by recently available new correspondence from the era.
October 1, 2023
The majority of this work follows common fault lines within Bonaparte's empire in the waning post Jena period, with the notable inclusion of updated historiographies that expand the broader political narratives that existed at the time but have been omitted in other works about Napoleon due to access, length issues, or because they ran counter to the themes presented in those works.
Broers is a master storyteller and intricately weaves together the characters beyond Napoleon himself who collectively established, mismanaged, defended, and at the end confounded the emperor.
The highlight of the whole work exists on the back 75 pages where Broers breaks down in a methodical but accessible detail the competing priorities of the victors in 1815, and how even his contemporaries and victors struggled with what would legacy would be. Martyr to the Bourbon? Agent of chaos in waiting? Returning hero (again)?
At the close Napoleon was doomed to spend his short remainder exiled from the narrative he himself had spent close to 20 years creating. This (plus cancer) turned out to be his undoing.
I objected to one area of Broers narrative: the idea Broers concludes that Napoleon was born into/ is of a nobility and class that paralleled the world he eventually overthrew. Rather, Hitchens was closer to the mark when he noted 20 years ago that nationalisms and identity grow stronger at the periphery (pointing to Napoleon first). Bonaparte's 'otherness' in his Corsican background creates a yearning to be more French than the French, and creates a hyper-inflated sense of what that even means. Broers is not wrong in that Bonaparte split from the system that initially gave him his opportunity, however even after this masterwork it seems unlikely that anyone will likely be able to definitely decide whether M. Bonaparte was the savior, or the gravedigger, of the revolution that carried him up.
Broers is a master storyteller and intricately weaves together the characters beyond Napoleon himself who collectively established, mismanaged, defended, and at the end confounded the emperor.
The highlight of the whole work exists on the back 75 pages where Broers breaks down in a methodical but accessible detail the competing priorities of the victors in 1815, and how even his contemporaries and victors struggled with what would legacy would be. Martyr to the Bourbon? Agent of chaos in waiting? Returning hero (again)?
At the close Napoleon was doomed to spend his short remainder exiled from the narrative he himself had spent close to 20 years creating. This (plus cancer) turned out to be his undoing.
I objected to one area of Broers narrative: the idea Broers concludes that Napoleon was born into/ is of a nobility and class that paralleled the world he eventually overthrew. Rather, Hitchens was closer to the mark when he noted 20 years ago that nationalisms and identity grow stronger at the periphery (pointing to Napoleon first). Bonaparte's 'otherness' in his Corsican background creates a yearning to be more French than the French, and creates a hyper-inflated sense of what that even means. Broers is not wrong in that Bonaparte split from the system that initially gave him his opportunity, however even after this masterwork it seems unlikely that anyone will likely be able to definitely decide whether M. Bonaparte was the savior, or the gravedigger, of the revolution that carried him up.
January 6, 2026
This is a fascinating, compelling history of Napoleon’s final ten years, beginning with the lead-up to his disastrous invasion of Russia, through Leipzig, banishment to Elba, his return and the expanding and increasingly ‘unified’ – to an extent – alliance determined to put an end to him. Waterloo and the French civil war that ensued... it is a comprehensive, thought-provoking history of the people, the events, the geo-political maneuverings. It humanizes Napoleon, his strengths and weaknesses, his hubris and his vanity... as well as many of the other historical figures without empathizing with or for them.
I would have rated it 5-stars but for two criticisms. First – and admittedly perhaps inescapable – is that the author assumes the reader is thoroughly conversant with Napoleon and his history prior to 1811. He regularly makes passing, independent reference to places, events, battles, interactions with others, without any context or reminder to the reader of what they were, or the relevance to the narrative at the current point in time. The book is already 650 pages long, so I concede that is a consideration... to fully explicate past people and events would double or triple the page count, and the focus after all is 1811-1821 – and that content is superb!! Nevertheless, some brief sentence or reminder or call-back to refresh the otherwise ignorant reader such as myself would be immensely helpful.
Second, and inexcusable, is the vast array of proofing errors throughout the text. Missing words, missing prepositions, incorrect tenses, using possessive for plural, incomplete phrases, to cite but a few samples... the text is saturated with them. It is annoying, distracting, and occasionally puzzling as you try to puzzle out what is meant, what is missing. A meticulous proof-reader would have been worth all the time and money necessary.
I would have rated it 5-stars but for two criticisms. First – and admittedly perhaps inescapable – is that the author assumes the reader is thoroughly conversant with Napoleon and his history prior to 1811. He regularly makes passing, independent reference to places, events, battles, interactions with others, without any context or reminder to the reader of what they were, or the relevance to the narrative at the current point in time. The book is already 650 pages long, so I concede that is a consideration... to fully explicate past people and events would double or triple the page count, and the focus after all is 1811-1821 – and that content is superb!! Nevertheless, some brief sentence or reminder or call-back to refresh the otherwise ignorant reader such as myself would be immensely helpful.
Second, and inexcusable, is the vast array of proofing errors throughout the text. Missing words, missing prepositions, incorrect tenses, using possessive for plural, incomplete phrases, to cite but a few samples... the text is saturated with them. It is annoying, distracting, and occasionally puzzling as you try to puzzle out what is meant, what is missing. A meticulous proof-reader would have been worth all the time and money necessary.
December 28, 2024
A fitting conclusion to one of the best biographies of Napoleon - perhaps the best in the series as it chronicles the quickening downfall of Napoleon’s Empire. Borers’ strength is the fine balance between the political/domestic and the military, with attention to the details or private lives and human moments. The military descriptions are accessible - not overly detailed or complex and simple enough to follow. The highlight for me is the more personal: the domestic and international politics, the private lives, the human characters not just the action.
This biography is thus far the best account of the Empire’s decline and fall - slowly and then all at once. It’s incredible watching how gradually the foundations crumble and then quickly the pieces begin to fall as Napoleon accelerates towards his downfall, and his encore performance against the odds that marks him as one of history’s greatest characters.
The main drawback is the lack of post Waterloo content. A very common issue with most Napoleonic biographies - everything after Waterloo is reduced to a mere chapter or epilogue. I had high hopes this book would give this period some due attention, especially since its title included 1811-1821, but alas it does not. 1811-1815 would be more fitting.
Whilst the first exile and 100 Days are not overly rushed, St Helena (6 years of this book’s purported decade) get mere paragraphs. Although this period of his life is not the most dramatic or action packed, it’s still fascinating to see how Napoleon fell from great heights and began crafting the myths and legends that grew beyond his death, and it’s a shame it’s not given the same level of detail and insight as the earlier period.
This biography is thus far the best account of the Empire’s decline and fall - slowly and then all at once. It’s incredible watching how gradually the foundations crumble and then quickly the pieces begin to fall as Napoleon accelerates towards his downfall, and his encore performance against the odds that marks him as one of history’s greatest characters.
The main drawback is the lack of post Waterloo content. A very common issue with most Napoleonic biographies - everything after Waterloo is reduced to a mere chapter or epilogue. I had high hopes this book would give this period some due attention, especially since its title included 1811-1821, but alas it does not. 1811-1815 would be more fitting.
Whilst the first exile and 100 Days are not overly rushed, St Helena (6 years of this book’s purported decade) get mere paragraphs. Although this period of his life is not the most dramatic or action packed, it’s still fascinating to see how Napoleon fell from great heights and began crafting the myths and legends that grew beyond his death, and it’s a shame it’s not given the same level of detail and insight as the earlier period.
December 11, 2022
Word of wise to the curious: it may be worth your while to bone up on French Revolution history, if not the first half of the Napoleonic Wars--well before you read this book. The parade of battles, generals, politicians, personalities, towns, and cities can and will at times grow overwhelming. I majored in history in college and still found some sections confusing, which required me to take a few notes here and there.
Broers is one of the best Napoleon scholars around and writes with great authority. In addition, he is good to tip his hat to many other scholars who have come before. This book makes the historical record more complete than it's ever been, by way of the release of several letters and battlefield correspondence that have only recently come to light--a mere two hundred years after the fact. The reader, will be left with the tragedy, brutality, and barbarism of a series of costly, inhumane wars that cost millions of lives. France itself lost three million men in combat.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a mix of brilliance and hubris, especially so towards the end of his reign. A genius bureaucratic organizer with immense military skill--by the end of his rule, Napoleon made a series of foolish, ham-handed, delusional decisions that ultimately doomed him. In spite of that, his battles are still studied by students of military history and he is indeed a notable person in history. Napoleon's conduct in battle greatly influenced the conduct and strategy of warfare for at least the next half-century and influences the modern map of Europe, even into today.
Unless you're already a big history buff, start with something much more manageable first.
Broers is one of the best Napoleon scholars around and writes with great authority. In addition, he is good to tip his hat to many other scholars who have come before. This book makes the historical record more complete than it's ever been, by way of the release of several letters and battlefield correspondence that have only recently come to light--a mere two hundred years after the fact. The reader, will be left with the tragedy, brutality, and barbarism of a series of costly, inhumane wars that cost millions of lives. France itself lost three million men in combat.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a mix of brilliance and hubris, especially so towards the end of his reign. A genius bureaucratic organizer with immense military skill--by the end of his rule, Napoleon made a series of foolish, ham-handed, delusional decisions that ultimately doomed him. In spite of that, his battles are still studied by students of military history and he is indeed a notable person in history. Napoleon's conduct in battle greatly influenced the conduct and strategy of warfare for at least the next half-century and influences the modern map of Europe, even into today.
Unless you're already a big history buff, start with something much more manageable first.
September 28, 2025
“The nervous secrecy… revealed Napoleon’s fear that Paris would see his real circumstances for itself, whispering the wind that he was in real danger. Napoleon was anything but oblivious to the shallow foundations his regime rested on, but the insouciance with which he treated the peace talks in Prague revealed, in equal measure, that he refused to render France what it wanted, what might save him: peace.”
While the depth with which Broers discussed not only overall strategy but tactics (allied and French alike) was greatest in this book relative to the others in the trilogy, and while Broers does a good job of building the aura of the impending collapse of the house of cards that was the empire as 1812 got closer (and especially after that), I had two big issues here. (1) We never really see into the mind of Napoleon— we see what he did and ordered, but there were almost no quotes from him and definitely no glimpses into his personality/aura. This was the case in the first two books as well, but especially in this one the lack of insight into who Napoleon actually was made this feel more like recounting facts rather than telling the story of his life. (2) I finished this book thinking it was the end of the third part of a four part biography, the fourth part covering his second exile. Then I realized there was no fourth book, and Broers just didn’t touch the St Helena years essentially at all. This shocked me— this was Broers’ opportunity to make up for my issues in point 1! In a rare moment in history, we had one of the most significant men in world history spending a full six years doing nothing but reflecting on what it was that made him so significant. It could be its own book!!
The quality of the things I liked in this book was such that I still rate it highly. And truthfully I wouldn’t have known what was missing had I not read two other Napoleon biographies previously. I’d recommend to anyone, obviously, but with the caveat they have to read at least one other biography in addition! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️!
While the depth with which Broers discussed not only overall strategy but tactics (allied and French alike) was greatest in this book relative to the others in the trilogy, and while Broers does a good job of building the aura of the impending collapse of the house of cards that was the empire as 1812 got closer (and especially after that), I had two big issues here. (1) We never really see into the mind of Napoleon— we see what he did and ordered, but there were almost no quotes from him and definitely no glimpses into his personality/aura. This was the case in the first two books as well, but especially in this one the lack of insight into who Napoleon actually was made this feel more like recounting facts rather than telling the story of his life. (2) I finished this book thinking it was the end of the third part of a four part biography, the fourth part covering his second exile. Then I realized there was no fourth book, and Broers just didn’t touch the St Helena years essentially at all. This shocked me— this was Broers’ opportunity to make up for my issues in point 1! In a rare moment in history, we had one of the most significant men in world history spending a full six years doing nothing but reflecting on what it was that made him so significant. It could be its own book!!
The quality of the things I liked in this book was such that I still rate it highly. And truthfully I wouldn’t have known what was missing had I not read two other Napoleon biographies previously. I’d recommend to anyone, obviously, but with the caveat they have to read at least one other biography in addition! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️!
November 27, 2022
Very detailed telling of the final 10 years of Napoleon empire. The author includes actual excerpts from notes or journals from Napoleon and other important figures throughout so the reader can get a glimpse of what each was thinking during this time in world history. My challenge was the book was very dense and found myself needing a legend to track all the characters. I came away with a much better general understanding of the history during this period. However I missed many of the opportunities I felt the author was trying to make on strategy decisions because I wasn’t tying together the location and character history. Note I hadn’t realized this was the third book in the trilogy so that also contributed to my struggle keeping the historical figures organized.
January 26, 2026
so much detail, so many names, so much glory in the blood of battle and only generals and marshals matter. Failed to explain why what happened did happen and why the rise and fall of Napoleon came to be.
April 12, 2023
Substantially unreadable: typos, frequently impenetrable prose, and the bizarre use of mostly illegible antique maps. The services of a good editor could salvage a future edition.
April 22, 2025
Why does Broers gotta do my boy Lafayette dirty?
September 18, 2025
Stunning.
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