Napoleon

Napoleon: From a hero to a zero

• Illuminates Napoleon's personality and policies.
• Traces Napoleon's imperial ambitions.
• Distinguishes the real legacy of the Empire from legend.

Napoleon completely dominated his age. At the height of his power his empire stretched across Europe from Portugal to Russia and from Scandinavia to Italy. Yet his fall from power was dramatic and he died in exile on St Helena. This interesting account provides an excellent introduction to the nature and mechanics of Napoleon's power, and how he used it. It explores Napoleon's rise to fame as a soldier of the French Revolution and his aims and achievements, as first consul and emperor during the years 1799-1815. Focusing on the nature of Napoleon's power, this compelling account examines Napoleon's personality and policies, looks at the nature and aims of Napoleonic imperialism, traces the development of his imperial ambitions throughout his career, looks at the relentless elaboration of his own power during the passage from Consular to Imperial rule. Napoleon distinguishes the real legacy of the Empire from the legend. Napoleon will richly reward and Napoleonic enthusiast fascinated by the man and the myth. In the Profiles in Power series, Napoleon is not a biography, though inevitably it contains much biographical material, it instead analyzes the major features, achievements and failures of Napoleon's career.