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Book Summary and Reviews of Napoleon by Michael Broers

Napoleon by Michael Broers

Napoleon

The Decline and Fall of an Empire: 1811-1821

by Michael Broers

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Published:
  • Aug 2022, 496 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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.

Napoleon: 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 date: 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.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"The relentless fascination with Napoleon and his empire continues to generate books, mostly biographies, and this is another fine entry by Broers...An outstanding addition to the groaning bookshelves on one of the world's most recognizable leaders." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"With his ninth book about Napoleon Bonaparte, Broers demonstrates the pleasures of methodical, detailed history...A masterful and unfailingly insightful examination of Napoleon's final years." - Library Journal (starred review)

"Oxford University historian Broers delivers a granular history of Napoleon's final decade...[T]hose with the background and wherewithal to navigate Broers's staccato prose will find a nuanced and insightful portrait of a once mighty ruler in decline. This impressive scholarly history is best suited for experts." - Publishers Weekly

"The scholarship is impressive, the narrative has the pace and panache appropriate to the subject, and there is much that is new, particularly when Broers probes behind the glitzy façade of Bonaparte's empire." - The Times (UK)

"What one wants of a biography on this scale is the scholarship without the show, and that is just what Broers delivers. Empathy never gets the better of his critical detachment. This is a biography to trust." - The Spectator (UK)

This information about Napoleon was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Michael Broers

Michael Broers is a Professor of Western European History at Oxford University. He is the author of The Napoleonic Empire in Italy, winner of the Grand Prix Napoleon Prize; Napoleon: Soldier of Destiny; and Napoleon: The Spirit of the Age, both available from Pegasus Books. He lives in Oxford, England.

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