Napoleon (Paperback)

From the Publisher: An acclaimed historian turns his sights on Napoleon, casting his towering life in a new light, from his early displays of military genius through his lust for power and his eventual defeat at Waterloo and exile on St. Helena.A bestselling historianÂ's vigorous and searching biography of the towering figure who cast his shadow over two centuries || In an ideal pairing of author and subject, the magisterial historian Paul Johnson offers a vivid look at the life of the strategist, general, and dictator who conquered much of Europe. Following Napoleon from the barren island of Corsica to his early training in Paris, from his meteoric victories and military dictatorship to his exile and death, Johnson examines the origins of his ferocious ambition. In NapoleonÂ's quest for power, he sees a realist unfettered by loyalty or ideology; in his violent legacy, a model for the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century. Napoleon is dramatic testimony to a single individualÂ's ability to work his will on history.