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This book provides a concise, lively, up-to-date portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte's character and career, including his most important battles, while situating him firmly in historical context.

David Bell emphasizes the astonishing sense of human possibility - for both good and ill - that Napoleon represented. By his late twenties, Napoleon was already one of the greatest generals in European history. At thirty, he had become absolute master of Europe's most powerful country. In his early forties, he ruled a European empire more powerful than any since Rome, fighting wars that changed the shape of the continent and brought death to millions. Then everything collapsed, leading him to
spend his last years in miserable exile in the South Atlantic.

Bell underlines the importance of the French Revolution of 1789 in understanding Napoleon's career. It was the Revolution that made possible the unprecedented concentration of political authority that Napoleon developed, as well as his unprecedented success in mobilizing human and material resources. The Revolution gave birth to the radically new, intense form of warfare that Napoleon later practiced. Without the political changes brought about by the Revolution, Napoleon could not have fought
his wars. Without the wars, he could not have seized and held onto power. He did betray much of the Revolution's heritage of liberty and equality, and ruled as a virtual dictator. But his life and career were, nonetheless, revolutionary. There are plenty of big lives of Napoleon, and the last few years have seen the appearance of a whole new crop. Their general standard has been very high, but the detail is often daunting, not to mention the weight in the hand. Pocket-sized biographies by reputable scholars have been surprisingly less common. The best English one in recent times, by Felix Markham, was published as long ago as 1963. Napoleonic studies have moved on considerably since then, and David
Bell has been one of the leaders in advancing the field with his survey in 2007 of what he called the First Total War. Now he offers a crisp and up-to-date introduction to the amazing career of the man at the centre of it all. - * William Doyle, History * A very concise, but very illuminating history of one of the world's greatest generals. * Steve Craggs, Northern Echo * It is entertaining to read and discusses the important events and developments surrounding Napoleons reign. * Michael J. Hughes, European History Quarterly *

Napoleon: A Concise Biography

Introduction 1. The Corsican, 1769-1796 2. The General, 1796-1799 3. The First Consul, 1799-1804 4. The Emperor, 1804-1812 5. Downfall, 1812-1815 Epilogue: 1815-2015