Napoleon

An all-encompassing study of the Napoleonic era and the man who gave it its name.

If battles were won with footnotes, this would be a modern Austerlitz. To judge by his abundant citations, freelance historian and author Englund (Grace of Monaco, 1984, etc.) has a firm command of the literature, and particularly the French literature, surrounding Napoleon; this alone sets his account apart from slighter studies that have appeared in recent years, full of interpretations but slight on documentation. Unlike many modern authors, Englund spends little time worrying over Bonaparte's capabilities as a lover or his legendary bad temper; instead, he delivers a capable, focused study of the rise (and eventual fall) as a state- and empire-building political creature the likes of which Europe had not seen since Alexander's day. But not a sui generis creature: Englund skillfully ties Napoleon's rise to the brief moment when Corsica was an independent nation determined to have its day in the sun, as well as carefully examining Napoleon's determined, endless quest for legitimacy as a ruler, "largely his own rationale for aggressive (and childish) behavior," which helps explain many of the curious political decisions he made as First Consul. He also takes issue with current theories that Napoleon was poisoned by his lieutenant, Montholon, in exile on St. Helena, arguing after examining the evidence that "Occam's razor . . . would logically slice off any recourse to the poisoning thesis." Englund is a stylish writer, even if he's guilty of occasionally unfortunate prose along the lines of "The year 1800 was still a time when 'the best and the brightest' and the 'politically correct' looked with fervent approval on what today would be labeled 'colonial imperialism.' " Moreover, he keeps a complex narrative on course, doing a fine job of showing just why so many Europeans of Napoleon's day revered him—and why his renown has endured.

A rigorous contribution to the literature surrounding Bonaparte and his time.