Napoleon by Paul Johnson
This concise biography is written with great wit and panache, but also has a serious purpose: to make us face up to the moral bankruptcy of Napoleon's dictatorship. Johnson tells the whole story: his astonishing gift for figures and calculation, his mastery of cannon; his audacious, hyperactive and aggressive generalship and his simple battle tactics; his complete control of propaganda and the success of the cultural presentation of the Empire; the Code Napoleon; his failure as an international statesman, as Europe grew to hate him; his marshals and ministers; his wives, mistresses, personal style and working methods; the British blockade and the Continental System; the mistakes in Spain and Russia. The escape from Elba, the events leading up to Waterloo and the battle itself, which gets a full treatment, is particularly riveting.
Reviews for Paul's excellent short biography of Napoleon are coming in thickan faxt 'A coherent discussion of the topic of Napoleon in historyIn this book you are overhearing an acute mind rehearsing a selection of the best evidence.'Robert Giddings, TRIBUNE 'This biography serves as an invaluable meansof quickly getting up to speed on the life and times of one of history's most influential men, ultimately what makes it most attractive is the unsentimental and unromantic assessments.'Shane Coleman, THE SUNDAY TRIBUNE 'It is lucidly written, and enlivened by personal details and well-chosen quotations.'William Doyle, THE TLS 'A thoughtful and incisive essay.'Frank McLynn, THE INDEPENDENT 'Written with his customary verve and certainty, Johnson's book is therefore a moral as well as a narrative work.'Andrew Roberts, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'It's hard to imagine so erudite, fluent and refreshing a writer as PaulJohnson ever producing a dull book and he certainly has not done so in this latest contribution to the vast literature on Napoleon.'Conrad Black, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH OPEN BOOK (BBC Radio 4) reviewed the book on 14 July and there wa
Born in 1928, Paul Johnson has written over 30 books and is one of Britain's leading historians. His book MODERN TIMES has been translated into 15 languages. A former editor of the NEW STATESMAN, he is a frequent contributor to newspapers throughout the world.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780297607373 |
| ISBN 10 | 0297607375 |
| Title | Napoleon |
| Author | Paul Johnson |
| Series | Lives |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Orion Publishing Co |
| Year published | 2002-07-25 |
| Number of pages | 208 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |