{"product_id":"napoleon-book-ruth-scurr-9781784741006","title":"Napoleon","description":"**A FINANCIAL TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY TIMES, TIMES, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH AND HISTORY TODAY BOOK OF THE YEAR**  'Glorious . . . Scurr   has achieved something remarkable: a completely original book on a completely   unoriginal subject . . . a truly remarkable writer, one of the most gifted   non-fiction authors alive' Simon Schama, Financial   Times       A revelatory portrait of Napoleon to mark the 200th anniversary of his   death, written for our own time, not in power politics or epic battles, but   through his love of nature and the gardens that gave his revolutionary life   its light and shade       Napoleon's gardens range from his childhood olive groves in Corsica, to   Josephine's gardens and menageries in Paris, to gardens in Cairo, Rome and on   Elba, to the walled garden of Hougoumont at the battle of Waterloo, and   ultimately to Napoleon's final garden on St Helena, where Chinese labourers   built him a summerhouse where he could sit and scan the sea in his final   months.       During the French Revolution ideas about nature - human nature, the natural   world and exchanges between the two - were at the centre of fierce political   debates and events. In this lively and perceptive cultural history, Napoleon   is placed firmly in this context: he wanted to see himself as a patron of the   sciences and progress, bringing an end to the Revolution and binding up its   wounds. In fact he unleashed an era of destruction and war, causing millions   of deaths across Europe.       In this innovative biography, as uniquely fitting its subject as Ruth   Scurr's applauded portraits of Robespierre and John Aubrey, Napoleon emerges   a giant figure made human, seen through the eyes of those who knew him best -   close witnesses, rich and poor, famed and obscure - in the shade of his   gardens. The result is vivid, multidimensional and haunting, throwing us back   in time, so that we see him before us, both as the Emperor hunting for glory   and the man in an old straw hat, leaning on his spade.       'An immensely satisfying and captivating book .   . . charming and intelligent' Andrew Roberts, Times   Literary Supplement","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49510510100753,"sku":"GOR011402035","price":14.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50109943283985,"sku":"GOR012561999","price":13.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50235929002257,"sku":"CIN1784741000VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1784741000.jpg?v=1751216778","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/napoleon-book-ruth-scurr-9781784741006","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}