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Napoleon the Great
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
- Length: 37 hrs and 23 mins
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Napoleon the Great
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Summary
Napoleon Bonaparte lived one of the most extraordinary of all human lives. In the space of just 20 years, from October 1795, when as a young artillery captain he cleared the streets of Paris of insurrectionists, to his final defeat at the (horribly mismanaged) battle of Waterloo in June 1815, Napoleon transformed France and Europe.
After seizing power in a coup d'état, he ended the corruption and incompetence into which the revolution had descended. In a series of dazzling battles, he reinvented the art of warfare; in peace he completely remade the laws of France, modernised her systems of education and administration, and presided over a flourishing of the beautiful Empire style in the arts.
The impossibility of defeating his most persistent enemy, Great Britain, led him to make draining and ultimately fatal expeditions into Spain and Russia, where half a million Frenchmen died, and his empire began to unravel.
More than any other modern biographer, Andrew Roberts conveys Napoleon's tremendous energy, both physical and intellectual, and the attractiveness of his personality even to his enemies. He has walked 53 of Napoleon's 60 battlefields and has absorbed the gigantic new French edition of Napoleon's letters, which allows a complete reevaluation of this exceptional man.
He overturns many received opinions, including the myth of a great romance with Josephine: She took a lover immediately after their marriage, and, as Roberts shows, he had three times as many mistresses as he acknowledged.
Of the climactic Battle of Leipzig in 1813, as the fighting closed around them, a French sergeant major wrote, "No-one who has not experienced it can have any idea of the enthusiasm that burst forth among the half-starved, exhausted soldiers when the Emperor was there in person. If all were demoralised and he appeared, his presence was like an electric shock. All shouted 'Vive l'Empereur!' and everyone charged blindly into the fire."
Andrew Roberts is a biographer and historian of international renown whose books include Salisbury: Victorian Titan (winner, the Wolfson Prize for History); Masters and Commanders; and The Storm of War, which reached number two on the Sunday Times best seller list. Roberts is a fellow of the Royal Societies of Literature and Arts. He appears regularly on British television and radio and writes for the Sunday Telegraph, Spectator, Literary Review, Mail on Sunday and Daily Telegraph.
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Critic reviews
"Magisterial and beautifully written.... A richly detailed and sure-footed reappraisal of the man, his achievements--and failures--and the extraordinary times in which he lived." (Jeremy Jennings, Standpoint)
"Roberts tells his story with vigour and aplomb. And even critics of the emperor will recognize that there is much new information in Roberts’s 814 pages, while the frequent complaint that is made of a tendency among authors to foreshorten the military narrative is not suitable here." (Charles Esdaile, Literary Review)
What listeners say about Napoleon the Great
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- robert
- 17-07-15
Never dull
Amazing, a long book but worth it , I raced through it in a week and left wanting more.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 24-03-21
very interesting book
very interesting book full of interesting facts and stories:) very recommended
definitely in first 10 of my favourite books 📚
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-03-22
Fascinating
I like how the author isn't afraid to nails his colours to the mast and say he thinks Napoleon was great. Napoleon comes across as a likeable guy for all his faults, he just wanted to make France great again.
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- Tom Wiser
- 31-10-19
A great introduction to Napolean
I knew nothing about him before. A very interesting historical figure and well read.
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- SD
- 13-08-20
The rise & fall if Napoleon The Great
Really gives a good well rounded intoduction to the man himself and the era he both lived in, and ushered France into.
You steadily begin to see his arrogance taking over his thoughts & actions. Oh how different a world we would live in, if Napoleon could control his overconfidence!
Highly recommend.
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- Mark
- 01-11-17
Terrific story. An epic life.
Napoleon doesn't get the best press in England's story. But opponent is not the same as villain. This book - which is well read - is a fine and balanced endorsement of Napoleons genius. Flawed yes. But what a life. I now understand why Goethe called him "the Enlightenment on horseback".
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- Nicholas
- 24-02-17
Great book about a great man
Napoleon an evil tyrannical leader who caused centuries of war, how could I sympathize with him? The first part of the book about napoleons early life drags on with little interest yet it lays the foundations required for this interesting character. By the time he is in the army he's gone through the angsty teen bit and you can start to sympathize with him, reading (I started with the physical book) about his philosophy you start to agree with him. As he starts to go into politics you get extremely confused about how this man is perceived as evil. When he reaches emperor you are definitely on his side. You really can't stop yourself from being impressed. As an admirer of Wellington a lover of sharp I thought napoleon was a terrible human advancing on Russia and losing to the British in Spain and at Waterloo but after this book I have loved learning about napoleon the great and was genuinely fairly sad about how he died in the end. Very good book really interesting would recommend to all who are interested in history or warfare.
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- Ishbel
- 01-05-19
Very informative
I wanted to know about the life of Napoleon and this book definitely filled that gap in my knowledge. The campaign details can be a bit confusing ...in book form I would have read them a few times. if you are looking for a good biography which explains his military career and civil achievements this did the trick. It might lead you to further research on any particular aspect .
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- MR Nathan Gallagher
- 08-01-24
Great reader, fascinating story
Listened to this instead of watching the recent movie (which I’ll watch later)
Loved the cadence and character of the reader, enhanced the already engaging text beautifully. I struggled to recall and keep up with all the individuals involved (hardly the authors fault) but enjoyed it nonetheless.
Incredible account of an incredible life
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- Mr Neil T Foley
- 11-04-24
Fascinating
Fabulous book and I learned so much about the great man, as being English I was naturally biased against him but what an extraordinary fellow he was. Great details in the book and well researched, and I loved it all.
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