This is a short
biography by Hourly History on the famous French emperor of the late 18th and 19th Century -
Napoleon Bonaparte. Most of us have heard of him for being the person who made
France a superpower and nearly achieved his dream of conquering Europe.
It starts with
Napoleon’s early life; the fact that he wasn’t even French but in fact,
Corsican (island to the south of Sardinia, Italy) and is from a family where
his father’s aim was to achieve Corsican independence from France. It then goes
on to his interactions with the French elite when he attended school in the
mainland and how his political opinions developed; eventually going on to
become the face of the French revolution and emerging as the President of the
republic (subsequently crowned the Emperor). The book also talks about his
military pursuits, his Napoleonic code and also on his ambitious plans to
attack Britain. It then touches upon his eventual downfall and retirement to
Elba and St Helena where he breathed his last.
The book, like
any other Hourly History book delivered on the promise of giving the biography
in an hour. I liked it that the book touched about his less known Italian heritage
and his link to Corsica considering, Napoleon is the very person people think
of when they think of France but he himself was often ridiculed for his accent
of French. The book also covered all significant events in his life, be it his
rise to power, his European conquests, his conquest of Egypt and its eventual
failure owing to the sabotage by the British Admiral Horatio Nelson.
Napoleon has
always been a controversial figure on whom I am yet to take a side; for he is
definitely warmongering but at the same time; his views on society and the
reforms he brought in were way beyond his time. The disappointment was that
this book failed to convince me to take either side or provide sufficient
information for me to take a side; for I know about his wars and military
expertise, but I would have liked it if the book had written a little more
about the reforms that Napoleon brought into the supposed conquered / liberated territories (he preferred to
use the latter).
On the whole, I
would award the book a six on ten.
Rating - 6/10
Have a nice day,
Andy
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