Napoleon

An accomplished Oxford scholar delivers a dynamic new history covering the last chapter of the emperor's life-from his defeat in Russia and the drama of Waterloo to his final exile-as the world Napoleon has created begins to crumble around him. In 1811, Napoleon stood at his zenith. He had defeated all his continental rivals, come to an entente withRussia, and his blockadeof Britain seemed, at long last, to be a success. The emperor had an heir on the waywith his new wife, Marie-Louise, the young daughter of the Emperor of Austria. His personal life, too, wascalm and secure for the first time in many years. It was a momentof unprecedented peace and hope, built onthe foundations of emphatic military victories. But in less than two years, all of this was in peril. In four years, it was gone, swept away by the tides of waragainst the mostpowerful alliance in European history. The rest of his life was passed on a barren island. Thisis not a story any novelist could create; it is reality as epic. Napoleon: The Decline and Fall of an Empiretraces this story through the dramatic narrative of the years1811-1821and explores the ever-bloodier conflicts, the disintegration and reforging of the bonds among theBonaparte family, and the serpentine diplomacy that shaped the fate of Europe. At the heart of the story isNapoleon's own sense of history, the tensions in hisown character, and the shared vision of a family dynasty torule Europe. Drawing on the remarkable resource of the new edition of Napoleon's personal correspondence produced by theFondation Napoleonin Paris, Michael Broers dynamic new history follows Napoleon's thoughts and feelings,his hopes and ambitions, as he fought to preserve the world he had created. Much of this turns onhisrelationship with Tsar Alexander of Russia, in so many respects hisalter ego, and eventual nemesis. Hisinability to understand this complex man, the only person with the power to destroy him, iskey to tracingthe roots of his disastrous decision to invade Russia-and his inability to face diplomatic and military realitythereafter. Even his defeat in Russia was not the end. The last years of the Napoleonic Empire reveal its innate strength,but it now facedhopeless odds. The last phase of the Napoleonic Wars saw the convergence of the mostpowerful of forces in European history to date: Russian manpower and British money. The sheer determinationof Tsar Alexander and the British to bring Napoleon down is a storyof compromise and sacrifice. The horrorsand heroism of war are omnipresent in these years, from Lisbon to Moscow, in the life of the common solider.The core ofthis new book revealshow these men pushed Napoleon back from Moscow to St. Helena. Among this generation, there was no more remarkable persona than Napoleon. His defeat forged his myth-aswell as his living tomb on St. Helena. The audaciousenterprise of the 100 Days, reaching its crescendo at theBattle of Waterloo, marked the spectacular end of an unprecedented public life. From the ruins of a life-andan empire-came a new continent and a legend that haunts Europe still.