NAPOLEON'S WARS Hardback - 2008

by Esdaile, Charles

A magisterial account of the warsthat engulfed Europe during therise and fall of Napoleon.

No military figure in history has been quite aspolarizing as Napoleon Bonaparte. Was he a monster,driven by an endless, ruinous quest for military glory?Or a social and political visionary brought down bypetty, reactionary kings of Europe? In the definitiveaccount to date, respected historian Charles Esdaileargues that the chief motivating factor for Napoleonwas his insatiable desire for fame. More than a myth-bustingportrait of Napoleon, however, this volumeoffers a panoramic view of the armed conflicts thatspread so quickly out of revolutionary France to countriesas remote as Sweden and Egypt. Napoleon's Warsseeks to answer the question, What was it that madethe countries of Europe fight one another for so longand with such devastating results? Esdaile portraysthe European battles as the consequence of rulers whowere willing to take the immense risks of either fightingor supporting Napoleon risks that resulted in theextinction of entire countries. This is history writingequal to its subject grand and ambitious that willjoin Viking's impressive backlist of European historytitles, such as Tim Blanning's The Pursuit of Glory andDiarmaid MacCulloch's The Reformation.