MICHAEL BROERS

Napoleons life reached its most extraordinary stage, between 1805 and 1810. In 1805, Napoleon was suddenly at war with Britain, Russia, and Austria. He mobilised all his power to confront them, unleashing his magnificent Grande Armee. Its first, resounding victory at Austerlitz was followed by a whirlwind of campaigns, bringing Napoleon and his men to the borders of Russia. These stunning triumphs made Napoleon the master of the continent, but they left Britain unbowed. In the years that followed, this struggle with Britain came to dominate Napoleons actions, leading him into the bloodbath of the Spanish Peninsular war, and his attempt to blockade Europe against British commerce. In 1809, Austria launched yet another assault on him. By 1810, Napoleon had routed them, and divorced Josephine in order to marry the daughter of the Austrian Emperor. But at a time of such victory, his own family was torn asunder in the struggle for survival.

This is the first life of Napoleon, in any language, that makes full use of the new version of his Correspondence compiled by the Fondation Napoléon in Paris to replace the sanitized compilation made under the Second French Empire as a propaganda exercise by his nephew, Napoleon III. All previous lives of Napoleon have relied more on the memoirs of others than on his own uncensored words. Michael Broers biography draws on the thoughts of Napoleon himself as his incomparable life unfolded. It reveals a man of intense emotion, but also of iron self-discipline; of acute intelligence and immeasurable energy. Tracing his life from its dangerous Corsican roots, through his rejection of his early identity, and the dangerous military encounters of his early career, it tells the story of the sheer determination, ruthlessness and careful calculation that won him the precarious mastery of Europe by 1807. After the epic battles of Austerlitz, Jena and Friedland, France was the dominant land power on the continent.Here is the first life in which Napoleon speaks in his own voice, but not always as he wanted the world to hear him.