Napoleon
A Life
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Narrated by:
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Leighton Pugh
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Written by:
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Adam Zamoyski
About this listen
"What a novel my life has been!" Napoleon once said of himself. Born into a poor family, the callow young man was, by twenty-six, an army general. Seduced by an older woman, his marriage transformed him into a galvanizing military commander. The Pope crowned him as Emperor of the French when he was only thirty-five. Within a few years, he became the effective master of Europe, his power unparalleled in modern history. His downfall was no less dramatic.
The story of Napoleon has been written many times. In some versions, he is a military genius, in others a war-obsessed tyrant. Here, historian Adam Zamoyski cuts through the mythology and explains Napoleon against the background of the European Enlightenment, and what he was himself seeking to achieve. This most famous of men is also the most hidden of men, and Zamoyski dives deeper than any previous biographer to find him. Beautifully written, Napoleon brilliantly sets the man in his European context.
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What the critics say
Excellently put together and performed biography
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-the different names of people are really hard to keep track of
- the author doesn't, in my mind, treat Napoleon unfairly, but doesn't make a hero out of him
-the battle recounting is short as opposed to some of the policital back and forth which is a bit long-winded
Overall I would recommend if you are looking for a good account of who Napoleon was as a person and not so much a focus on legendary battles.
a solid book
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Fantastic
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I highly recommend this book and everything about it! Thank you Adam Zamoyski
Napoleon: A Life
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A fascinating discovery for the reader / listener of Bonaparte’s long lasting impactful and often beneficial consequences for western society through funding cultural and social institutions never implemented on such a scale.
The vacuum of power in the post revolutionary France and Europe allowed a most unlikely common man to gain at least for a time unbridled power. The scale and frequency of which he initiated war on much of the whole
world is terrifying.
The awareness that Napoleon thrived only a brief two hundred years ago brings to life how recent his actions molded much of current political European landscape.
Entertaining & Informative
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It's fine to point out when Napoleon said something that the facts don't support. It's also fair to draw comparisons of alleged war crimes with actions taken by other countries commonly at the time.
What's not fine as an historian is to insert your own moral judgements into the text. Let the reader conclude from the data what to believe about Napoleon. Don't outright tell the reader that what he did was good, or what he did was bad. It's also not fine to put yourself into Napoleon's mind and assert his motives throughout his life. Stick to the facts as we know them, outlining how we've come to know them, but stop there.
No complaints about the audio work. It's top notch.
Great narration. Historically biased writing.
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Makes you want to learn more
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Turns out, I don't like Napoleon
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Fantastic!
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Tedious Details
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