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Napoleon: The Path to Power

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"Napoleon: The Path to Power" explores the political ambitions and private evolution of Napoleon Bonaparte's first 30 years, from his Corsican roots until the coup of November (Brumaire) 1799 that made him the most powerful man in France and would give that nation the first military regime of the modern era. Philip Dwyer takes us through the major events of Napoleon's military campaigns into Italy and Egypt, with an emphasis on their role in shaping and revealing the Commander-in-Chief's growing ambition and ruthlessness. We see the political cauldron on Corsica that fostered Napoleon's abandonment of ideology in favor of opportunism, and we follow his transformation from anti-French Corsican to Republican Revolutionary to Imperialist.

Dwyer makes a point of the sophisticated, aggressive means by which Napoleon fashioned the public perception of himself. He was his own spin-doctor, utilizing military reports, letters, engravings, pamphlets, and the newly popular newspapers to promote himself in France while he pursued military conquest abroad. There was nothing extraordinary about this, except perhaps the extent of Napoleon's foresight and ambition, but the man was undeniably astute in understanding what a fickle populace wanted its leadership to look and sound like. Dwyer asserts that he may have been the first person to pretend to avoid public acclaim in order to attract it. Inevitably, attempts to appropriate Islamic rhetoric to enhance his image in Egypt flopped, as he understood the culture poorly.

I have no background in Napoleonic history, so I cannot compare Dwyer's work to others. I am familiar with 18th century France, however, and I appreciate this book's view of the Revolution from the perspective of Corsica, which was new to me, as well as the factional politics of Paris seen through the eyes of someone trying to exploit it for very un-Republican ends. I found the writing a little slow until the Egyptian Campaign, when it becomes more nimble and engaging. The importance of Bonaparte's family and the divergence of Napoleonic legend and fact are ever-present themes. Dwyer concludes with analysis of what enabled the coup of Brumaire to succeed and of Napoleon's continual willingness to exploit opportunities that other men didn't.

I had been looking for an in depth overview and analysis of Napoleon's early years. One which provides a context for his early career during those revolutionary years at the end of the 18th Century. The modern era was created during those years so their importance cannot be over estimated. This superb biography provides the overview and the context, as well as a profound portrait of Europe as it stands on the brink of several different revolutions. It manages to humanize Napoleon, not demonize him. It is an unbiased view that provides a three dimensional portrait, warts and all, enabling the reader to draw her own conclusions as to the nature of this military genius and failed conqueror. It is an academic study, so readers not used to the technical side of history, as well as the density of historical language, will have difficulty reading this book. If that does not intimidate you, however, and you share a fascination with Napoleon, then this book will be one you greatly enjoy, and from which you can draw substantial sustenance. This is the first book in a prospective series and I look forward to the subsequent volumes.

Although a history major in college I have studied very little of Napoleon or the time and places of his greatest influence. Thus I come to Dwyer's book with a love for history but without a critical background of prior Napoleon research. Therefore I must asses this book by the tools of history and by my own opinions as a reader of history books, rather than by assessing Dwyer's overall worth for Napoleon studies.

What I look for in a history book are the kinds of sources, the use of sources, the author's bias, the quality of the writing, and the interpretive skill of the author. This last part must be balanced extremely well, as we are looking for a study of the subject, not an opinion piece that pushes too much.

As a reader of history I want to be within the story as much as possible, given the facts and connections that allow me to draw my own conclusions.

According to these standards I look for Philip Dwyer has written a truly wonderful book.

I am not in a position to fully judge the source material he depends upon, however it appears that Dwyer has made ample use of a great variety of primary sources, and has then bolstered this with a wide selection of secondary sources from throughout the past 200 years. We are given, it seems, a very full and balanced picture of Napoleon. This includes more than just insights into his achievements. Indeed it seems Dwyer is more concerned with who Napoleon was as a man, with the achievements serving to illustrate the psychology and drive.

And maybe this is the best way to look at this book. Dwyer has written a very solid history that if not entirely exhaustive for some specialized scholars it is certainly such for a non-scholarly reader. Yet throughout we hear him examine Napoleon as a man, with insights and interesting perception into the motivation. This is by no means a common distraction, as Dwyer's emphasis is clearly and primarily a good historical study. He does not peek into the story very much and it seems he has written a very balanced view of a very controversial man. But we do hear from Dwyer enough in this book to make me, on occasion, feel intruded upon as I disagree with Dwyer's own interpretation or feel he hasn't entirely grounded his interpretation on what was presented. This is a minor quibble in an otherwise very good book.

Dwyer does also, on occasion, seem to want to show his proper academic skepticism in regards to the sources. This is what scholars should do, but there are times in which he dismisses a source or denigrates it, especially in the beginning, because of unsubstantiated suspicion. There is so much myth built up around Napoleon and Dwyer wants move past that, sometimes a little too forcefully and without established reason for rejection.

The Path to Power is not a light read. It is very good and detailed history, not a general overview for a popular audience. The very details that make this so wonderful a study also would bog down a great many readers, even if they have a more than casual interest in history.

I would highly recommend this book as a great starting place for research and understanding of Napoleon. It is a tremendous overview of his rise to power and the motivations and insecurities that were at the foundation of his historic achievements. For me, a lover of history, it was a wonderful treat to discover a famous man I had not studied before, and I'm greatly looking forward to another volume... to see how this fascinating story ends.

Dwyer has written in excrutiating detail about the early life of Napoleon, and if you are writing a paper on the subject, you should definitely read this book.
I am not sure that it is a book that most of us could read for pleasure. There are carefully-supported speculations about just what kind of teasing Napoleon might have experienced at school, and hour-by-hour descriptions of battles. Chapters turn into undifferentiated lists of details, sexual adventures followed by responses to the plague and then back to the battles, all described as though Dwyer wanted to make sure not to waste any of his research. There are pages and pages of meticulous endnotes. The reader is certainly educated by this book, but perhaps not entertained or even enlightened. The sweep of history is overwhelmed by the minutiae.
Though there is perhaps an effort at a neutral tone (for example, at one point a scene of stomach-turning brutality is summed up as an "unhealthy atmosphere"), my overall impression was that Dwyer found the whole subject distasteful. However, the sheer quantity of data is such that we cannot help but be convinced that Dwyer is an expert on the subject.
After reading this book, you will feel like a bit of an expert yourself.

The author of this work, Philip Dwyer, studied at the Sorbonne under Jean Tulard, perhaps the most influential scholar whose primary discipline focusses upon the Napoleonic Era of French history, and since it is Tulard who pointed out that there have been more books published having as subject Napoleon Bonaparte than there have been days since his death, a reader may be excused if he believes that this new work dealing with the life of Bonaparte will be one requiring a bit of an effort in order to glean something fresh from such a frequently discussed subject. Dwyer, however, demonstrates that such will not be required in this instance, wherein he illustrates that when Napoleon rises to power it is not, in fact, due primarily to leadership guile and cunning, but rather in spite of a raft of apparently native shortcomings, notably a tendency to sag into a state of dejection, exacerbated by wide-ranging psychologic waywardness with which he was beset since his earliest years. An advanced skill for compelling others to follow his path into hazardous circumstances has become accepted as a Bonapartean hallmark, and Dwyer is particularly effective at depicting the manner with which the French leader raised his self-esteem, burying innate insecurity before consciously attempting to sway followers toward his modes of belief. Dwyer, Lecturer-Modern European History, at Australia's University of Newcastle is preparing a second work for what is a projected two volume history of Bonaparte, with each to be apparently free of the pretensions of those authors who have treated their famed subject as either a powerfully emblematic figure or as a rather lightweight military and political personage who created his entire reputation from whole cloth. Nonetheless, Dwyer's effort here will often be seen as revisionist in its details, as when he is able to reassemble, in the book's opening pages, the invention developed from an oft reproduced painting by Antoine-Jean Gros that depicts Bonaparte leading his charges, standard in hand, across a bridge against an Austrian foe at the battle of Arcola (1796), a patent pictorial fiction because, despite centuries and more of romantic claims, Napoleon's endeavour failed as he nearly drowned in a ditch of water. Throughout this worthy piece that will please most readers who delve into European history, Dwyer displays a keen ability to limn Bonaparte's use of propaganda for self-dramatization, and this is but one ingredient in what will in all likelihood, and deservedly, bid fair to become a contender as a standard biography of Napoleon. Of all its many strong points, Dwyer's employment of original documents is most impressive. A bibliography and index are well-organized and there are 78pp. of frequently detailed chapter notes.

Napoleon's military brilliance, his ruthless domination of both his army and France's conquered territories - such as in his Egyptian campaign - and his intuitive grasp of nation building through nation invading, is a fascinating story and author Philip Dwyer writes a gripping tale of Napoleon's strategic and tactical military conquests.

Yet, for this very reason, Dwyer's "Napoleon: Path to Power" reads more like "Napoleon: March to Victory" as the book is less a political biography as it is a military history. With its interesting battle and territory maps, as well as art and captions, I felt this book earned a 4-star rating.

Dwyer clearly establishes Napoleon's early influences as a youth on Corsica and at a boarding school in France, where he learns - sometimes at great expense - that the battlefront is a means to the end in the battleground of ideas. As a young adult, he uses his army abroad to build a constituency back home in France. He shamelessly manipulated his soldiers, the press, his family and friends and even his countrymen to achieve his real ambitions of political domination.

If Dwyer had followed that narrative, this book may have been a more compelling story. Napoleon wasn't a general who somehow became a politician; he was a politician who became a general so he could become an even bigger politician.

The proof of which is that Napoleon's greatest victory isn't even on the battlefield; it's a bloodless coup d'etat in 1799 over the corrupt and ineffective French Directory (his superiors) - the post-Revolutionary constitutional government. He was 30-years old and First Counsel of an emerging European power.

I found this to be a very interesting book on Napleon's first 30 years - a path that took him from being out-of-the-way Corsica to leader of one of Europe's most powerful nations. Some would say this is a somewhat harsh look at Napoleon, in that it tries to get at the real man and his achievements (or failures in the case of the Egyptian campaign) that he often "spun" to support his rise to power.

The book is well written and very, very detailed -- nearly 700 pages and probably not the first work someone should read on the subject. The book ususally sustained my interest and had very few dull patches -- I often find miltary history dull but these parts of the book moved fairly quickly. The book makes the case that Napoleon was a man who shaped history rather than a man who happened to be at the right place at the right time -- We all know Napoleon was a figure of importance but this book tries to gives us a better understanding of who he really was, behind the public image he worked to create.

Napoleon really did have an amazing life (remember he was sent off the St Helena at age 45) and this book is likely to be as good a chronicle as one will find covering his first three decades. I fault the book somewhat for its length, but otherwise it is highly recommended!

Napoleon Bonaparte became the leader of the most powerful country in Europe at age 30 in 1799. His rise to power resulted from a convergence of France's deplorable post-revolution social-political condition and the need of French celebrate and elevate an "individual who embodied republican virtues - honor, glory, and the possibility that an individual of relatively humble origins could achieve great things."

Author Philip Dwyer, senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle and the author of many publications on Napoleonic Europe, has provided a definitive (126 pages of footnotes) biography, "Napoleon: The Path to Power, 1769-1799," on Bonaparte and the convergences that led to the coup and Bonaparte's power grab.

Readers will be struck by Napoleon's use of "media spin" to successfully fashion his public image and suppress his darker side. Dwyer sheds light on the latter exposing his passions, his ruthlessness, his manipulations, and his need for recognition and power. Napoleon would not have emerged in a digitized world as his serious flaws and failures would have surfaced from credible sources.

"Napoleon" begins with Bonapate's formative years in Corsica, his schooling in France, his confused youth, his flirtation with the radicals of the French revolution, and proceeds with a military career that included critical "image-creating" campaigns in Italy and Egypt, and finishes with a return to Paris marked by a power vacuum - a vacuum he filled by assuming the mantle of "Savior."

Dwyer also provides a detailed look at Napoleon's troubled personal life with wife, Josephine, who played him like a fiddle causing him great pain and suffering throughout the years that led to his ascendency.

"Napoleon" shows how Napoleon constructed his life and how he constructed his own legend. Dwyer has provided answers many unanswered questions and debunks many of the myths created by Napoleon that live to this day. History buffs, and serious historians will find this to be an important contribution to understanding one of modern history's most important figures.

Those lines from John Ford's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" kept popping into my head as I worked my way through Philip Dwyer's masterful biography, "Napoleon: The Path to Power".

Napoleon is one of those historical figures for whom legend and fact have become so entangled that it seems nigh on impossible for all but the most diligent historians (let alone readers) to unravel. The great value of Dwyer's work not only does an admirable job of sorting out fact from legend but also delves into the creation of these legends, almost all of them by Napoleon himself and the motivations behind their creation and dissemination. What Dwyer shows us is the creation and evolution of a remarkable one-man spin machine that took a young Corsican, Napoleone di Buonaparte, and worked on transforming him first into Napoleon Bonaparte, then Bonaparte, and, finally, Napoleon.

"Path to Power" takes us through the first 30-years of Napoleon's life, from his birth in Corsica to the coup of November 9, 1799 that led to his designation as First Consul. Dwyer does an excellent job in providing detailed information on Napoleon's formative years, including his time in Corsica and his military education in France, to give the reader a feel for the internal and external forces that helped shape the man to come. Dwyer's research seems exhaustive and this biography is certainly one that should be classified as `academic' rather than `popular'. However, this strong academic bent does not result in turgid, dry writing. On the contrary, Dwyer's writing is thoughtful and readable at all times. Despite the fact that my background in this era is not deep, I did not feel lost in a sea of data-points.

By the time I'd finished "Path to Power" I felt I had achieved a greater understanding of the man behind the legend and the forces that propelled him to power and a better understanding of the turbulent events that helped create the vacuum that brought him to power. This is a thoughtful, academic, yet entertaining piece of biography that is a must-read for anyone interested in Napoleon or his times. L. Fleisig

This book is an interesting look into the early life and various sides of Napoleon; including the soldier, the politician, the lover, etc. Specifically, I'm appreciative of the fact that the author doesn't look at Napoleon in a vacuum but rather the reader is presented with some of the history of Corsica, of the revolution, Napoleon's other family members, etc. All the things that in the end affected Napoleon and made him what he was to become. Undoubtedly this is one of the more entertaining and enlightening biographies that I've read. On the whole the book is a much easier read than I expected for such a complex character and time period. The author should be commended for presenting both sides of a variety of stories and 'tales' and showing myths for what they are. I've always thought it a must for an author to give the reader all sides of the story and either let the reader decide or have the author state his/her reasons for why one side should be believed over the other. Also important to note that context is provided for a variety of events in the book, such as presenting the "band of marauders" that Napoleon entered Italy with yet commenting that they were "no worse than any other army of the day."

The book goes over Napoleon's childhood on Corsica and then in France, his coming back to Corsica and his failed political movements within that Island's history. How he came back to France and through his connections was able to secure spots within the armed forces which went on to get wide attention thanks to the plethora of myths that were built up around his actions and, to a degree, his own descriptions of what went on. The two campaigns of Napoleon covered in this book are of him in Italy and Egypt. For me, being relatively new to this field, there wasn't much in terms of strategy or tactics but the author did get his points across in why Napoleon was successful. While he definitely had plenty of talent, intelligence, and other qualities that went a long way, there were, as always, mitigating factors that helped in his success and the defeat of his enemies. For example, during his retreat from Syria his army could have easily been assailed and beaten by the forces arrayed against him, which highly outnumbered him at that point, but for one reason or another they did not press their advantage and Napoleon was able to make it back to Egypt with at least the majority of his troops in tact (although plenty were suffering from disease, were wounded, etc). Napoleon's actions throughout this period resemble the majority of infamous 'tyrants' or 'rulers' of the past few centuries. His actions were not dictated by a growing awareness of what he was meant to do, although some would like to think so, but rather he took the opportunities that were presented to him on a day to day basis. I'd say the chapter on his attempt to usurp authority over France speaks volumes of how much 'planning' and 'fate' have little to do with the reality of the moment. Overall, this book is an excellent look into the early life and career of Napoleon. You will easily find the author being highly critical of some of Napoleon's actions but at the same time an explanation will be given for why he might have chosen one path over another, including a list of the options open to him, etc. Highly readable, filled with interesting facts, anecdotes, eye witness accounts, and the author's insights are, for the most part, objective.