Napoleon (Profiles in Power) [Textbook Binding]

Geoffrey Ellis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0582025478 | ISBN-13: 978-0582025479 | Publication Date: November 1996

An important reappraisal of Napoleon's life and career which throws new light on his personality and policies and the nature and aims of Napoleonic imperialism. By exploring the different ways they have been interpreted and used by historians this study also illuminates the very process of history making itself.This is a balanced portrait of a man who so completely dominated his age.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Napoleon: From a hero to a zero

* Illuminates Napoleon's personality and policies.
* Traces Napoleon's imperial ambitions.
* Distinguishes the real legacy of the Empire from legend.
Napoleon completely dominated his age. At the height of his power his empire stretched across Europe from Portugal to Russia and from Scandinavia to Italy. Yet his fall from power was dramatic and he died in exile on St Helena. This interesting account provides an excellent introduction to the nature and mechanics of Napoleon's power, and how he used it. It explores Napoleon's rise to fame as a soldier of the French Revolution and his aims and achievements, as first consul and emperor during the years 1799-1815. Focusing on the nature of Napoleon's power, this compelling account examines Napoleon's personality and policies, looks at the nature and aims of Napoleonic imperialism, traces the development of his imperial ambitions throughout his career, looks at the relentless elaboration of his own power during the passage from Consular to Imperial rule. Napoleon distinguishes the real legacy of the Empire from the legend. Napoleon will richly reward and Napoleonic enthusiast fascinated by the man and the myth. In the Profiles in Power series, Napoleon is not a biography, though inevitably it contains much biographical material, it instead analyzes the major features, achievements and failures of Napoleon's career. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Textbook Binding: 304 pages
• Publisher: Longman Pub Group (November 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0582025478
• ISBN-13: 978-0582025479
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,426,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for the initiated., January 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Napoleon (Profiles in Power) (Textbook Binding)

This is my first book on Napoleon, though not my first book on French history. Ellis' book has many good insights and seems to me well-written. He arranged his book according to themes, rather than on a timeline. This is difficult, however, for the beginner, as a basic knowledge of Napoleonic history is assumed. At the end of his book, Ellis recommends Felix Markham's "Napoleon" as a good introductory work, and I will take his advice, then perhaps reread Ellis, as I think it deserves to be read with the details of Napleon's history already in the readers mind.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Little Book On Napoleon's Impact on European History, November 23, 2002

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Napoleon (Paperback)

This slender tome is an elegant overview of Napoleon's political and cultural impact on 19th Century Europe. It is not a political or cultural biography of Napoleon, but instead, a collection of essays which addresses Napoleon's roles as a soldier, statesman and patron of the arts during the first French Republic and first French Empire (1792-1815). Ellis demonstrates Napoleon's acquisition and retention of power during the first half of the book. He closes with several fine essays which show how Napoleon's power was depicted artistically and what - if any - was Napoleon's legacy to France and to Europe. This is unquestionably a book of interest to those familiar with Napoleon's career, early 19th Century European history, or both.