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William Duggan

Napoleon's Glance: The Secret of Strategy (Nation Books) Paperback – March 19, 2004

by William Duggan (Author)

29 ratings

Part of: Nation Books (22 Books)

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In Napoleon's Glance William Duggan discovers the secret of Napoleon's success -- coup d'oeil (pronounced koo-DOY) meaning a stroke of the eye, or "glance": a sudden insight that shows you what course of action to take. It comes from knowledge of the past: You draw on what worked in other situations, in a new combination that fits the problem at hand. Napoleon's Glance -- probably the first book to link Napoleon's victories to Picasso's development as an artist! -- tells how 10 great strategists owed their success to coup d'oeil. All 10 applied it with great effort and risk and no guarantee it would work. But in case after case, we find the same story: How American women won the vote. How General Patton became the most successful Allied general on the Western Front of World War II. How Joan of Arc saved France from certain conquest by England. How in one generation Japan went from a peasant backwater to an industrial giant. How Picasso became the leading artist of the twentieth century. Though there have been scores of books written about Napoleon, this is the first popular book written for the general reader about his military strategy.

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publication date

March 19, 2004
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.76 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

1560256028
ISBN-13

978-1560256021
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book's own stroke of genius is Duggan's coherent reporting of coup d'oeil as it occurs throughout the centuries, while at the same time relating it in a way sure to inspire readers to discover their own formulas for success."

About the Author

William Duggan teaches strategy at Columbia Business School. He has twenty years of experience as a strategy advisor and consultant. He is also cofounder of Creative Strategy group, which helps organizations and individuals apply the art of Napoleon's strategies to whatever they do.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bold Type Books; 2nd edition (March 19, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1560256028
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1560256021
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.76 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #510,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #157 in Napoleonic War History (Books)
- #847 in Japanese History (Books)
- #1,059 in Asian Politics

Customer Reviews:
29 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		71%
4 star		7%
3 star		17%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Irwin Gray

Highly enjoyable reading it, at the same time it conveys an interesting message

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2013

Verified Purchase

What differentiates major success from the average accomplishment? It is the ability of the individual concerned to perceive the full ramifications of a situation and devise an innovative response. That response maximizes the payoff, that results from the successful accomplishment, to the individual. The book provides a number of vignettes that describe the response of a number of individuals who attained outstanding success in what they set out to accomplish. The author uses Napoleon's manner of sizing up a battlefield as the vehicle to present the idea that the "sizing up" the battlefield to overcome the enemy is the way an executive, for example, should learn to size up a company event to turn it into a "victory" for the firm and, not so incidentally, for himself

One person found this helpful

Helpful

BlueBird

Study, strategize, survey and observe, then use your instincts

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2013

Verified Purchase

Not a bad proposition.
Still perfecting what I learned. It's tough to match Napoleon Bonaparte's instincts and his stamina for staying up night after night strategizing all the angles.
But as he said: "You never reach so high, as when you're not totally sure of where you're heading."

2 people found this helpful

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Markus FISCHER

A must read

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

Took Duggan's class at Columbia - and read the book. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the creative process and how to get a 'flash of insight'

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Outstanding

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2013

Verified Purchase

I chose to read this book to learn of strategy to ultimately help me become a better leader. I feel like this book has inspired me and I look forward to my own coup dois.

One person found this helpful

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Robert O. Kaiser

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2015

Verified Purchase

Great book! Tells secret of success for Napolean and Patton.

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Chris Review

The writing is a bit unorganized and not super well edited

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

The writing is a bit unorganized and not super well edited, which detracts slightly from the decent stories the book contains.

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B. Raglin

Good but not consistently so

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2017

Verified Purchase

Great idea, interesting few chapters, but then the examples started to seem a bit forced.

One person found this helpful

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John Martin

Worth reading for historical information, but persuasive as to the author's main argument.

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2017

Napoleon’s Glance is William Duggan’s attempt to demonstrate how sudden insights occur. The title comes from a phrase the German Carl von Clausewitz, who had been defeated by Napoleon, coined, “coup d’oeil” meaning a stroke of the eye, or glance. Actually it is not so much a glance as an idea that comes to you all at once and shows you what strategy to adopt. Duggan gives 10 examples of this concept beginning with Napoleon and continuing with Picasso and a number of famous people. It is interesting to read about these people, but the concept has been explored better in such books as Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

Duggan claims that the most famous case of Napoleon’s Glance is the Apostle Paul, who was an enemy of the Christians named Saul and then had a revelation that Duggan claims showed him the way to found the Christian church. Well, not exactly. First of all what happened to Saul is a matter of conjecture. The bible says Jesus Christ appeared to him and he converted to Christianity. Well, other people have made that claim including the guy who walks up and down Market Street in San Francisco with a sign that says, “Repent.” Moreover to accept this version we have to believe that Jesus was really God and, by extension, in Adam and Eve and the whole creationism story.

A stronger case can be made for Pablo Picasso, who as a young artist was in a competition with the older Henri Matisse. One day Picasso was invited to the apartment of Gertrude Stein where he saw a picture painted by Matisse and some African sculpture. He put the two together to form his unique style. The chapters on Emma Baker and Alice Paul are more about two dedicated women who were influential, but unrecognized figures in the civil rights and women’s suffrage movements.

Then there is the chapter on Joan of Arc. Coup d’oeil is supposed to be the result of taking advantage of circumstances based on study and experience. Napoleon and General Patton are given as two leading examples. But Joan was an illiterate 17-year old girl who knew nothing about warfare. To claim that she had such an insight is utter nonsense. As the chapter progresses we see that Joan was an inspiration to the French troops and not really a military strategist.

In sum, the book is worth reading for its historical information. Did you know, for example that George S. Patton was dyslectic and believed in reincarnation? But it is really a stretch to make the case for the concept of coup d’oeil as anything more than learning from experience and taking advantage of opportunities.

6 people found this helpful

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