Napoleon's Wars

A magisterial account of the wars that engulfed Europe during the rise and fall of Napoleon. No military figure in history has been quite as polarizing as Napoleon Bonaparte. Was he a monster, driven by an endless, ruinous quest for military glory? Or a social and political visionary brought down by petty, reactionary kings of Europe? In the definitive account to date, respected historian Charles Esdaile argues that the chief motivating factor for Napoleon was his insatiable desire for fame. More than a myth-busting portrait of Napoleon, however, this volume offers a panoramic view of the armed conflicts that spread so quickly out of revolutionary France to countries as remote as Sweden and Egypt. Napoleons Wars seeks to answer the question, What was it that made the countries of Europe fight one another for so long and with such devastating results? Esdaile portrays the European battles as the consequence of rulers who were willing to take the immense risks of either fighting or supporting Napoleonrisks that resulted in the extinction of entire countries. This is history writing equal to its subjectgrand and ambitiousthat will join Vikings impressive backlist of European history titles, such as Tim Blannings The Pursuit of Glory and Diarmaid MacCullochs The Reformation.