A short, concise history of a man I knew little about. I'm not well-versed on European history in general, so there were a lot of names and places I had to look up just so I was familiar. However, the picture of Napoleon painted here was thorough, giving a glimpse of his childhood, his military career, and his political/imperial career; ending with his exile. This is a great primer for people like me who knew very little of Napoleon but want a broad, unbiased picture. ( )

Johnson does a great job in less than 200 pages, finishing with an unexpected twist. (No, Napoleon is not still alive:)
Just what I wanted. ( )

Fascinating biography of Napoleon Bonaparte. Well written introduction to the leader who seems to dominate 19th century military and European history. ( )

Paul Johnson’s “Napoleon” a Penguin Life is an excellent extended treatise of the life, career and ramifications of Napoleon Bonaparte. Mr. Johnson does a truly superb job of not only describing Bonaparte’s roots, upbringing and idiosyncrasies but also his effect on the lives of those soldiers on the field during the Napoleonic Wars and the lives of soldiers and citizens in the late 19th century and beyond. Mr. Johnson explains rather succinctly how Bonaparte was the model for many of the state despots that were to turn their ugly heads in the 20th century, how they took the blueprint Bonaparte set down and ran with it. What I would have enjoyed were some pictures of many of the artistic Napoleonic inspired items Mr. Johnson speaks of but here I am simply splitting hairs. ( )

Not brilliant. The usual, British Napoleon bashing and "we saved the world from this tyrant". Still, I was looking for something brief and simple, and that is what I got.

Broad picture of a maniac. Seemed to presume a fair amount of foreknowledge. Loved the final sentence. "We have to learn again the central lesson of history: that all forms of greatness, military and administrative, nation and empire building, are as nothing--indeed are perilous in the extreme--without a humble and contrite heart." ( )

I've loved the concept of this Penguin Lives series (now ongoing with a different publisher) since it started -- match excellent writers with worthy subjects, and keep it relatively short. It's a nice way to read a biography without investing the kind of time a lot of giant tomes require. I'd been reading a lot of novels set in Napoleonic times recently and wanted to learn more about the man behind such conflict.
I had a little trouble getting into this book at first -- perhaps because it is so short, it seemed Johnson was summing things up with a very broad brush. But I rated it four stars because of a section near the end where he explains the unintended consequences of Napoleon's actions as well as the cause of his ultimate defeat -- the forging of different ethnic groups into nations (especially Germany) and the awakening cultural cohesion of the north (Germany again). It's definitely worth reading, especially if you've been reading Patrick O'Brian and the like and are curious about the man that so many spent so long trying to vanquish. ( )

According to Paul Johnson, more biographies have been written about Napoleon Bonaparte than about any other historical figure. Nevertheless, despite the wealth of information available, Johnson manages to distill Napoleon's life, career, and legacy in a work of fewer than 200 pages. What results is a first rate and provocative contribution to the Penguin Lives series of biographies.

Johnson’s biography traces the important details of Bonaparte’s family background, rise to power, military conquests, and political career, with due attention to his personal life. Born of an Italian family, Napoleon held French citizenship only because Corsica was ceded to France the year before his birth in 1768. No ideologue, Napoleon saw everything in terms of his own power; the sacrifice of millions of lives meant nothing if it served his own ambition and power. Indeed, to Johnson’s Napoleon, war was not merely a means, but an end in itself.

The widespread view of Napoleon as a military genius is hard to reconcile with the facts presented in Johnson’s account. Early in his career, Napoleon failed in his Egyptian campaign -- and quickly deserted his own army in favor of a chance to grab power back in France. Certainly, as Emperor, Napoleon had astonishing successes against English and Prussian armies in continental Europe, in part due to lightning attacks that overwhelmed his opposition. Nevertheless, he never understood naval warfare, and for that reason, England lay beyond his grasp. And then there is the disastrous invasion of Russia, and the astonishing miscalculations at Waterloo, followed by his final, lonely exile. What’s more, selling such a large portion of France’s holdings in North America to the newly established United States is (from a strategic standpoint) surely a “failure of imagination” on a monumental scale.

Paul Johnson’s Napoleon is no admirable figure. He violated every treaty and agreement he ever signed, including the one involved in his own first exile to Elba. Further, events that he set in motion caused the loss of four to five million lives, not to mention the enormous loss of property. (For his actions, Johnson asserts that Napoleon would be tried as a war criminal today -- an arguable point in view of the lack of consequences for recent US leaders under international law). Further, despite having conquered much of Europe, he had neither the ability nor interest to administer an actual empire. Napoleon’s legacy, ironically, became a negative one -- the establishment of political alliances that made it impossible for any European nation to dominate the others for nearly a century -- putting an end to the perpetual wars between France and England.

One small error mars this otherwise fine work. Johnson confuses two of Napoleon’s brothers, in stating (p. 10 and 109) that Lucien was established as King of Holland, until his abdication in 1810. In fact, this position was assumed by Napoleon’s younger brother Louis (Johnson also gets the dates of birth/ death wrong).

This book offers a challenge to ideologues who assert that history is caused by impersonal events and forces. Without a Napoleon (and for that matter, without the fortuitous timing of his birth), two centuries of European history would have turned out differently. Paul Johnson’s Napoleon offers a thought - provoking and informative perspective on an important historical figure who left a legacy as troubling as any other person of the 18th century, and whose crimes against humanity were not to be exceeded until the 1930s and beyond. ( )

Broad picture of a maniac. Seemed to presume a fair amount of foreknowledge. Loved the final sentence. "We have to learn again the central lesson of history: that all forms of greatness, military and administrative, nation and empire building, are as nothing--indeed are perilous in the extreme--without a humble and contrite heart." ( )

Never have I read such a mixture of hatred & admiration for one man. Obviously, the man is not a Napoleonist, but British to the core. All the same, it was a good book. Rather just than listing dates & battles, it explains the strategies used in the battles in an easy-to-follow manner. It also has little known anecdotes regarding Napoleon’s personal relationships.
However, there are several indescrepancies. Whether it is on the part of the author or the editior, it is difficult to tell. For example, page ten states Luien (1775 – 1846) was “more amendable to Bonaparte schemes, serving him as a soldier & later as King of Holland; but ill-health & lack of enthusiasm forced him to abdicate in 1810, when he faded from public life.” In actuallity, it was Louis (who is not mentioned at all in the book) that was to become King of Holland & it was his mental instability that forced him to abdicate. Lucien, on the other hand, had defied Napoleon’s plans for him by marrying for love [twice] & choosing to stick to the ideals of the Revelution rather than embracing Imperialism. The same case of misidentification is repeated on page 109. (Reported, but not corrected to this date.)
Johnson followed on the heels of Giles (author of Napoleon Bonaparte: English Prisoner) by also including a section of artists & literary figures of the period & their opinions of Bonapartism. ( )