The Life of Napoleon

After plunging Europe into a terrible war, Napoleon died on Saint Helena in 1821. Five years later his contemporary Sir Walter Scott wrote a brilliant debunking biography that stirred up international controversy for its thundering assault on the Napoleon legend. It so inflamed the French that Napoleon’s most-trusted general challenged Scott to a duel. This new edition retains his first-hand insights, elegant construction, page-turning writing and painstaking attention to detail, while selecting the parts that provide a fresh and authoritative take on Napoleon (including the ill-fated march to Moscow) for the modern historian.