Napoleon: The Decline and Fall of an Empire

At the height of his power in 1811, Napoleon Bonaparte was a formidable force, having defeated all his continental rivals and reached an agreement with Russia. His blockade of Britain finally seemed to be successful, and his personal life was calmer than it had been in years, with his new wife, Marie-Louise, the daughter of the Emperor of Austria, expecting his heir. This moment of unprecedented peace and hope, built upon the foundations of his military victories, was, however, short-lived.

In less than two years, Napoleon's world began to crumble. Within four years, it had been swept away by the tides of war against the most powerful alliance in European history. The remainder of his life was spent on the barren island of St. Helena. This is a story that no novelist could have created – it is reality as epic.

"Napoleon: The Decline and Fall of an Empire" traces this dramatic narrative through the years 1811-1821, exploring the ever-bloodier conflicts, the disintegration and reforging of the bonds among the Bonaparte family, and the serpentine diplomacy that shaped the fate of Europe. At the heart of the story is Napoleon's own sense of history, the tensions in his own character, and the shared vision of a family dynasty to rule Europe.

Drawing on the remarkable resource of the new edition of Napoleon's personal correspondence produced by the Fondation Napoleon in Paris, the book follows Napoleon's thoughts and feelings, his hopes and ambitions, as he fought to preserve the world he had created. Much of this turns on his relationship with Tsar Alexander of Russia, in many ways his alter ego and eventual nemesis. Napoleon's inability to understand this complex man, the only person with the power to destroy him, is key to tracing the roots of his disastrous decision to invade Russia and his inability to face diplomatic and military reality thereafter.

Even Napoleon's defeat in Russia was not the end. The last years of the Napoleonic Empire revealed its innate strength, but it now faced hopeless odds. The last phase of the Napoleonic Wars saw the convergence of the most powerful of forces in European history to date: Russian manpower and British money. The sheer determination of Tsar Alexander and the British to bring Napoleon down is a story of compromise and sacrifice, with the horrors and heroism of war omnipresent, from Lisbon to Moscow, in the life of the common soldier.

Among this generation, there was no more remarkable persona than Napoleon. His defeat forged his myth – as well as his living tomb on St. Helena. The audacious enterprise of the 100 Days, reaching its crescendo at the Battle of Waterloo, marked the spectacular end of an unprecedented public life. From the ruins of a life – and an empire – came a new continent and a legend that haunts Europe still.

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