Napoleon : A Biography

Rating:
Summary: All you want to know about Napoleon
Review: I know little about Napoleon, but wanted to fill some of the gap. This book fills my need nicely. It is very readable and I assume that the facts are accurate. I found two things annoying: the authors need to fall into Freudian analysis at times and his liberal use of his Thesauris. The first is a bit passe these days and the second leads to some strange constructions. But over all this is a worthwhile book.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent One Volume Biography
Review: If you are looking for a well written, balanced, one volume biography of Napoleon this is it! McLynn presents a very readable account of the French Emperor's life together with some fascinating insights. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Rating:
Summary: Decent
Review: This is a decent biography but nothing really groundbreaking. However in his conclusion, discussing Napoleon as a military commander, McLynn claims that he should not be counted among the great( peerless )commanders in history. I wonder where he got that. Napoleon fought more battles than Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, and Frederick the Great combined and won all but a handful of them. No other commander in military history fought more battles under more different conditions than he did.