Napoleon

Rating:
Summary: Excellant Book
Review: An excellant review of Napoleon's life . Avoids eulogizing or daming his subject - picks his strengths and weaknesses. Interesting views as to his cause of death.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Account
Review: I found this to be a highly readable, well balanced and fascinating account of Napoleon's life. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I have been studying this mystery of a man for many years and when I picked this book up, I could not set it down. Not only does it go in depth, but the author also mentions several things I had NEVER read anywhere else (i.e. the Little Red Man, etc.) and I would recommend it over almost every Bonaparte bio currently in print.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Napoleonic bios ever!
Review: I have been studying this mystery of a man for many years and when I picked this book up, I could not set it down. Not only does it go in depth, but the author also mentions several things I had NEVER read anywhere else (i.e. the Little Red Man, etc.) and I would recommend it over almost every Bonaparte bio currently in print.

Rating:
Summary: Fair, balanced account of Napoleon
Review: I have read two other biographies of Napoleon, and felt like this work adds nicely to the literature on his life. McLynn provides rich detail on most aspects of his life, as well as insightful analysis. My only complaint involves his brief interjections of psychoanalytic interpretations of Napoleon's psyche, especially from the Jungian perspective. Although I feel that these interpretations are valid, they need to be either described in detail or not at all. All in all, however, I would recommend this book both to serious Napoleon students and those reading about him for the first time.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book to Read
Review: I never fail to be fascinated by the life of Napoleon, and even tho it is less than five years since I read Alan Schom's biogrraphy as soon as I saw this book I wanted to read it. It is less "down" on Naploeon than is Schom's book, tho there is plenty to dislike Napoleon for even if one is not universally condemnatory of him. I only gave this book four stars because there are no footnotes, though there are about fifty pages of "sources" listed. But there is no way to check where McLynn gets any of statements from, and that is not a good thing. But if that does not bother you you will enjoy this account of the fantastic career of its subject.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book to Read
Review: I never fail to be fascinated by the life of Napoleon, and even tho it is less than five years since I read Alan Schom's biogrraphy as soon as I saw this book I wanted to read it. It is less "down" on Naploeon than is Schom's book, tho there is plenty to dislike Napoleon for even if one is not universally condemnatory of him. I only gave this book four stars because there are no footnotes, though there are about fifty pages of "sources" listed. But there is no way to check where McLynn gets any of statements from, and that is not a good thing. But if that does not bother you you will enjoy this account of the fantastic career of its subject.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: It isn't often that one finds a biography that is so interesting that it is hard to put down. McLynn has a clear grasp of Napoleon's life. However, towards the end of the book, there is a less defined chronological order and McLynn often jumbs between dates often. This is a minor problem and does not distract from this great book.

Rating:
Summary: Decent with no new information
Review: Just about everything that can be known about Napoleon (exept perhaps whether he was poisoned) are known today. So this book adds little value in terms of historical importance. Given this, I put higher emphasis on the readabilty and the entertainment value of the book. Although not badly written, I felt the writing could have been more salacious. It is written somewhat like a college history textbook. More than a few times, I put this book down and fell asleep. Very few lives have been as remarkable and as interesting as Napoleon's. This book is a classic case in which the author fails to emphasize on the interesting aspects of his life (his rise, historical significance, brilliance, lovers, marriage life, and how people worshipped him etc). Instead, each aspect of his life seems to be given even distribution. The book could have had more sizzle without compromising historical integrity.



Rating:
Summary: mais mauve, tres biens!
Review: McLynn knows his stuff inside out! Unfortunately, the novice or intermediate academist in the Napoleonic era may not know it as well. Meaning, although McLean writes in an interesting style, much of it involves details that are not explained well enough to a novice of this era and Napolean. He writes about the intimate details of Napolean, Josephine, Joseph, countless other characters and their mistresses and paramours. He uses many lines of quotations and letters that are not footnoted, but gives the multiple references for each chapter at the end of the book.
He describes Napolean's juxtaposition in and after the French Revolution marvelously. I think I finally understand how Napolean fit in to the revolution and what happened in France during and afterward. Although the revolution is not the focus of any of the book.
McLynn does not go into much military detail about any of Napolean's campaigns, just the basics. Napolean's grand strategy and tactics seems to be emphasized. I was dissapointed in the lack of maps. I found 3 only, 1 of Europe, 1 of Austerlitz, and 1 of the Russia campaign.
I did enjoy reading the book and I learned a lot. It could have been better with more maps and a little more explanation about the concomitant 18th century European cultures and world events. The best aspects of the book were the many short interpretations of the just described events found in each chapter by an expert like Frank McLynn. Thank you for writing it!