Final Review for 2017: Glorious Conquest and Inglorious Defeat

He was born on the island of Corsica, small in stature yet giant in his own mind.

Napoleon Bonaparte rode on the waves of the French Revolution. In the midst of chaos, bloodshed, moral decay, and economic uncertainty, he won first the hearts of the French army and finally the hearts of her people. In three short years he established himself as emperor of France, a title he greedily held onto until his death.

Many people know Bonaparte only as the petite conqueror who marched an enormous army into Russia, froze half of them, retreated, and then sometime after that (their history here is vague) met defeat at the battle of Waterloo. What they forget is that Bonaparte accomplished much good for the French nation. He quelled the destructive fires of the Revolution, revitalized and stabilized the French economy. During the first few years of his reign the French nation prospered. 

Ever the multi-tasker, he set out to conquer Europe while reconstructing the French government and eco. His vision was to unite the continent under one government, with one currency and one language. He saw himself as the man to accomplish this task. But the source of his vision became the source of his downfall: his pride. While he was a remarkable leader, and in many ways unstoppable, he failed to see his own limitations and ended his life in defeat and disgrace. His once-loving French people cursed his name, for he had sacrificed their sons and their resources for a vision they saw no reason to share. One by one his allies became his enemies as they saw their lands, cultures, and freedoms swallowed up by this mad man and his army. 

Napoleon loved himself and his vision too deeply to see that those around him slowly came to hate his impossible dream. He was so caught up in his perception of himself, his abilities, and his early victories to realize that his power was overstretched and weakening. 

The Age of Napoleon by Will and Ariel Durant captures the drama and detail of Napoleon's rise to power. Not only that, but they give the reader a glimpse of the different facets of life in the European nations surrounding France. The reader is left with a deeper understanding, not only of Napoleon's person and rule, but of all of Europe at the end of the 18th Century and the beginning of the 19th.

Unlike many historical narratives, the Durants do not pick an extreme when describing this famous man. Some historians look on him as a power-hungry ogre, devouring countries and cultures. Others see him as a military genius whose vision was too sophisticated for the world he lived in. The Durants take a much more conservative approach, neither praising nor denouncing him too much. They look at his limitations and his seemingly impossible feats with the understanding eye of humanity observing just another human.
At the same time they do not lose the beauty, intrigue, and drama of that time. The Age of Napoleon truly is a fascinating, colorful age in history, one that all of us could benefit from studying at some point in our lives.