Napoleon

A Life

By: Andrew Roberts

Narrated by: John Lee

The definitive biography of the great soldier-statesman by the New York Times best-selling author of The Storm of War.

Austerlitz, Borodino, Waterloo: His battles are among the greatest in history, but Napoleon Bonaparte was far more than a military genius and astute leader of men. Like George Washington and his own hero Julius Caesar, he was one of the greatest soldier-statesmen of all times.

Andrew Roberts's Napoleon is the first one-volume biography to take advantage of the recent publication of Napoleon's thirty-three thousand letters, which radically transform our understanding of his character and motivation. At last we see him as he was: protean multitasker, decisive, surprisingly willing to forgive his enemies and his errant wife Josephine. Like Churchill, he understood the strategic importance of telling his own story, and his memoirs, dictated from exile on St. Helena, became the single best-selling book of the 19th century.

An award-winning historian, Roberts traveled to 53 of Napoleon's 60 battle sites, discovered crucial new documents in archives, and even made the long trip by boat to St. Helena. He is as acute in his understanding of politics as he is of military history. Here at last is a biography worthy of its subject: magisterial, insightful, beautifully written, by one of our foremost historians.

©2014 Andrew Roberts (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"The pleasures of Roberts's big, richly detailed biography of the great French conqueror are enhanced in this outstanding audiobook production. John Lee is a steady and agreeable narrator, and a good choice for a work this long. Based on the recent full publication of the 33,000 letters Napoleon wrote in his lifetime, the narrative offers a close-up and largely sympathetic view of one of history's most interesting, accomplished, and - yes - likable personalities. Lee maintains the fine balance between intimacy and perspective, as well as between Napoleon's current and former reputation, to make this one of the stellar histories and audiobook adaptations of this year." ( AudioFile)

Extremely detailed

A very solid read for anyone interested in French history. The accounts of the battles are by far my favorite part, although sometimes hearing the French names for locations and people without context can become confusing.

Well written book.

Would you listen to Napoleon again? Why?

Yes as the book is well written and story is interesting.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

I loved his reading and way of speaking in English. Unfortunately, his french isn't very good and there are lots of friends names and words throughout. As a french speaker, it's actually hard to understand that part. But the rest of the performance in English is flawless.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Impossible isn't french

Any additional comments?

I'm glad that i listened to this book as an audiobook. I'll definitely will listen to other books.

A leader from birth to death

Make no mistake: this is an in-depth look at one into the life of the greatest world leaders in history. It covers everything from his birth to his upbringing and the political situation involving his family all the way to his rise to power and straight on to his defeat and exile (and everything in between). I am interested in the history of Napoleon, and this audiobook was a pleasure to listen to.

Truly a great man

Napoleon was one of the greatest people who has ever lived and Roberts makes sure that is known. The equal of Caesar

Great man, great book

Really good narration, and Roberts attempts to put forward all legitimate point of views, with astonishing detail.

Translate, please

Sometimes the reader would speak French without following with a translation. Overall, it is a fantastic book. Minimum words complete.

Loved it

Holy One my favorite historical figures this is a great read to listen to on a road trip or at work

Exciting and energetic story - I recommend this!

Great story of possibly the world's most energetic man. The story is captivating by the accomplishments and raw speed Napoleon worked while somewhat heartbreaking at the scale of death and destruction he brought to Europe and to a smaller scale the Middle East. it's hard to imagine some of the difficulties his men endured and yet inspirational in how they loved him.

Excellent summary of a fascinatiating man/period

For an audiobook of this size, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to listen to. For those who want to know the detail of Napoleon's life and all of the battles that he personally commanded (warning: this means the Iberian peninsula wars from c. 1807 to 1814 doesn't feature heavily), you would struggle to find another book that delivers so powerful a story in such interesting detail.

I read a review before I bought this book myself, which indicated the battles had too much detail, making the book difficult to follow. I have to say that I disagree. For some major battles, the book went into a demi-brigade (or regiment) level of detail, but I didn't find this off-putting as this is a unit that is sizeable enough to turn the tide of a battle (for example, at Marengo in 1800). I would agree that details of individual companies or batteries would feel monotonous but I don't recall this level of detail being provided frequently, or at all.

This will be the first book that I recommend to anybody yearning to know more about Napoleon or the period of history which bears his name.

Fantastic story

Such an amazing life and story that it’s hard to believe it happened. The reading is phenomenal as well!