For nearly twenty years Europe was at war with Napoleon. One after another, armies and nations fell before his military genius and dominating personality. By 1812 this self-crowned Emperor of France ruled all of Europe except Portugal. The very hinges of history seemed to turn on his strategy and his decisions.

In this fine book, Frances Winwar leads us to an understanding of Napoleon and the part he played in history. She traces his adventurous life from his birth on the island of Corsica to his last days on St. Helena. But islands were too small for a man of Napoleon's ambition and energy. He needed a stage as big as a continent.

On that stage, though, there were other actors—men who challenged Napoleon's place there: the Duke of Wellington, Admiral Nelson, Marshals Bülow and Blücher. Europe shook before their struggle ended in one of the strangest and most decisive battles in history.

Almost everybody has read something about Napoleon, but rarely have the man and the tremendous events in which he played the major role been recreated so superbly as in this distinguished book.

From the dust jacket