Napoleon

I was attracted to this biography because I like the narrator and because this was a short work, not because I like Napoleon. Napoleon is important in our history, however, and it seemed imperative to me that I should know a little more about him than what I learned in college history. But this is NOT a comprehensive history that hangs on every last event in Napoleon's life. It is a very broad overview of his career and the times in which he lived. The nittty gritty details of battles and strategy are not here. Which was okay with me. I discovered that the book was written around 1900 and that it is highly regarded among historians. That said, you have to pay attention. This is NOT one of those recordings to while away a dreary afternoon with. As a means of getting a really good grasp of the meaning of Napoleon and his impact on European and world history, it is great. If you're looking for military history and strategy, you'll probably want something in depth. The book has a style that may render it unpalatable to some people, so you'd better listen carefully to the sample before you bite. For my money it was worth it.

If you are looking for a concise biography of Napleon, this is a great choice. This work is fairly short, but extremely pithy. It was written just prior to WW I, so you may not like the writing style, though I rather like Victorian writers myself. The generous sample clip will give you a good idea of the work. Griffen does a wonderful job of bringing this work to life with his professorial narration. History buffs will love this.

Contrary to the views of some other reviewers, I find this biography well balanced. It is written, as may be expected with a biography, primarily from the perspective of Napoleon. It lists his thoughts and emotions, his motives. Yet, it time and again implies what it was that his enemies could hate in him with a passion. He was not exactly a man of morals, nor of loyalty. He was a great leader in a very calculating way, which sometimes led him to decisions touching of madness with huge personal costs to others. I therefore think, this biography is exactly what it should be. Napoleon did bring order into the government of several countries, he did fight and win, and he did so often. He also sought his advantage, with relish and constancy. If therefore, you do not know him in much detail, this is not a bad place to start, I think.

I am rather annoyed that Audible are even charging for this book - I should have believed the reviews I suppose but I figured "How bad could it be?". It's terrible at two levels. Firstly it is a very dated "Boy's Own" style adventure (published in 1913) story that somehow still fails to leave out out all the excitement and detail as it skips over the surface of fascinating events. If I were reading this I would at least be able to be able to adapt to the style and skip through the book, but obviously this is not possible with an audio book which brings me to the second problem. The production is laughably silly with an American pretending to be English (the worst of both worlds, one or the other is fine), it's like visiting the local theatre to hear the local amateur actors mangle a play. There is even even an echo on the quotations presumably to to add "drama" for goodness sakes! It sounds as if this was adapted in the early days of audio books (1950's?) but it seems to have been published in 2004 so I'm not sure. I think the only reason this book was published was that it was out of copyright and was a good money spinner.

Audible does not have a single decent biography of Napoleon which I find amazing.

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Hopelessly old fashioned and dated performance and production. Does not rescue a bad book. His accent odd - I think he is American but appears to be pretending to be English.

Annoyance that one of my first Audible purchases was such a waste of money. Audible should not even be charging for this in my opinion.

Why no single decent bio of Napoleon on your site?

do not waste your time with this book. You learn nothing about the man, and the author gives no references to many of the historical figures in the book. You simply have to know who was who in 18th century France. Additionally, the echo on the quotations is almost hilarious.

A frustrating book, poorly written (incredibly convoluted text, with awkward passive voice and double negatives used *together* a common device) and which misses the point of almost every chapter.

Virtually no discussion of Napoleon's background (the political & historical situation in 18th century Corsica is assumed!) and family.

Most of the discussion is about the brilliant geographic machinations of the military campaigns... but sadly, an audiobook makes maps a _bit_ obscure.

The politics of the court and secondary French revolutions is very poorly described, with reference to many incidents which aren't actually recounted.

I gave up after ~40%. Luckily, there are other Napoleon biographies, even here at Audible.

Oh yes. The printed version needs a trolley to pull it around

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It brought back memories of A level history in a school in the West Midlands.

I liked hearing and learning more about Napoleon but this book just didn't do it for me.

Disappointing overall. The book is largely focused on the dry facts of Napoleon's life with little insight into the inside workings of the man.

The rolling periods and circumlocutions of the writing give this biography an old-fashioned narrative flow that is difficult to follow. It is like hearing a reading of Thomas Carlyle on the French Revolution. The enthusiasm of the writer comes through, and devotées of the matter will have no trouble paying attention; but if you don't know the basic story already, this biography of Napoleon will be hard going.

I'm sorry that Audible does not have a better, short biography available. The one by Vincent Cronin would be very suitable and accessible for the casual listener.