Napoleon book recommendations

Sharpe?
Do you just want Napoleon or the broader context of the French revolution?

He was a pig

Anyone got a recommendation for a relatively easy read

A book on Napoleon? The shorter the more complex.

ian holm was great as napoleon in time bandits (and another film where he played napoleon).

apologies for not answering the question posed btw.

Which Napoleon?

An anecdote...

There's a lot of French words that the  Bayern (Bavarians) still use many words that come from French due to the Bavarians siding with  the French, by that I mean the Besetzung (occupation) of French troops during Napoleon's conquests.

In Bavaria words sich as "Merci" (thank you), "Portemonee" (wallet) "Diredari" (small change), "Kanabä" (canapé), "Parasoi" (parasol) and many more are still used day to day.

Wait for the film (which is gonna be awesome), then decide if you want/need to read more about him 😊

I thought this you tube video was excellent on one of the campaigns

Do you just want Napoleon or the broader context of the French revolution?

Mike Duncans French revolution is brilliant.

There's also the failed Egyptian expedition that ended in utter failure but not as badly as Russia. I guess in the 1800s if you have an unlimited supply of men desperate enough for work you can conquer a lot of land no matter how badly you keep losing and killing troops.

Even after he lost and was captured there were plans to rescue him and put him back on the French throne and even in south America. They should have killed him straight away.

https://www.history.com/news/elba-exile-napoleon-escape

After Napoleon was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, he abdicated his throne and surrendered to the British. Rather than execute him and potentially turn him into a martyr, the British placed him in exile on one of the most isolated places on earth—the British-held island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Napoleon had to give up his royal property, along with his right to rule and that of all of his current and future family members. However, he was able to keep the title of Emperor and even choose his own island nation—Elba—to rule.

The PBS America channel (I saw it on Virgin) have just run an excellent series of 3 or 4 episodes on Napoleon. Don't know if they will repeat it (probably will) .

Well worth a watch if they do.

If you are ever in new York, you can visit  the 'Museum of French Art and go see napoleon's penis which is on display. 🤣

Shortly after Napoleon died, an autopsy was carried out by his physician Francesco Antommarchi. During this procedure, his heart and intestines were removed and put into sealed vessels, a standard treatment for the bodies of monarchs. However, Antommarchi also cut off Napoleon’s penis—no one knows why.

It was then smuggled out of the island by his chaplain and would end up being bought and sold over the years by various parties, eventually ending up on display in 1927 at New York City's Museum of French Art, where TIME magazine compared it to a “maltreated strip of buckskin shoelace.” An inglorious end for one who had in a matter of years managed to conquer almost all of Europe.

Not a biography but this book covers his disasterous  1812 invasion of Russia.  Very readable. Informative (who knew French was the court language in Russia) and as well as covering the strategic situation before the war has some harrowing accounts of what it was like withdrawing through a Russian winter in summer clothing.

One of the best military history books I have read.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/1812-Napoleons-Fatal-March-Moscow/dp/0007123744/

The same author also wrote a biography of Napoleon. I haven't read it but going by the quality of his 1812 book worth a punt. I've just bought it for a holiday read.

I was hoping there'd be a sequel, can't wait to see what sweet jumps are attempted this time round

It's bound to be dynamite 🙂