ABSTRACT
With a new introduction by Andrew Roberts.
'A penetrating interpretation...No one with a serious interest in the Napoleonic period can afford to ignore it. ' - Times Literary Supplement
Whether viewed as an inspired leader or obsessed tyrant, Napoleon has divided opinion for over 200 years. Few individuals have left such a mark on history. Georges Lefebvre's classic work, published in Routledge Classics in one paperback volume in English for the first time, is a definitive portrait of the Napoleonic era.
Lefebvre’s history sweeps us from the lightning coup d’état of 18 Brumaire in 1799 to his final downfall amidst the wheatfields of Waterloo. More than a biography, it is a brilliant survey of the turbulent age Napoleon inaugurated in his attempt to redraw the map of Europe, from the Peninsular War to the invasion of Russia. The cast includes his antagonists – Pitt the Younger, Wellington, Metternich and Tsar Alexander – and his allies – the wily Minister of Police Fouché and Talleyrand, the ‘Prince of Diplomats’. Lefebvre’s account is equally clear-eyed about Napoleon’s genius and his flaws. Napoleon’s determination to emulate Caesar and Augustus condemned Europe to more than a decade of war and economic crisis, but he also built an empire, introducing educational, administrative and financial initiatives that are still in place today.
Georges Lefebvre (1877-1959) One of the foremost historians of the Twentieth Century and known as the ‘historian’s historian’, he held the chair of the French Revolution at the Sorbonne . His The French Revolution is also available in Routledge Classics.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |229 pages
From 18 Brumaire to Tilsit 1799–1807
part |56 pages
The Legacy of the Revolution
chapter |19 pages
The Conflict Between the Ancien Régime and the Revolution
chapter |29 pages
The Consequences of the War and the Terms of the Peace
chapter |8 pages
The Coming of Napoleon Bonaparte
part |78 pages
The Pacification of France and Europe (1799–1802)
chapter |21 pages
The Organisation of the Dictatorship in France
chapter |23 pages
The Pacification of Europe
chapter |32 pages
Bonaparte Consul For Life
part |95 pages
Imperial Conquest to the Treaty of Tilsit (1802–1807)
chapter |41 pages
France and England: The Struggle Renewed (1802–1805)
chapter |15 pages
Napoleon's Army
chapter |37 pages
The Formation of the Grand Empire (1805–1807)
part |313 pages
From Tilsit to Waterloo 1807–1815
part |132 pages
The Imperial Conquests after Tilsit (1807–1812)
chapter |26 pages
The Continental System (1807–1809)
chapter |41 pages
The War of 1809
chapter |21 pages
England's Successes (1807–1811)
chapter |34 pages
The Continental Blockade
chapter |8 pages
The Preliminaries of the Russian Campaign (1811–1812)
part |126 pages
The World in 1812
chapter |38 pages
Imperial France
chapter |48 pages
The Continental System
chapter |38 pages
The Independent Forces
part |53 pages
The Fall of Napoleon 1812–1815