![]() The British generally adhere to the villain theory, even two centuries later, while in France he is still a monumental figure – literally. Andrew Roberts, a British author who has spent years researching the records and walking the battlefields of the Napoleonic era, has succeeded in a single volume in reconciling the two faces of this historical colossus. ![]() Whether history will finally judge the French emperor as a necessary force after the turmoil of the French Revolution and The Terror, or just another invading warmonger hell bent on conquest and world domination will depend on the historian. Having vanquished Austria and sent the Russians scurrying, “Boney” now was able turn his full attentions to Britain which, only by the grace of a strong navy, avoided the fate of most of the rest of Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte was either Hitler or Charlemagne, depending on which side of the English Channel you lived in 1805 after he had won the battle of Austerlitz, perhaps his greatest victory. Andrew Roberts has succeeded in a single volume in reconciling the two faces of this historical colossus. ![]()
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