Age of Napoleon

Hegel called him an idea on horseback, a description that suggests Napoleon Bonaparte's complexity, as well as the extent to which he changed France, Europe, and the world. Napoleon has been called a visionary, a pragmatist, a cynical opportunist, an ogre, and a demigod. Here, he is described in his own words and the words of his contemporaries: from his clannishness to his knack for being at the ...