No previous book has explored deeper or broader into Napoleon's
seething labyrinth of a mind and revealed more of its complex,
fascinating, provocative, and paradoxical dimensions. This is Napoleon
as has never been seen before.
No one in history has provoked more controversy than Napoleon Bonaparte.
Was he an enlightened ruler or brutal tyrant? Was he an insatiable
warmonger or a defender of France against the aggression of the other
great powers? Was he kind or cruel, farsighted or blinkered, a
sophisticate or a philistine, a builder or a destroyer? Napoleon was at
once all that his partisans laud, his enemies condemn, and much more. He
remains fascinating, both because he so dramatically changed the course
of history and had such a complex, paradoxical character.
One thing is certain, if the art of leadership is about getting what one
wants, then Napoleon was among history's greatest masters. He understood
and asserted the dynamic relationship among military, economic,
diplomatic, technological, cultural, psychological, and thus political
power. War was the medium through which he was able to demonstrate his
innate skills, leading his armies to victories across Europe. He
overthrew France's corrupt republican government in a coup then asserted
near dictatorial powers. Those powers were then wielded with great
dexterity in transforming France from feudalism to modernity with a new
law code, canals, roads, ports, schools, factories, national bank,
currency, and standard weights and measures. With those successes, he
convinced the Senate to proclaim him France's emperor and even got the
pope to preside over his coronation. He reorganized swaths of Europe
into new states and placed his brothers and sisters on the thrones.
This is Napoleon as has never been seen before. No previous book has
explored deeper or broader into his seething labyrinth of a mind and
revealed more of its complex, fascinating, provocative, and paradoxical
dimensions. Napoleon has never before spoken so thoroughly about his
life and times through the pages of a book, nor has an author so deftly
examined the veracity or mendacity of his words. Within are dimensions
of Napoleon that may charm, appall, or perplex, many buried for two
centuries and brought to light for the first time.
Napoleon and the Art of Leadership is a psychologically penetrating
study of the man who had such a profound effect on the world around him
that the entire era still bears his name.
