For a book that is supposed to "simplify" history for regular [non-history loving] people, this book is deadly dull. I would have been better off just reading a historical book on Napoleon. The best part of this book was the last three chapters, with the last chapter being better than most of the book, given the complete overview of Napoleon's life. Overall, for me, this was a huge disappointment and I won't be seeking anymore of these books out.

Thank you to NetGalley, J. David Markham, Matthew Zarzeczny, and Simply Charly/BookBuzz.net for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), the self-appointed first emperor of France and king of Italy, eventually controlled much of Europe. The authors compare Napoleon to three great men of history that he looked up to: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Charlemagne. With each chapter, it became much more clear to me that I never realized just how much Napoleon influenced the world and shaped modern Europe. Most of these elements have an ulterior motive, but does the good outweigh the bad?

In Malta, he deported the Knights, rewrote the constitution abolishing feudalism and slavery, reorganized the educational system, and gave religious freedom to the Jewish as well as making them full citizens.
His soldiers discovered the Rosetta stone.
Responsible for the Napoleonic Code replacing Rule of Man with the more equitable Rule of Law, which presumed wealthy were not always right, a person was innocent until proven guilty and had the right to legal counsel.

After Malta, he continued his empire-building...actually empire-taking... and would have appointed himself emperor of the East as well as emperor of Europe if he had not been defeated. How different would the United States look if Napoleon had not needed money from the Louisiana Purchase to fund rearmament in order to seize central Europe from Alexander I of Russia and Francis II of Austria?

One of the biggest love stories also appears to be just that, a story. While Napoleon may have loved Josephine immensely, she had an affair early in their marriage that cooled his ardor. While he still loved her, he later divorced Josephine on a technicality as she did not provide a male heir and then married an Austrian archduchess as a political ploy to win friends and influence people.

Napoleon was eventually exiled to St. Helena, a dot in the South Atlantic Ocean that eliminated any realistic chance of escape. A few attempts were made on his life, with murder perhaps being his cause of death. There was an ill-timed attempt on Christmas Eve whereby a barrel of gunpowder was set to go off as Napoleon’s carriage passed by, his snuff was replaced with poison, a kidnapping scheme (read that as abduction and murder) and arsenic poisoning. While the royal lineage of Napoleon I died out, his legacy is a study of contrasts: admired or reviled, victorious or defeated, villain or hero.

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/