The Age of Napoleon

After spending over 40 years writing a prelude to your major work on Napoleon Bonaparte, you finish what you believe that last book you’ll be able to complete before you die but when the reaper doesn’t show up what do you do? The Age of Napoleon is the concluding volume of The Story of Civilization series written by Will & Ariel Durant not only detailing the life and career of the titular historical personage along with his place and roll in the history of the times but also the cultural history of Europe during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.

Unlike any of the previous volumes of the series that featured a person in the title—Louis XIV, Voltaire, or Rousseau—the life and actions of Napoleon Bonaparte felt like it was show more central to all the historical, cultural, and other events during the quarter century is covered. To be clear this was not a biography of Napoleon, as for nearly a third of the book he is only a shadow looming over other areas of Europe or just out of vision as a threat or inspiration depending on the individual. Yet as Napoleon dominates politically and militarily, the Durants sweep of cultural history features the dominance of Beethoven in music, the beginning dominance of German philosophers but mainly focusing on Hegel, and the variety of English poetry from Wordsworth and Coleridge with Southey on one end of the spectrum to Bryon and Shelley on the other. The 80 odd pages of the volume goes over Napoleon’s fall, but even though the reader knows how it ends the Durants write so engagingly that one keeps on turning the page. As a historical synopsis of a hectic quarter century that set the stage for the modern world, this book is a worthy concluding volume to an over 3000-year long biography of Western—i.e. European—civilization.

The Age of Napoleon features as the Durants’ put it a “once in a millennium” individual that showcases the “power and limits of the human mind”, it is up to the reader to determine if a great man shapes history or if events produce a great man. show less

if you have space for only one book on Napoleon, or the history of Europe during his lifetime, this is it. It's a thick book, but it has an immense amount to say.
This book demonstrates the power of chronology over the historical mind, because in the late 1920's, following his very successful "A History of Philosophy", Will Durant though t he'd write a book on Napoleon. Well, it became obvious that he'd have to start somewhat earlier than Napoleon if he wanted to explain Bonaparte, and thus the eleven volume "Story of Civilization" was begun. This is the last volume, published fifty years after the original idea forced its way to the surface. And you can't get a better survey of the history of Europe and the Middle east than this show more series. There's a notable quote in every paragraph, and thousands of insights on many topics. Excluding the very disappointing first Volume, that no one should bother with, every book is definitive between it's parameters. In a sense, this book is the Encyclopedia of Western Civilization. There are a lot of second hand sets floating around, get one. show less

Classic Durant. Exhaustively detailed, delightfully opinionated.

Before reading this volume I thought Napoleon had a sterling reputation. When I was finished I thought he was overrated. He was charming, extremely intelligent, organized and over ambitious.

Most of the good Napoleon accomplished is tarnished with blood of the dead.

Classic Durant. Exhaustively detailed, delightfully opinionated. Read it in pieces and if you're feeling a bit sleepy, don't even bother.

Tedious reading, too much detail that doesn't matter. Just around in time--you need to know the history before reading this or it doesn�t make sense

Possibly the greatest volume in the entire set!