Napoleon: The Path to Power (2007)

by Philip Dwyer

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At just thirty years of age, Napoleon Bonaparte ruled the most powerful country in Europe. But the journey that led him there was neither inevitable nor smooth. This authoritative biography focuses on the evolution of Napoleon as a leader and debunks many of the myths that are often repeated about him--sensational myths often propagated by Napoleon himself. Here, Philip Dwyer sheds new light on Napoleon's inner life--especially his darker side and his passions--to reveal a ruthless, manipulative, driven man whose character has been disguised by the public image he carefully fashioned to suit the purposes of his ambition. Dwyer focuses acutely on Napoleon's formative years, from his Corsican origins to his French education, from his melancholy youth to his flirtation with radicals of the French Revolution, from his first military campaigns in Italy and Egypt to the political-military coup that brought him to power in 1799. One of the first truly modern politicians, Napoleon was a master of "spin," using the media to project an idealized image of himself. Dwyer's biography of the young Napoleon provides a fascinating new perspective on one of the great figures of modern history.… (more)

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The Dynasts by Thomas Hardy (CurrerBell)
CurrerBell: Hardy's superb but not-too-well known verse drama of the Napoleonic Era, written at just the beginning of the 20th century, is unproducible as a stage play but reads extremely well as a "closet drama" along the lines of Samson Agonistes (although I wouldn't put Hardy or anyone else on the same plane as Milton). The Dynasts, from late in Hardy's career, deserves a lot more respect than it gets from critics and recognition than it gets from ordinary readers.… (more)

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The author states in his front matter that his intent is to write a biography emphasizing self-promotion as a major factor in Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power. That sounds very much like the words of a man who is not in thrall to the Napoleonic Legend, and indeed the author takes a dim view of Bonaparte's abilities and personality. Yet bias is not the essential problem with this Brontosaurus. The problem, at bottom, is that his vehicle to examine said self-promotion is to obsess over some rather uninteresting paintings, newspapers, and plays in tedious detail; moreover, the reproductions of the paintings are so small and dark that the reader cannot follow along with the points he is making--admittedly the publisher's fault, not his own. Add on his fascination with abstruse tangents such as Corsica's politics in the revolutionary age, and the book soon becomes tiresome. The book contains very little military detail, which makes it a sketchy biography indeed, and one might suggest that if the author did simply want to explicate Bonapartist self-promotion, he should have written a shorter, more focused book on that specific subject, and ridden his hobbyhorse down that path. (

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Big_Bang_Gorilla | Jul 12, 2017 |

A rather long and rambling account of the rise to power of a humble corporal. A person who invented himself and hand crafted his way to ascendency through very tumultuous times for his country Starting with the Revolution, The terror under Robespierre, The Directory which was succeeded by his installation as Dictator. As they say, history repeats itself and another personality, in the same neighborhood, followed similar tactics almost a century and a half later to the utter horror and detriment of the whole world.

danoomistmatiste | Jan 24, 2016 |

kkhambadkone | Jan 17, 2016 |

Excellent combination of scholarship and readability. Military history is not overemphasized, and the battle scenes that are presented are generally well supported by maps. (The one exception is the Battle of the Nile; but considering that this was a naval battle of Nelson versus Brueys, the absence of a battle map is consistent with the somewhat cursory treatment that Dwyer legitimately gives to a battle in which Napoleon himself played virtually no part.)

One complaint might be that Dwyer gives too summary a treatment to the French Revolution itself, but it's probably fair to expect a reader to have at least a general knowledge of this historical event and Dwyer does give a very good background of Paoli and Corsica, so important to Bonaparte's early life but not that well known among contemporary readers.

I also like the numerous illustrations of artwork that pertain to the Napoleonic myth and Dwyer's excellent tie-in between these illustrations and his text. (

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CurrerBell | Mar 13, 2014 |

5092. Napoleon The Path to Power, by Philip Dwyer (read 29 Nov 2013) This book, first published in 2007, covers in interesting and vivid detail Napoleon's life up to the time of his seizure of power in November 1799. It is the fourth Napoleon biography I have read--having read John Holland Rose's 2-volume biography in August 1957, Alan Schom's on 15 May 1998, and Frank McLynn's on 24 Nov 2002. The book shows well how Napoleon over-glorified his victories and de-emphasized or lied about his defeats. The book does not say much good about Napoleon and there is not a great deal of good to say about him during the years covered by this book. A further volume will cover the balance of Napoleon's life and maybe some good things will be shown in such volume. But I found this a hugely readable and exciting account, even though it does not show Napoleon in a good light. His seizure of power was a near run thing and blatantly illegal--he was much helped by the inepitude of his enemies. (

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Schmerguls | Nov 29, 2013 |

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

National Biography Award (2008)

Prime Minister's Literary Award (Shortlist – Nonfiction – 2008)

Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Nominee – Nettie Palmer Prize for Australian Nonfiction – 2008)

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Canonical title

Original title

Napoleon - The Path to Power 1769-1799

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2007

People/Characters

Napoleon Bonaparte

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

For my father,
Francis Matthew Dwyer

First words

Prologue: Napoleon is one of those figures whose legend is so persistent that it often confounds historical reality, especially in the popular imagination.

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Original language

English UK

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▾References

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Wikipedia in English (6)

Al-Azhar Mosque

Bibliography of Napoleon

Clisson et Eugénie

Le souper de Beaucaire

List of books about the Napoleonic Wars

Military career of Napoleon Bonaparte

▾Book descriptions

At just thirty years of age, Napoleon Bonaparte ruled the most powerful country in Europe. But the journey that led him there was neither inevitable nor smooth. This authoritative biography focuses on the evolution of Napoleon as a leader and debunks many of the myths that are often repeated about him--sensational myths often propagated by Napoleon himself. Here, Philip Dwyer sheds new light on Napoleon's inner life--especially his darker side and his passions--to reveal a ruthless, manipulative, driven man whose character has been disguised by the public image he carefully fashioned to suit the purposes of his ambition. Dwyer focuses acutely on Napoleon's formative years, from his Corsican origins to his French education, from his melancholy youth to his flirtation with radicals of the French Revolution, from his first military campaigns in Italy and Egypt to the political-military coup that brought him to power in 1799. One of the first truly modern politicians, Napoleon was a master of "spin," using the media to project an idealized image of himself. Dwyer's biography of the young Napoleon provides a fascinating new perspective on one of the great figures of modern history.

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