Culture | French history

Flawed sparkler

A new biography paints Napoleon as a tactical military genius. But he made some serious strategic mistakes and was far from being a brilliant statesman

Fur real

Napoleon the Great. By Andrew Roberts. Allen Lane; 936 pages; £30. To be published in America by Viking in November; $40. Buy from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

IS ANOTHER long life of Napoleon really necessary? On three counts, the answer given by Andrew Roberts’s impressive book is an emphatic yes.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline "Flawed sparkler"

Xi who must be obeyed

From the September 20th 2014 edition

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