This second volume of Michael Broers’ three-volume life of Napoleon covers the tumultuous years of 1805 to 1810, a period that marks the zenith of Napoleon’s power and military success. Like volume one, SOLDIER OF DESTINY, it is based on the new version of Napoleon’s correspondence, made available by the Fondation Napoléon in Paris. It is the story of Napoleon’s conquest of Europe --- and that of his magnificent Grande Armée --- as they sweep through the length and breadth of Europe.

Michael Broers' biography draws on the thoughts of Napoleon himself as his incomparable life unfolded. It reveals a man of intense emotion, but also of iron self-discipline; of acute intelligence and immeasurable energy. Tracing his life from its dangerous Corsican roots, through his rejection of his early identity, and the military encounters of his early career, it tells the story of the sheer determination, ruthlessness and careful calculation that won him the precarious mastery of Europe by 1807.