Napoleon Facts and Fictions

Discover the man behind the myth of Napoleon Bonaparte as this book debunks popular fictions, such as Napoleon being very short or shooting the nose off the sphinx, and gives readers the real history behind the French emperor. Napoleon’s conquest of Europe not only earned him fame and power, it also fostered myths and legends about his life—rumors he was poisoned by his British guards, speculation about the lost the battle at Waterloo, a romantic myth of devotion to his wife Josephine. This book unveils the truth behind these stories, providing readers with a history of not only Napoleon as an individual, but also his reign over an empire at a watershed period in the transition from the early-modern to the modern world. An addition to the Historical Facts and Fictions series, the book is divided into ten chapters, each chapter offering a popular fiction about Napoleon, explaining how the story was popularized and what really happened, all supported through primary documentation. The volume boasts quick and easy-to-find information, which allows readers an overview of Napoleon and his context, then gives sources for further reading and understanding.