Thursday, we’re looking at the life of Napoleon. Sure, he was crowned emperor of France, but the historian Adam Zamoyski says he was also a rather ordinary man, who happened to live a very big life.
Napoleon’s life has been obscured by layers of myths and exaggerations. In a new biography, historian Adam Zamoyski aims to peel all that back to uncover a rather ordinary man. Zamoyski doesn’t buy the legend of Napoleon’s cunning and genius. There was a lot of luck and timing, he says, and quite a bit of PR spin that made Napoleon what he was. He did build lasting institutions for the common good, but he was also his own enemy. Zamoyski joins us to talk about the life of Napoleon, the man.
Adam Zamoyski is a historian and the author of several books on Napoleon. His newest is Napoleon: A Life [Indie bookstores|Amazon|Audible].