The European map of the day is a bit tricky as well, filled with states that no longer exist and lacking nations like Germany that would play a rather significant role in Europe a century later. This is obviously to be expected, but it added to the intimidation factor. The French pronunciations in the audiobook can get confusing during battle for non-French-listening ears, especially when you throw location names into the mix. Bernadotte, Lefebvre, Augereau, Oudinot, etc. Late eighteenth century France, if you can believe it, was populated by people with unapologetically French names. Upon first glance, “Napoleon: A Life” by Andrew Roberts is an intimidating read. We’ll see if I can sum up my thoughts without devolving into something as icky as a review. Yes, after a month of postponing my “Why I’m going to read this Napoleon book” blog post, I’ve finished reading the Napoleon book, which means I had better get moving on the blog post. I know it’s un-Napoleonic because I’ve just finished a wonderful biography of the man. Laziness is about as un-Napoleonic as it gets. Each morning I wake up, stumble to my computer, read my tasks for the day, and casually click “Postpone until tomorrow” on the task labeled “Napoleon Blog”.

I’ve deviated from that stated goal with this book because, to put it simply, I’m lazy. One of my stated goals with this blog is to discuss why I plan to read a book before I actually read it.

Andrew roberts napoleon review