The Age of Napoleon

Brilliant in his use of power, Napoleon Bonaparte successfully imposed his ideas and personality everywhere - from his beloved army to buildings, decor and dress, from the law to the opera, from sexual conduct to the days of the calendar. In The Age of Napoleon Alistair Horne focuses on the Emperor's non-military achievements, what it was like to live in France under the Empire. 'Horne covers everything from the nuts and bolts of Napoleonic administration to the architecture, furniture and fashions of the Empire style, taking in theatre, music, the stock market, the price of water in Paris and a variety of other subjects along the way ... Horne writes with all the authority of one who knows his subject inside out, and his mastery of telling detail is admirable' Adam Zamovski, Sunday Times. 'Horne's skill lies in boiling down the complexity of so many fields of endeavour away from the battlefield into a series of vivid tableaux, beautifully sketched, that really bring this extraordinary epoch to life' Mark Urban, Guardian