Book Report

The time period I chose is the nineteenth century and the book I read was The Reign of
Napoleon Bonaparte by Robert Asprey. I chose to do my book report on Napoleon because he is an
interesting historical figure that I wanted to learn more about. It was fascinating to read about his
military prowess, to his conquering of Europe.
Asprey highlights Napoleon's reign from his massive successes and disastrous failures, to his
many wars, and his ultimate demise. This book is not meant to portray Napoleon as either a demigod or as a devil incarnate, but rather it is meant to give the reader a more clearer, objective view of
his achievements or failures. One of the main points in this book is Asprey's argument that Napoleon
was not the father of chaos, as his detractors would have us believe. Neither was Napoleon the father
of wars, constant warfare was the result of the revolutionary chaos, a series of wars invoked by
European and English rulers to restore Bourbon feudalistic rule to France (2).
Napoleon's vast empire stood at its greatest extent between 1809 and 1811, it included nearly all
of Europe expect for the Balkans. The lands he ruled directly over were France, parts of Germany, and
the Italian coast. He also held alliances with Austria, Russia, Denmark, and Sweden (52). His
dominance of the European continent continued to spread the liberal ideal of the French Revolution
throughout Europe. He spread his Napoleonic Code to all the territories he controlled, bringing about
social reform like it's creation of the idea of the totally secular state (55). His ultimately failed in his
grand design to make the seas neutral and to form Europe into a cohesive union of non-warring states.
The reading of the book surpassed expectations I had of Napoleon. He was a child, student,
man, soldier, general, lover, husband, father, ruler, emperor, conqueror and statesman. More than just
the general and emperor I had previously equated him with being. He was arrogant and ignorant, genius
and stupid.
First of the ten things that I find particularly interesting was the fact that he just discarded his

poor wife Josephine because she had not given him a heir, so he married a younger Marie Louise of
Austria, who gave him a son, whom he called the King of Rome. I'm sure he must have had a whole
legion of illegitimate children from mistresses. Second was that his political contributions to what we
now know as the United States. The Louisiana Purchase helped in doubling the size of the United
States. Third thing I found interesting was his duplicity and double-crossing the U.S. Napoleon had
agreed to The Non-Intercourse Act and Macon's Bill Number 2 under the presidency of James
Madison, but kept seizing U.S. ships. He also appointed his family members as royalty throughout
Europe.