Book Review: Napoleon III - A Life

Napoleon III: A Life by Fenton Bresler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I freely admit to having a fondness for Napoleon III and France's Second Empire. The history of France in the 19th century is one of constant change and chaos with islands of stability. The Second Empire provided plenty of both.

Bresler focuses almost entirely on the person Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte and the events in his life, leaving the larger history of the age to play in the background. We see how the family dynamics of the first Napoleon created the circumstances of his birth, how the family exile post-Waterloo shaped his views and turned the young Prince from an impetuous actor to the careful plotter who eventually went from prisoner to President to Emperor in a remarkably short time.

My only complaint with the book is Bresler occasionally drops French phrases in with no explanation. This is forgivable, as you can easily look them up, but it is a distraction.



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