Napoleon: Life of an Emperor

Napoleon rose up out of the chaos and horror of the French Revolution to offer a shattered nation dreams of future glory, honor and a place once more at the forefront of Europe. After he seized power through a mixture of propaganda and rigged elections, Napoleon’s armies waged a seemingly never-ending war throughout Europe, from Portugal to Imperial Russia. Many hundreds of thousands died in battle, or of disease and starvation. France itself would lose 50,000 soldiers on average during every year under Napoleon’s control. Napoleon claimed to be furthering the libertarian values of the Revolution to free the continent, but then he had himself crowned Emperor, began moves to reinstate a hereditary monarchy and had slavery reintroduced throughout the French Empire.