Napoleon - The Path to Power (Philip Dwyer, 2007)

I've never known much about Napoleon's early years - was vaguely aware that he wasn't French per se; knew of the expedition to Egypt etc. But mostly had just read that he showed up in Paris as an artillery expert and helped put down some sort of insurrection in the years following the start of the revolution, after which his career took off.

So this book was very interesting - looked in-depth at Napoleon right up to the time of the 1799 coup. Starting with his days in Corsica - he was very focused on events there and learned a ton about politics. (Corsica was being passed between Genoa and France, and considering (or pipe-dreaming about) independence.) Idolized "Paoli," the local leader.

Earlier, he had been lined up for schooling in France thanks to his father's intervention. So he had something of a dual background - initially strongly Corsican, but with enough French background to handle the transition.

The French Revolution, and Napoleon himself, were responsible for so many modern innovations (many quite terrible). First mass conscription. Adroit manipulation of newspapers to sell false imagery. Pillaging of art works from Italy in a manner that would have impressed the Nazis. Creation of puppet states to serve as allies or buffers, or both.

Napoleon definitely had something remarkable in his military leadership - after gaining popularity and credibility with the politicians, he had great success in charge of the Army of Italy.

Infatuated with Josephine (who apparently had plenty of charms that outweighed her bad teeth). Pulled a David and Bethsheba scene when taking up with a soldier's wife in Egypt - sent the poor fellow on a mission where he was almost certain to be captured. British spies knew what was up so, to the surprise and consternation of all the principals, they released him back to Egypt.

Awful scenes in Egypt as Napoleon demonstrated an insensitivity to loss of human life that would be repeated. It was a bad campaign, but skillful propaganda left him pretty much untouched if not aggrandized - notwithstanding his abandoning his army there.

This should be good background reading for The Charterhouse of Parma. A good follow-on to this book.